Huskies Beat Roadrunners in Home Finale
by Stephen Morales
@grecomeco23
With their backs against the wall, the East Los Angeles Baseball team faced a crossroads.
In the home finale, needing to win every game and get some help to have a chance at the playoffs, the Huskies fell down 3-0 to the visiting Roadrunners from Rio Hondo.
They could have broken right then and there. Fortunately for Huskies fans, they bent, but didn't break.
Shaking off that bumpy 3rd inning, Husky starter Robert Banuelos took a deep breath and settled down. He found his groove and held the Roadrunners off the board the rest of the way, allowing his teammates to score five times in the middle innings and secure a hard earned 5-3 victory.
The Huskies improved to 18-21 overall and 15-8 in conference. They now hold the tiebreaker over Rio Hondo with one game to go in the series and the season, Friday at Rio Hondo. Another must win game for the Huskies.
The atmosphere at the Husky Baseball field was tense from the start, a sign both teams knew the significance of this game.
Coach Alec Adame summed it up this way "The atmosphere of the game was amazing! We got two teams fighting to win a playoff spot! With us coming from behind, it made it much more special! Rio Hondo was up & loud in the 3rd inning because they scored 3 runs. We answered back with one run in the bottom of the 3rd inning; and had two big HRs for us in both the 5th & 6th inning!"
Starter Banuelos got through the first two innings unscaved but ran into trouble in the 3rd. A couple of clutch two strike hits from the Roadrunners produced 3 runs. The bumpy 3rd inning seemed to wake him up and he allowed only 2 base runners between the 4th and 8th innings.
"Banuelos gave us another outstanding performance today! He actually got better for us later on in the game! He was able to throw his pitches downplane in the strike zone and induced many ground balls. I thought Banuelos did a great job in the 3rd because he did roll up a routine ground ball that we bobbled with runners on, and we were unfortunate to turn a routine double play that would have gotten us out of the inning with no runs scored." Adame stated.
The Huskies quickly showed they would not go away striking back for one run in the bottom of inning as Emiliano Campos scored on a single to center by Daniel Vierra.
The same duo started the rally again in the bottom of the 5th as Campos scored again on a booming double to center field by Vierra, to make the score 3-2 which was only setting up the dramatic moment. Up stepped Matthew McEntire, who on the 2nd pitch drilled a line drive to left field that the left fielder could only turn and watch it go over the fence for a home run to give the Huskies a 4-3 lead.
"That was a bomb" said Husky Athletic Director Bobby Godinez
The power wasn't done for the Huskies as they added a 5th run in the 6th inning on a home run from Julian Eskridge.
Adame was very pleased with his offense "After they scored 3 runs in the 3rd, our offense answered back today later in the game with 2 big RBI hits from Vierra! McIntire had a huge 2 Run HR for us in the 5th; and Eskridge had a big HR for us in the 6th to add an insurance run!"
The Roadrunners wouldn't go away quietly, loading the bases with no outs in the 9th inning. Banuelos dug deep and produced two ground balls. One which the Huskies got a force out at home. The 2nd for the game ending 1-2-3 double play causing the Huskies to storm the field in victory.
The action resumes quick for the Huskies as they travel back to Rio Hondo tomorrow at 230pm for the final game of the regular season. Adame will hand the ball to ace Francisco "Paco" Dominguez looking for the win and looking for some outside help.
"It's always a plus going into a big game with our #1 on the mound for us! We know what we need to do! Our team (Offense) has been hitting the ball hard as of late! We are playing better defense, and our horses on the mound are doing what's expected of them! We are playing really well towards the end of our regular season! I just hope we are not running out of games."
Fingers crossed tomorrow will not be the final game of the year.