East L.A. Wins in 8th, Again

Fans who do not like suspense may wish to avoid watching the East Los Angeles Community College baseball team for a while, especially if the Huskies keep up their string of eighth-inning dramas.

Isaac Burton led off the eighth inning with a triple and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Lalo Arrieta to give East L.A. a 5-3 win over Compton College in a Southern California Athletic Conference game Thursday at East L.A.

The game, the second meeting between the two schools in three days, must have been like a recurring bad dream for the Tartars (4-20, 2-16). The Huskies, who prevailed 3-2 on Tuesday, also scored the winning run in the eighth inning of that game.

“We are getting different people to step forward and make the big plays, and that is making the difference,” East L.A. coach Al Cone said.

East L.A. (22-15, 14-4) was in line to win the conference championship with a victory over Cerro Coso of Ridgecrest on Saturday.

In Thursday’s game, the Huskies tried to avoid a repeat of Tuesday’s late-inning dramatics by posting three quick runs early. Danny Terrazas’ lead-off double was followed by three consecutive singles, giving East L.A. a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

Compton scored two runs in the fourth inning to slice East L.A.’s lead to 3-2 and tied the score in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Jesse Herrera, setting the stage for the Huskies’ eighth-inning heroics.