BASEBALL / EMPIRE LEAGUE : Preciado, Katella Cling to Victory
Juan Preciado, Katella’s left fielder, still held the ball tightly in his glove 10 minutes after the game and it’s doubtful he was going to release it any time soon.
His catch near the top of the fence in the seventh inning with one on and two out saved the Knights’ 8-6 victory over host El Dorado in an Empire League baseball game Friday.
The play ended a dramatic afternoon that featured late-inning rallies.
Jim Cox hit a two-run homer as El Dorado, ranked fifth in Orange County, scored three times in the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. But Katella got three in the top of the seventh to go up, 8-6.
El Dorado’s Brandon Downing doubled to right with one out in the bottom of the seventh. After a ground out, Craig Patterson drove the ball deep to left. Preciado raced back and made the catch at the top of the fence. Once he came down and showed the ball, he was mobbed by his teammates.
“I thought it was out,” Katella Coach Tim McMenamin said. “That’s just the way this game was going. I figured it was 8-8 and here we go again.”
Preciado showed the ball in his glove to reporters after the game and said: “I thought I was going to run into the fence but I didn’t. I haven’t let go of (the ball) yet.”
The victory gives unranked Katella (14-8, 10-1 in league) a three-game lead with four left.
Katella has beaten second-place El Dorado (16-6, 7-4) two of three times. Katella, which beat El Dorado, 1-0, Wednesday, can clinch the title with a victory Wednesday at Century.
“We’re guarding against a let-down next week,” McMenamin said.
Katella overcame plenty of letdowns Friday in the form of seven errors.
But still, the Knights held a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth. Chris Beck started the inning with a triple and scored on a single by Mike Castillo. Castillo scored two outs later on an error by shortstop Geno Ramirez.
Castillo’s sacrifice fly in the sixth cut Katella’s lead to 5-4.
El Dorado took the lead, 6-5, when Cox lined the ball over the right-field fence later in the inning. It was his second home run.
But Katella came right back in the seventh. One-out singles by Hector Vasquez, Joe Fraser and Sal Viramontes loaded the bases. Viramontes had four hits and drove in two runs.
Chris Dominguez then hit a bouncer to short and El Dorado went for the double play, but Dominguez, running hard, beat the relay to first and the score was tied, 6-6.
Geoff Burgeno singled up the middle to put Katella ahead, 7-6, and the final run of the inning scored on an error.
In other Empire League games:
Cypress 6, Century 5--Bobby Brito’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the seventh gave Cypress (12-9, 5-6) the victory. Matt Shelton was two for four with one run scored for the Centurions, who trailed 5-0 after 5 1/2 innings.
Loara 9, Kennedy 0--Carlos Ortiz pitched a one-hitter with four strikeouts and hit a three-run homer in the fourth for Loara (12-9, 5-6).