On Thursday May 10th, the Colton varsity baseball team walked onto San Gorgonio’s field, knowing that everything depended on this game. Being one of Colton’s biggest rivals, the boys knew what they were up against; and it seemed that both teams definitely brought their “A-game”.
With shortstop Zack Pender‘s RBI single in the second inning making the score 0-1 for the Spartans, the opposing team’s crowd cheered, as most feel scoring early on in the game foreshadows a victory — this was not the case, for this particular game. Despite the one run, the boys stayed positive and fought their way through to the sixth, where the game changer occurred. Outfielder Manny Martinez walked with one out, was singled to second by infielder Patrick Mejia, and stole third during pitcher Tyler Rich’s strike-out bat. Catcher Ralph Martinez then came up to bat, hitting a humpback liner into a two-run single with two outs, making the score 2-1 in the Yellowjackets’ favor.
The remainder of the game was met with exceptional defense, with the infield and outfield completely backing their man on the mound, Tyler Rich, who managed to throw an impressive five-hitter, with one unearned run, and striking out five batters. “It was a great game,” said Rich, “I’m very proud of my teammates.”
Had the Spartans won the battle, San Gorgonio High School and Colton High School would have finished in a three-way tie with Rialto High School for the San Andreas League title. Having gone 12-2 in the league standings, the hard-working and passionate varsity team are well-deserving of this title. “We practice hard every day, and play hard every game. That’s just what we go by,” says infielder Juan Aguirre.
With this being the third consecutive year that the Jacket baseball boys have earned the San Andreas League title, the team will now go on to compete with schools from surrounding areas not in their usual league. Rich went on to state, “It feels amazing to go back to back to back league champs, and now we’re focusing in on making a good run into the playoffs.”
When asked how he expects his team to do in said playoffs, catcher Ralph Martinez confidently expressed, “We’re going to win every inning.” And with the amount of pride we have in the team’s accomplishments this season, all of us will be hoping for just that.
Be sure to root for your varsity baseball team during the CIF playoffs! The first game will be this Friday at 3:15pm, at our very own baseball field, against the Loara Saxons. Come and support!