Scoring nearly nine runs per contest in each of their first three playoff games, Dos Pueblos was hoping to continue their momentum at the plate during Tuesday afternoon’s Division 2 semifinal game against Redlands East Valley.
However, with only five hits mustered up against Wildcats starter Ryan Silva, the Chargers suffered a 2-1 defeat on the road that ended their season.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t catch breaks when we needed to, but our guys were resilient throughout and didn’t give up,” DP coach George Hedricks said. “The guys fought hard and played well but just came up short.”
This was only the second time in program history that the Chargers had reached the CIF-SS baseball semifinals, and it was the first time in 23 years.
Dos Pueblos ace Darby Naughton had another solid performance on the mound, throwing a complete game while giving up just one earned run. The junior right-hander struck out two while surrendering five hits and two walks.
Nevertheless, he was outperformed by Silva, who shut down a powerful Chargers offense to earn the victory.
East Valley’s ace threw six innings of work, giving up just one run on five hits and striking out two.
Leading the way for a modest day at the plate for the DP offense was Hawaii-bound Dustin Demeter, who went 1 for 3 with a walk. Senior catcher Gio Macias went 1 for 4, scoring the Chargers only run.
“Today, I thought we swung the bat very well and hit a ton of hard balls into the gaps, but they played good defense,” Hedricks said. “Today, we just couldn’t get the hits to sneak in when we needed them.”
In the top of the first inning, Dos Pueblos was in prime scoring position with the bases loaded following a two-out single from Demeter. However, Silva pitched out of a jam by getting Colter Nisbet to fly out to center field.
The Wildcats responded with a run in the bottom of the inning to take a 1-0 lead.
East Valley took a 2-0 advantage in the third inning after a leadoff triple from Paul Rojas and a suicide squeeze bunt by Nikolas Pagan.
During the fifth inning, Macias hit a one-out single to left, advanced to second on Davey Demeter’s infield single, and moved to third when Silva elected to pitch around Dustin Demeter for a bases loaded walk.
Peter Appel immediately capitalized with a sacrifice fly to center field, which allowed Macias to score and trimmed the deficit to 2-1.
The Chargers had one last scoring opportunity in the seventh, when Evan Kling led off with a pinch-hit single to left field.
But Wildcats closer Noah Maya retired three consecutive DP batters to clinch the victory.
East Valley (23-7 overall) advances to Saturday’s championship game in San Bernardino against top-seeded South Hills.
The Chargers (23-9 overall) wrap up a successful season in which they reached the CIF semifinals and claimed their fifth straight Channel League crown.
“This was a really special year with a great group of boys,” Hedricks said. “We had a lot of senior leadership combined with talented youngsters who were able to gain valuable experiences this season.”
— Noozhawk sports reporter Blake DeVine can be reached at bdevine@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.