Cabrillo senior pitcher Ramiro Rosalez did all he could to make a 2-1 lead stand up and carry his team to victory, but the Wilson bats woke up in the last two innings and Blake “Brutus” Cooper’s RBI single in the top of the eighth inning proved to be the game-winner as the Bruins survived the scare, 5-4.
Rosalez and Wilson starter Ty Provencher took advantage of a wide strike zone and dominated through the first five innings, giving up a combined eight hits and one earned run. Provencher retired eight of the first nine batters he faced and struck out eight Jaguars, seven of them went down looking. Meanwhile, Rosalez put the pace of the contest in his pocket and worked his breaking ball over for a strike almost every time he threw it.
Wilson drew first blood in the third inning when Sean Buckle led off with a double to the gap in left. Phillip Visico moved him over with a sac bunt and Cooper put one through the hole on the right side for the RBI single.
Cabrillo got back in the game in the fourth inning by taking advantage of a Wilson throwing error on a bunt attempt. Louie Terrazas led off with a single, and was safe at second when Armondo Perez’s bunt was thrown to second. The ball went to the outfield and Terrazas came into score two pitches later when Wesley Madera singled to center. Perez gave the Jaguars the 2-1 lead with Chris Salinas’ RBI ground out to the right side.
It stayed 2-1 until the sixth when the Bruins loaded the bases with back-to-back singles and a walk. But Rosalez stayed committed to the breaking ball and got back-to-back strikeouts with the nasty curve ball to get out of the jam.
“The kid has all the heart in the world,” said Cabrillo coach Erick Bryant. “In the dugout he just kept saying, ‘coach, let me go’ and so we did and he just battled.”
The Jaguars were able to give their ace some support in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs on another Wilson throwing error. Again Terrazas got on base to lead it off, this time on a walk, and he and Perez moved into scoring position when the throw to second base went to the outfield. This time it was Martin Agredano’s bloop double off the end of the bat that scored two to give Cabrillo the 4-1 lead.
“The way we were playing so poorly defensively and the bad approaches at the plate, and Rosalez pitching as well as he was, it almost seemed like a fitting end,” said Wilson head coach Andy Hall. “That’s just baseball… but in the last inning we started taking the first pitch, we worked the process, and it paid off.”
As Rosalez began to labor (119 total pitches) the Bruins got more patient and Buckle led off the seventh inning with a walk. Visico (2-for-2, 3B, R) followed with a single and the two runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Cooper came up big for the second time with a two-run single up the middle to make it 4-3.
Cody Harris got his second hit of the day and with one out Rosalaz intentionally walked Keith White to load the bases and bring Soloman Williams to the plate. Williams and Rosalez battled, and the first baseman fouled off three straight pitches before he sent a fly ball to right field deep enough to score Cooper and tie the game, 4-4.
Wilson sent Kyle Ritter to the mound in relief and the struck out two to send it to extra innings. So with momentum on their side, the Bruins wasted no time as Nathan Alcafaras led off the top of the eighth with a single. Two outs later, Cooper came through for the third time with his fourth RBI of the night on another single to the right side, giving the Bruins their first and only lead, 5-4.
“Guys like Harris and Hubbard have been racking up the RBI’s and it’s my time to do my job and help out,” said Cooper. “I just went up to the plate thinking single, and it worked.”
Ritter came out for the bottom of the eighth and after a strikeout, the Jaguars put two on. However, shortstop Matt Treece fielded a chopper, stepped on second, and gunned it to first for the 6-3 double play to end the night and keep the Bruins in the hunt for a share of the Moore League title.