Tigers advance to title match
IMPERIAL — Diego Mellos delivered a performance for the ages throwing a complete game and going 3-4 at the plate with two home runs and three RBIs in the Imperial High baseball team’s 9-2 victory over Clairemont in the CIF-San Diego Section Div. III semifinal on Wednesday afternoon here.
The victory pushes the Tigers to Friday’s championship game, when they’ll compete against No. 2 Coronado at 3:30 p.m. at the University of San Diego.
“I really wanted this,” said Mellos with a smile.
The senior right-hander faced Clairemont just one week ago in the first round of the playoffs and took the 2-0 loss on the mound.
“I felt like I had let the team down,” he said. “I thought we played good enough to win that game, so (Wednesday) was a little bit of redemption for us. I think knowing it was our last home game no matter what, we all wanted to come out strong.”
On the mound, Mellos finished with nine strikeouts and at the plate connected for his first of two dingers in the bottom of the second inning to record the first run of the game.
Imperial ended up scoring two runs that inning after Chris Lopez connected for a sac fly that drove in Ryan Bonillas.
Mellos continued to keep the Chieftains off the scoreboard and in the fourth inning Imperial connected for a third run when Patrick Bush singled with two outs to bring in Lopez, who also singled earlier in the inning.
The fifth inning proved to be a tough one for Mellos, who gave up a double to the first batter he faced, and after a series of base hits and a walk, Clairemont was within one run of Imperial.
The Tigers were unfazed; however, as they went on to score three runs in the bottom of the inning after Alex Duarte doubled in two runs and later scored on a Christian Zamudio single to go up 6-2.
“It felt great,” Duarte said of his two-out double. “I just wanted to go there and not do too much, just take advantage of the opportunity and bring my teammates in.”
The top of the sixth was also a bit tricky for Mellos, who retired the first two batters he faced, before issuing two straight walks.
After a short battle, Mellos was able to retire the fifth batter on a fly ball to the right side and close the inning unscathed.
The bottom of the sixth was another big production for the Tigers as they added three more runs.
Kobby Lopez had an RBI single that preceded Mellos’ second home run of the game.
Despite the heat and his rising pitch count, Mellos was given the green light to return to the bump in the top of the seventh to close the game.
Mellos would go on to retire the side via a strikeout, fly out and ground out.
“It felt really good to be able to finish and be the last guy to get a win on our home field this season,” Mellos said with a smile.