LATE RUNS LIFT HART
Seventh-inning runs boost Hart to win over Canyon
Friday afternoon’s baseball game between Canyon and Hart wasn’t very punctual in more ways than one.
Umpires arrived late to the game, pushing the start time back nearly half an hour. The Indians couldn’t manufacture a run until the fourth inning and didn’t capture a lead until the seventh.
The Cowboys worked on a late comeback, but it was ultimately the Indians that met the deadline in a 7-5 win at Canyon on Friday.
“I think we just need to get out and jump on them earlier than we do in some games,” said Hart’s Cody Jefferis. “Sometimes we struggle to do that just like today and so I think we need to do that.”
Canyon looked the polar opposite of the Cowboys team that was shut out by Hart two days prior, scoring a run in the first inning on an RBI single from CJ Dowell.
Charles Harrison extended Canyon’s lead to 2-0 with an RBI double in the second frame.
Harrison also pitched six innings, giving up six hits and striking out five.
“He’s one of our blue chips,” said Canyon coach Drew Peterson. “He does it on the mound for us, he does it defensively, he does it with the stick. He brings a whole
lot to the table for us.”
A single from Brooks Statley got the Indians (17-11 overall, 11-2 in Foothill League) on the board in the fourth inning, then Ryan Carolan hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth to tie the game at 2-all.
It wasn’t until the final frame that Hart truly battled back.
Josh Cerpa kicked off the scoring with an RBI double, then Jefferis (who went 3-for-3) doubled off the wall to drive in a run. Statley and David Holuby each hit singles to give the Indians two more runs.
“We were excited seeing that,” Jefferis said. “It was a tie game and ‘Cerp’ came up clutch and hit that double. We were pumped.”
Canyon (12-13, 4-9) scrounged up three runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI double from Dowell, then on sacrifice ground outs from Cebastian Arriaga and Steven Cornell.
“Just don’t give up until the last out is made,” Peterson said of his message to the team before the seventh inning. “And they didn’t. I was very happy at the end about how they fought until the end.
Hart took the Foothill League series against Canyon 3-0 with the win and will play Valencia on Tuesday. Canyon will play Saugus. Both games are set to begin at 3:30.