Kings rally past Crims in extras
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Kofa sophomore outfielder Jose Castro stepped in to face a new pitcher, Yuma High junior Rafa Aceves, with the bases loaded and two outs.
Junior lefty Edgar Castro had filled in for dominant junior starter Damian Cabrera, but had faltered late in the game, loading the bases.
Acevas threw three straight balls, then finally found the strike zone to make it 3-1. Castro took his chance at the next pitch he saw, lacing a grounder to sophomore shortstop Eli Lujan. A clean, routine 6-3 groundout and the game would be over. Then the baseball gods took control.
The ball took a nasty bounce as soon as it reached the infield dirt, flying over Lujan’s shoulder and trickling into shallow left-center. Two runs scored, giving Kofa a 4-3 win in extra innings in their home opener.
“I’m speechless,” Yuma High head coach Nick Johnson said. “It was an incredible game and sometimes things go your way, and sometimes they don’t and tonight, it just didn’t go our way. That’s baseball. Sometimes the game rewards you and sometimes it doesn’t.”
“Overall it was such an exciting game. Both teams played very well, so much so that it comes down to a small play like that at the end. It was an exciting night.”
Exciting game is right, as both sides came out of the gate swinging. Yuma sophomore second baseman Jaime Ruelas singled with one out for the first hit of the contest, eventually moving all the way around via another single, wild pitch and fielder’s choice.
Kofa quickly responded with a run as senior first baseman David Salas reached on an infield single to lead off the Kings’ effort. Salas moved all the way to third on another single and passed ball, before scoring on a bunt by Castro.
Kofa scored again in the bottom of the second, with junior right fielder Ze Cordova reaching via walk, then scoring from second on a bloop single to right field by sophomore third baseman Fabian Burgos.
The Crims would not trail for long, tying the game in the bottom of the third. Lujan drew a one-out
walk, then pushed for third on a 6-3 groundout. Lujan’s aggressiveness resulted in a throwing error at third base, allowing him to score and knot the game at two runs apiece.
From the bottom of the third to the bottom of the eighth, pitching then took over. Cabrera and Kofa starter Angel Fragozo dueled deep into the Yuma night, with Fragozo only surrendering one hit across the stretch while Cabrera permitted none.
Fragozo was pulled in the top of the eighth for Salas, throwing seven and a third, permitting six hits, two runs (both unearned), a pair of walks and six strikeouts.
“He was in the zone today attacking hitters,” Kofa head coach Gabe Ortiz said. “He bounced back from those issues early on and did a good job mixing up his pitches to stay in the zone and get quality outs.”
Cabrera came out shortly after, tossing seven innings of four-hit baseball allowing two runs (one earned), two walks and six strikeouts.
“Damian went out and competed,” Johnson said of his starter. “He found comfort late in the game and struck a lot of guys out and turned it on once he got some run support.”
In the bottom of the eighth Castro entered for the Crims and gave up a walk, bunt single and hitby-pitch to load the bases with no outs. Senior shortstop Sebastian Villegas stepped in for the Kings and drilled a ball to left field. Villegas’ line drive was caught by Yuma sophomore left fielder Gabriel Escobedo, who rifled the relay throw to Lujan at short, who then delivered a perfect throw to junior catcher Antonio Huerta-urbalejo, catching the tagging Fragozo at the plate, keeping the game alive with an astounding double play.
Escobedo turned around in the ninth and led off the frame with a single, which was followed by a single from Aceves. Freshman third baseman Kevin Garcia then walked to load the bases with no outs, this time in the favor of the Crims. Lujan stepped in, scorching a ball to left field, allowing Escobedo to tag and score to give the Criminals a 3-2 lead.
Ultimately, the Kings wiggled out of the jam, resulting in the bad bounce in the bottom of the ninth which gave them the walkoff win.
“I told the guys that even if it was a win of that caliber, I believe we are still doing it right,” Ortiz said. “We worked hard and it paid off for us. You never want a game to end that way and it is unfortunate... I do think the fans got their money’s worth though. It was a highly-entertaining baseball game.