Last inning rally turns Titans into winners over Spartans
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — A rally in the final inning produced a result the San Marino High baseball team wants to remember the rest of the year and one La Can¿ada can’t forget soon enough.
Through six innings, the Titans failed to drive a runner home from scoring position in seven chances. San Marino got new life in the seventh, starting the inning with three consecutive hits and going four for seven with runners in position in the frame.
It was enough for the Titans to overcome a two-run deficit for a 7-2 win at La Can¿ada at Friday.
“You just don’t give up, you don’t give up,” San Marino Coach Mack Paciorek said. “La Can¿ada’s pitcher [Alex Bang] did a tremendous job keeping us in check, making it really tough on us and we just couldn’t find a rhythm [through the first six innings], but what was amazing was our bench play and our pitcher [Garret Glazier] kept us in it so we knew we had a chance. You’re not out until that last out.”
San Marino’s Ryan Hill, Glazier and Justin Kreindler started the top of the seventh inning with back-to-back-to-back hits — a single, double and single, respectively — to put the Spartans (7-5, 0-2 in league) in a world of trouble.
Kreindler’s single cut San Marino’s deficit to 2-1 with no outs and then the Titans got a big boost from their bench in the form of Matt Wofford, who was brought in as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning.
Wofford delivered with one out in the seventh as he lined a single between third and shortstop that brought home runners from second and third to give San Marino (9-1, 3-0) its first lead of the game, 3-2.
“I was just thinking this is the spot I want to be in, as a baseball player this is what you kind of dream of,” Wofford said. “We’ve always had the mentality of never quitting, never give up because it’s baseball and anything can happen.”
The Titans weren’t done, as they extended their lead to 7-2 on a bloop, two RBI single from Bradley Haslam, a RBI triple from Lionel Escajeda and a run-scoring groundout from Hill.
“We thought we were only playing six innings,” La Can¿ada Coach Dennis Ballard said. “We forgot there was one more to play there.”
It’s a game Ballard hopes his team leaves on the field and doesn’t pick up again.
“We just have to forget it and go on,” Ballard said. “We’re a very good team and we can’t let this happen again. We just have to go home, have a nice meal, have a good weekend and come back ready Monday.”
The final inning spoiled a great start from Bang, who’d only given up two hits, a walk and no runs with seven strikeouts coming into the final inning. He wound up giving up four hits and four runs in the seventh.
Glazier pitched well for the Titans, as he gave up two runs on five hits and no walks in the complete-game effort.
The Spartans scored their runs one at a time in the first and fourth innings.
La Can¿ada’s Johnny Selsor drove in Clayton Herrmann, who led off with a triple, in the first and Mitch Russell (two for three) drove home Derek Georgino, who doubled, with a single in the fourth.
andrew.shortall@latimes.com