LOS ALAMITOS — The Los Alamitos baseball team made the plays in the field, made the pitches in key situations, and got the hits when it mattered most in a 4-3, come-from-behind victory over San Juan Hills in a first-round game of the Ryan Lemmon Spring Tournament on Monday at Los Alamitos High School.
The Griffins (12-5), who are ranked No. 9 in Orange County, trailed 2-0 after three innings, but Griffins starter Ethan Maddies and reliver Carson Picard combined to strand eight runners over the first five innings, giving their team a chance to come back.
“That was exactly what I said to the team,” Los Alamitos coach Tony Fusco said. “The pitchers kept us in it, gave us a chance, and you know, you’ve got to have a chance at the end. And we’ve talked about that all year, about cashing in and coming through when it matters.”
The No. 5 Mustangs (14-3) led 3-2 going into the bottom of the fifth when the Griffins’ Jake Fowler singled to lead off the inning and Cole Belfanti then reached on an error to put runners on first and second for Jake Evans.
The baserunners advanced to second and third on a balk and then Evans singled in both runners to give Los Alamitos the lead for good.
“All I was looking to do was hit the ball hard,” Evans said. “Find a hole. We got guys in scoring position. Basically, we want to win the game. There’s nothing about me. Nothing about my average. I had two strikes. All I had to do was stay short, see the ball, and put something on it.”
Los Alamitos’ Jake Evans had the game-winning hit in a 4-3 victory over San Juan Hills on Monday, April 1. (Photo by Lou Ponsi )
Logan Hunt came in to pitch the final two innings for the Griffins. He retired the side in order in the sixth and got out of trouble in the seventh thanks to his defense.
Zack Doyle led off the inning with an infield single for the Mustangs, took second on a sacrifice bunt from David Reeves and made it to third on an error.
Ruben Sorell then hit a ground ball to shortstop Tyler Smith, who made a perfect throw home to catcher Damen Valdez who made the tag on Doyle to erase what would have been the tying run.
No. 5 hitter Austin Plisinski went 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs for San Juan Hills.
Plisinski doubled home Reeves to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead in the first and then doubled home Doyle in the fifth to give his team a 3-2 lead after the Griffins had tied the score in the fourth on an RBI single from Jake Natori and a run-scoring sacrifice fly from Smith.
San Juan Hills starting pitcher Anthony Rasic throws a pitch against Los Alamitos on Monday, April 1. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)
The game was originally scheduled to be played at the Great Park in Irvine, but because of the rain over the weekend the fields there were in poor condition.
Los Alamitos is scheduled to play Crean Lutheran at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Great Park for its second game in the tournament.
San Juan Hills is scheduled to play Pacifica at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Great Park.
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