SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Wylan Nelson pitched a 12-strikeout complete game and the Vaqueros’ lineup used three big innings to rout top-seeded Palomar 14-1 in Regional Final game two on Saturday.
The series now tied 1-1, the teams will play a winner-take-all game tomorrow with a trip to the State Championship on the line.
Santa Barbara handed Palomar just their second loss in 16 games, a streak dating back to April 3. In that same span, Palomar had scored 10 or more runs in every game except for the other loss—a 17-6 defeat at Grossmont.
Thus, Nelson’s final line of nine innings, one unearned run, four hits, and a dozen punchouts is even more impressive, especially considering it kept the Vaqueros’ season alive. Oh, and he went 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Looking at the final score, it would be hard to imagine that Palomar actually had the lead for a few innings. With the Vaqueros as the designated home team, an error to start the top of the second allowed a run to score on a fielder’s choice, making it 1-0 Palomar.
Nelson led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. Lucas Carlisle followed by ripping a single up the middle, and Cole Ide walked to load the bases still with nobody out. Then, Bradley Cekada was hit by a pitch to tie the game before Palomar finally got an out.
Parker Hellekson was also hit by a pitch, forcing in a second run to give Santa Barbara the lead. After a popout, Damos Deworken‘s two-out, bases-clearing double to left center blew the roof off the visitors’ dugout, who suddenly held a 5-1 lead.
A leadoff double in the next half-inning was for naught as Nelson responded by striking out the side. Another leadoff double in the top of sixth was also stranded, right before the Vaqueros’ bats erupted again.
Three hits, two walks, and two errors allowed Santa Barbara to inflate their lead to 11-1 during a six-run sixth. Hellekson and Carlisle both hit two-run singles, Nelson had an RBI single, and Elijah Garcia scored on a wild pitch to eliminate any sense of pressure for the visitors.
The game all but decided, three walks and two singles scored the Vaqueros final three runs in the bottom of the eighth, solidifying the result at 14-1. Nelson, Ide, and Cekada each added an RBI to their tallies.
Nelson allowed just one baserunner—a single—over the final three innings. Naturally, earning the win, his record goes to 10-0 on the year with a 2.61 ERA. Not bad considering he is also hitting .356/.487/.544 for a 1.031 OPS.
Given the circumstances, it was perhaps the Vaquero lineup’s best and most-balanced day of the season. Eight of the nine hitters reached base at least twice. Six of them scored at least two runs, and five of them drove in at least two runs.
The decisive game three is set for a 12 p.m. first pitch tomorrow (Sunday). Whoever wins will play at the four-team 3C2A State Championship next week in Irvine.