This is how a crosstown high school baseball game should go: the teams going back and forth, with one of them rallying in the seventh to tie the score and send it into extra innings.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough daylight to continue play and determine a winner.
Crosstown rivals Dos Pueblos and San Marcos played to a 6-6 draw in a Channel League game on Friday at the Royals’ Joe Mueller Field. The result leaves both teams at 1-2-1 in league play. DP is 4-5-1 overall and San Marcos 2-6-1.
The game, which was called after seven innings, won’t be continued unless one or both are involved in a tie-breaking situation for an automatic CIF-SS playoff spot at the end of the regular season, according to Dos Pueblos Athletic Director Dan Feldhaus.
Down 6-4 going into the seventh, Dos Pueblos scored two runs on a wild pitch and a slow bouncing ball to third base to knot the score.
Right-hander Brody DeMourkas, the fifth Dos Pueblos pitcher, struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh before the umpires suspended the game.
“I thought both teams played their hearts out on the field today,” said San Marcos coach Wes Ghan-Gibson. “It’s unfortunate this game had to come to a tie, but this points out how these rivalry games go. I’m not surprised.”
Despite the empty feeling of a no-decision, Dos Pueblos coach George Hedricks was pleased how his team responded after being shut out by the Royals, 7-0, in their first meeting on Tuesday at home.
After spending time talking baseball on a rainy Wednesday and having a good practice on Thursday, Hedricks said his team was “ready to go. And I think it showed.
“We could have pitched better and I think every one of my pitchers would tell you that. But, again, considering we didn’t pitch as well as we could have, those guys also bear down out there when things aren’t going their way, made good pitches, made good plays.”
Dos Pueblos was leading 4-3 entering the bottom of the sixth when San Marcos capitalized on a throw lost in the sun on Kieran Babai’s ground ball to shortstop.
The setting sun blinded first baseman Jonny Rogers and the ball flew past him and into the dugout, allowing Babai to reach second base with one out. Patrick Foster, the No. 8 hitter for the Royals, followed with a line drive off Mateo Saldana that tipped off Rogers’ outstretched glove and traveled down the right-field line for a RBI double to tie the score.
“Kind of a fluky deal there,” said Hedricks of the tough-luck play for Saldana and the Chargers. “It’s hard to knock a guy or doing his job to get the ground ball and it ends up the dugout and puts the runner in scoring position. It’s a different ballgame there.
“I’m not say that lost the game by any means, I’m just saying I can’t knock my pitchers for that. They did their jobs. I think we were a much better team today. I still think we can minimize our walks. My pitchers will take credit and accountability. They’re a very good staff and a very good group of kids. Yeah, we can do better and we will be better next time.”
After Nate Jones drew a walk, DP brought in Carter Low and he induced a pop out to second base. A wild pitch moved Foster to third and Mason Crang walked to load the bases. Landon Johnson lined a single to right-center field to score Foster and Jones for a 6-4 San Marcos lead.
Crang, who advanced to third, tried to score on a wild pitch but DP catcher Zach Gesswein threw back to DeMourkas who made the tag for the final out of the inning.
“Proud of how our team fought,” said Ghan Gibson. “We had our chances and just couldn’t finish the job.”
The Royals left the bases loaded in the first and second innings.
Charlie Potter hit a two-run double to give Dos Pueblos a 2-0 lead in the first inning off San Marcos sophomore starter Johnson.
Senior Erik Perez, a key member of last season’s CIF finalist team, replaced Johnson in the first and pitched 5.2 solid innings. He struck out eight and allowed two runs on six hits and two walks.
“Gritty performance out of Erik Perez,” said Ghan-Gibson.
The Royals tied the score in the bottom of the first on run-scoring singles by Perez and Jaxx Satterfield. They took a 3-2 lead in the second on a bases-loaded walk to Perez.
Dos Pueblos regained the lead in the third on RBI hits by Xander Hajda and Sasha Holmes. Holmes had three hits and two stolen bases and Potter had two hits to lead the Charger offense.
Perez collected two hits and a RBI and Crang had two hits and scored a run for San Marcos.
While it’s tough to live with a tie, Hedricks said the result is better than a loss.
“It’s a rivalry game like you mentioned, so I don’t know that I’ll stomach a tie very well, but it sure would have hurt to lose here today.
“Our team has not necessarily found its rhythm and I think today we took a big step in that direction. And for us to put up two runs to tie it, in a lot of ways that is a victory for us.
“Sometimes you have to find the little victories within a loss or within a tie, or even a win. You got to take whatever you can from it and I’ll take that from today’s game. And I think my team will be better for it.”
