Tiger rally falls short in final
SAN DIEGO — The baseball team from Imperial High put on its final rally of the season yet fell short to Coronado in the CIF-San Diego Section Div. III title game at the University of San Diego’s Fowler Park on Friday afternoon.
The Tigers were facing a sixrun deficit to the Islanders in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Jakob Trujillo knocked in a two-out bases-loaded single that brought in a pair of runs to make the score, 7-3, and call for a Coronado pitching change.
Despite the growing noise from the Tiger crowd and Imperial’s dugout, Coronado’s replacement on the mound worked to strike out the seventh batter of the inning and preserve the win for the No. 2 team.
“I think that’s indicative of how this season has gone for us at times,” said Tiger head coach Javier Ramos. “We’ve been able to create some opportunities late in the game, but this time it was a little too late and a little too short.” Despite the loss to end the Tigers’ season, Ramos said he was proud of what the team was able to accomplish this year.
The team opened the season with a Div. 4A title win in the Lions Tourney in San Diego and followed that up with an Imperial Valley League title and a CIF-SDS Div. III runner-up finish.
“I’m very proud of the guys,” he said. “Even though we came up short (Friday) it does not mean we had a disappointing season.”
The Tigers’ IVL title win was the first in school history and a testament to the team’s chemistry this season, Ramos explained.
“They jelled from the get-go, and that’s something I’ll definitely miss,” Ramos said. “Also their talent … it spoke for itself.”
Ramos will lose 14 players to graduation, including Ruben Flores, who earned the CIF Sportsmanship Award after the game.
“It made me feel like all the cheering I’d done and just the support I showed my brothers out there was noticed,” Flores said.
Flores said while the result was not the way the team envisioned its season ending, he would still look back at the year with fond memories.
“You know, we made history this year for our school,” he said. “Hopefully that’s something that they’ll be able to continue with next season.”
Ramos reiterated Flores comments, stating that the seed has been planted to future players on how baseball is played at Imperial High.
“They set the standard for how we expect the game to be played,” Ramos said. “Now we get back, enjoy what we’ve been able to accomplish and move forward.”