El Dorado Turns Tables on Tyson and Katella
What a difference one-half inning makes.
Things looked rosy for Katella pitcher Phillip Tyson in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Knights’ crucial Empire League game Tuesday against host El Dorado.
Katella had just scored four runs in the top of the inning to take a one-run lead, and Tyson was on a roll, having struck out five of the last six batters he had faced.
But by the end of the sixth, things looked completely different.
El Dorado responded with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to take command in its 11-5 victory that put it one game ahead of Katella with one game to play.
If the Golden Hawks (20-5, 11-3), ranked fourth in the county, defeat the Knights (17-8, 10-4) Thursday, they will be the league champions. If Katella wins, the teams would be co-champions and the Knights would go into the playoffs as the league’s No. 1 entrant because they would have a 2-1 advantage in the season series.
Things unraveled quickly for Tyson in the sixth Tuesday. He hit a batter, then gave up a single and a walk to load the bases with one out.
Chris Wessel followed with a grounder to shortstop Keith Smith, who flipped the ball to second baseman Kyle Purcha for a force out at second. But Purcha could not handle the toss, and two runs scored to give El Dorado a 6-5 lead.
Jeff Flaig, who pitched two innings of relief to pick up his eighth victory, later hit a two-run single and Brian Zurhellen added a three-run home run to complete the seven-run onslaught.
“To put up a seven spot, after [Tyson] had shut us down in the fifth and the sixth, was a surprise,” El Dorado Coch Matt Stine said.
In another Empire League game:
No. 7 Cypress 4, Century 0--Paul Mezzetta pitched an eight-hitter, striking out eight without walking a batter, for visiting Cypress (18-7, 9-5), which clinched a playoff berth.
Kennedy 4, Loara 0--Brad Roberts pitched a three-hitter, striking out four and retiring the last seven batters for the host Fighting Irish (9-15, 5-9).
