RODRIGUEZ WINS BY USING A TRICK PLAY
Double suicide squeeze leads to Bulldogs’ downfall vs. Mustangs
One would not expect too many high school baseball teams to be practicing a double suicide squeeze bunt play, especially when COVID has limited the number of times the team got to practice before starting league play.
But Rodriguez High head coach Tom Ledda has had that play in his back pocket for several years. Thursday at Vacaville he used it to perfection to help turn back the Bulldogs, catapulting the Mustangs to a onerun lead which they lengthened for a 13-7 victory.
Rodriguez avenged a 4-0 defeat to Vacaville on Tuesday, so both teams are now 1-1 in Monticello Empire League play.
Vacaville led 7-4 heading into the top of the fifth inning. Danny Marino, who had relieved starter Kyle Bender, walked Jason Booker and hit Trentin Schmidt with a pitch to begin the frame. Kaden Wilde singled to load the bases and Booker scored on an infield error on a ground ball by Robert Searcy to make it 7-5 and keep the bags loaded. A passed ball scored Schmidt and put runners on second and third with no out.
Marino struck out the next hitter, bringing up senior designated hitter Colin Medeiros.
“The first pitch he (Ledda) had it (the squeeze play) on, and there was a timeout, and he called it off,” Medeiros said. “And the pitcher threw a ball in the dirt. So then the next pitch I got the perfect pitch to bunt.”
With both runners going, Medeiros laid it down between home and the mound. Marino
threw to first to get Medeiros, with Wilde scoring easily. But Searcy never stopped as he rounded third and headed home. First baseman Brewster Mott threw home but Searcy slid and beat the throw by an eyelash to give the Mustangs the 8-7 lead they would not relinquish.
Medeiros was one of two players Ledda had worked with on bunting in the double suicide squeeze situation.
“Coach emphasized, ‘Hey, we’re going to use this this year,’ said Medeiros. “It happened to work out that I got up there and got the squeeze.”
Vacaville was unable to score the rest of the way against sophomore reliever Nathan Schikore, who was seeing his first varsity action.
He came on in relief of starter Suraj Takhor in the fourth inning. Schikore gave up a run that inning but shut down the Bulldogs the rest of the way to get the win.
“I had the nerves for a little bit, and then I settled in after the first inning and I found my zone and started locking in,” Schikore said.
Wilde, his catcher, said, “His ball was cutting very well and tailing very well. He was throwing his curveball with great command and he was just hitting the pitches, throwing strikes. If you’re throwing strikes your defense is staying alive and they are ready for any play.”
Bender and Marino had trouble throwing strikes, which led to the home team’s downfall.
Vacaville had taken a 5-0 lead after two innings. But in the top of the third Bender walked three batters to load the bases, then
yielded a three-run double to cleanup hitter Trentin Schmidt. Wilde, who had three hits on the day including a triple, then singled home Schmidt to make it 5-4 Vacaville.
Wilde, a sophomore, also snuffed out a potential Bulldog rally in the sixth, throwing out two runners attempting to steal second base.
Ledda said his team learned from their Tuesday loss to Vacaville in which Logan Piper and Aidan Russell combined to strike out 11 Mustangs.
“We graduated 16 guys last year and these guys got to see a good Vacaville team,” Ledda said. “We made a couple of errors and we made a couple of adjustments in practice on Wednesday. We were going to make sure that we weren’t going to be striking out today. We committed to that and we put balls in play.”
A two-run double my Mott was the key to Vacaville’s four-run first inning. Mott also doubled in the seventh and was 3-for-4.
Cameron Malone drove in Mott with a single in the first inning and went 2-for-4. Caleb Morant drove in Vacaville’s fifth run with a single in the third inning.
Christopher Lang entered as a defensive replacement at third base for Rodriguez and banged out two singles in two trips.
Wilde reached in all five of his plate appearances. In addition to his three hits, he walked and was hit by a pitch.
Rodriguez tacked on five unearned runs in the seventh to put the game on ice.
“I’m absolutely proud of these guys,” Ledda said. “They answered the bell and they beat a good team.”