Until Wednesday’s game against rival San Marcos, the Dos Pueblos baseball team hadn’t faced many deficits during its 11-game winning streak. But the Chargers found themselves behind 3-0 against the Royals after two innings in the Channel League game.
They came back with a vengeance, scoring a run in the third and five in the fourth and fifth innings en route to a 13-4 victory on a windy afternoon at Scott O’Leary Field.
“It says a lot about us,” DP coach George Hedricks said of the comeback win. “We had some adversity there really early. We still stayed in the ball game, trust our approach, trust what we’ve been doing and found a way to grab a win.”
DP’s 12th straight win raised its records to 13-2 and 2-0 in the Channel League. San Marcos is 6-8-1 and 1-2-1.
No. 9 hitter Caleb Severson sparked the comeback. In the third inning, he scored DP’s first run after an infield single, an errant pickoff attempt and an overthrow to third base. In the fourth, he executed a squeeze bunt to score Chris Abbott. He hit a two-run single in the fifth and drove in his fourth run of the game with a single to right in the sixth.
“He’s the type of guy that’s staying after practice, going into the cage, getting in extra reps,” Hedricks said of Severson, who went 3 for 3. “He’s coming in on his own time and putting in the work. He started last year and really found a way this year into the starting lineup not only with his glove but with his hitting. You can’t go to sleep on him in the nine hole.”
Hedricks was ecstatic about Severson’s execution on the squeeze play.
“There’s only certain guys I can put that on with and he’s one of them, and he didn’t let me down today.”
Starting pitcher Isaac Coffey recovered from his rocky start and went five innings, allowing three runs, seven hits and two walks while striking out seven. He struck out the side in the second inning and got the Royals to hit into inning-ending double plays in the third and fourth innings. Justin Marlett finished out the game for DP.
The Royals jumped on Coffey in the first. Lead-off hitter Erik Larson singled, moved to second on a walk to Diego Sandoval and raced home to score on a passed ball. Diego Jasso reached base on a fielder’s choice, Vince Vogel singled and Dominick Roderick walked to load the bases for Isaac Villarreal, who singled in two runs for a 3-0 lead.
San Marcos threatened in the fifth, getting runners to third and second base with one out, but Coffey struck out the final two batters, getting the second batter looking at an off-speed pitch.
“I thought Isaac made some really good pitches that unfortunately didn’t go our way,” Hedricks said of the first inning. “But he didn’t let it affect him, he kept to our plan. He settled in after that and our team settled in after that.”
Caleb Severson executes squeeze play to score Chris Abbott for DP. pic.twitter.com/OyQbZpUhzQ
— NoozhawkSports (@NoozhawkSports) April 12, 2018
With Coffey finding his groove and the defense making plays, the DP offense broke loose in the fourth against San Marcos starter Brent Hyman.
Evan Kling hit a short fly ball into left-center field and hustled for a double. Coffey was hit by a pitch and Drew Darke laid down a bunt on the third-base side of the mound that the Royals threw away at first, bringing Kling home to make it 3-2. Dylan Kelley ripped a liner to center to scored two runs and put the Chargers in the lead for good.
Abbott was hit by a pitch and Charlie Cuykendall bunted for a single to load the bases. A fielder’s choice by Martinez scored Kelley and Abbott raced home as Severson completed his squeeze bunt, making the score 6-3.
“We were 4-for-4 on bunts … I probably need to buy a lottery ticket,” cracked Hedricks. Coach Rohde really works hard with the guys on bunting. In high school baseball, you need to play small ball for that exact reason, to put pressure on the defense.
“We’re a decent bunting team, today we were an excellent bunting team.”
The Chargers piled on five more runs in the fifth, with Severson driving in two and Jed Donelan, Kelley, and Abbott picking up one RBI apiece in the inning.
For the game, Kelley went 2 for 3 with three RBI and three runs scored.
The Chargers had 13 hits in the game.
Coffey moved to shortstop for the final two innings and he made a couple of terrific plays in the seventh. With a runner on first, he charged a slow roller and fired to first base for the first out. He then ended the game by making a leaping catch of a line drive and doubled up the runner at first base.
“I don’t think I can do that after throwing 90 or so pitches, whatever he threw,” an impressed Hedricks. “On that slow roller, with him, it’s as smooth as it gets.”
Dylan Kelley drills two-run single in the 4th inning for a 4-3 DP lead against San Marcos. pic.twitter.com/fu8daIfI7S
— NoozhawkSports (@NoozhawkSports) April 12, 2018