Rio Mesa Has Last Word, 9-8

Neither Nick Barroso nor Greg Ramirez got off to a good start for Rio Mesa High on Friday against Camarillo in the the Dos Pueblos tournament.

But both played key roles to help the Spartans rally in their final at-bat for a 9-8 victory at Rio Mesa.

Barroso, a sophomore center fielder, struck out, grounded out and was benched for a pinch hitter before his two-out, two-strike single in the seventh inning drove in Frank Tinoco with the tying run and Ernie Borjas with the winning run.

“Nick struggled all day today, I pulled him, and then he comes through when he had the opportunity,” Rio Mesa Coach Rich Duran said. “It was storybook all the way.”

Ramirez (4-1), the Spartans’ ace, allowed five runs in the first inning and eight in the first three, but surrendered no runs and three hits in the final four innings.

He finished with an 11-hitter, three strikeouts, four walks, two hit batters and a pitch count of 160.

“I was real tired today and a little sick but my team helped me out,” Ramirez said. “I was real tense to start so I had to calm down and make a few mechanical adjustments to start keeping the ball low.”

Rio Mesa (10-4) scored four runs in the first and one each in the third, fourth and fifth.

In the seventh, Tinoco and Borjas led off with singles off reliever Andy Alstot, who took over for starter Geoff Abbott in the fifth.

Borjas had three hits and two runs batted in.

Five players hit doubles for Camarillo (10-3), ranked sixth in The Times’ regional poll, and Justin Collins and Shane Miranda hit first-inning home runs.