Monroe Again Leaves Poly Crestfallen, 6-4 : High school baseball: Vikings erase 2-0 deficit in final at-bat. It’s their second close win over Parrots this week.

Seems like matters between Monroe and Poly highs are never easily settled. Nor by much of a margin.

Monroe won its second game-of-inches baseball game against Poly this week, scoring all of its runs in the top of the seventh inning Thursday to record a 6-4, Valley Pac-8 Conference victory.

Monroe (10-3, 7-1 in league play) sent 11 batters to the plate to erase a 2-0 deficit and, for the moment, blow open what had been a tight and largely uneventful contest.

Poly (5-8, 5-3) rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, but Monroe senior right-hander Jorge Dorado (4-0) ended the drama by striking out Francisco Dorame on a called third strike with a runner at first.

“The coach was asking me if I was tired,” Dorado said. “I was, a little. But I didn’t want to come out of a game like that.”

While Dorado and his teammates celebrated, Dorame typified his team’s frustration, slamming his batting helmet to the ground and collapsing to his knees. Poly lost to Monroe, 4-3, in 10 innings Tuesday.

“My club just lost two tight ballgames,” Poly Coach Chuck Schwal said. “It’s a tough way to lose. I thought we were tougher than they were--for six innings.”

Each team managed only three hits before Poly’s Danny Martinez broke a scoreless tie in the fifth with a two-run, bloop double that barely cleared first baseman Joel Zamudio’s outstretched glove.

Junior right-hander Javier Sanchez (1-5) cruised through six innings, yielding four hits and striking out two.

“Sanchez was tough,” Monroe Coach Kevin Campbell said. “He kept his pitches down.”

In the seventh, Monroe loaded the bases with one out. Juan Navarro singled to drive in one run and Robert Ballester followed with a slow-rolling, two-run single to right field. Navarro advanced to third and was waved home after right fielder Bobby Iglesias’ throw rolled into the Monroe dugout.

Ballester’s hit barely made it past a diving second baseman Ray Montenegro.

“I thought he was gonna field it when he dove,” Ballester said. “It was close.”

Sanchez yielded to right-hander Juan Pacheco, who hit two of the first four batters he faced and surrendered a two-run single to Zamudio.

Martinez of Poly picked up his third run batted in with a single in the seventh that knocked in Jaime Cerna. Yovani Rangel scored the Parrots’ final run on a fielder’s choice by Luis Nunez.

Dorado finished with a seven-hitter and had four strikeouts.