Alameda baseball overcomes 9-run deficit versus Bennett to stand atop 3A/2A Frontier League

LAKEWOOD — Alameda senior Edwin Arroyo tagged up from third base, sprinted to home plate before his head-first slide ended an unbelievable baseball game Monday.

The RBI sacrifice fly from sophomore Vinny Arguello that scored Arroyo wrapped up nearly a 3-hour battle on the diamond between Bennett and Alameda International. The Pirates took an 18-17 victory in 8 innings to vault to the top of the Class 3A/2A Frontier League standings.

“I felt like I had to get there (home) to help everyone out,” Arroyo said of his thoughts scoring the game-winning run before the Pirates mobbed Arguello at first base. “I’m glad Vinny hit that one out there. I trust my whole team.”

It didn’t look good for Alameda (7-2, 3-0 in league). Bennett (3-6, 2-1) put up 10 runs in the top of the third inning to take an 11-2 lead. The Tigers had seven hits in the inning, chased Alameda starting pitcher — senior Hudson Judy — along with taking advantage of a trio of Pirate fielding errors.

Bennett came in on a 3-game losing streak, but knew a road victory against Alameda would put the Tigers atop the conference standings.

“I think we all got pretty down and were pretty mad at ourselves,” Alameda senior Kato Garcia said of the Pirates allowing the 10-run top of the third inning where the Tigers sent 14 batters to the plate. “We were just trying to tell everyone to keep their heads up and do what you can. We ended up taking the win.”

Garcia was a big reason why Alameda won. Garcia took the mound with no outs in the top of the third inning after the Tigers had already plated four runs. After giving up a 2-run double to Bennett freshman Trapper Cronk and RBI doubles by freshman Victor Herrera and junior Avant Dickens, Garcia settled in.

“I just wanted to pitch strikes and keep it low in the zone,” Garcia said of his mentality taking over on the mound in the top of the third inning. “They were hitting pretty good, so I wanted to force them into little grounders.”
Garcia ended up pitching four innings and giving up just one run after the disastrous third inning. The senior had just one strikeout, but forced a lot of soft contact in the fourth, fifth and six innings.

“I’m very fortunate to have a pitcher like Kato. He can change the game, change pace and change speed,” Alameda coach Nick Arguello said. “His composure is impressive for a young man. Our goal is to bring him into situations that aren’t ideal.”

While the 11-2 deficit wasn’t ideal, the Pirates chipped away at the Tigers’ lead. Alameda batted around in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring four runs to cut Bennett’s lead to 11-6. A 2-run double by Arroyo in the bottom of the fifth inning capped off a 3-run inning to trim the lead to 12-9.

The Pirates scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to grab a 13-12 lead.

“They just have no quit,” Coach Arguello said of the Pirates overcoming a 9-run deficit. “They will endure mistake, after mistake after mistake and they will just keep going. They won’t except any quit. They don’t tolerate it from their teammates. Accountability is a beautiful thing.”

Bennett was down to its final out in the top of the seventh inning, but Dickens singled and then scored on a throwing error to tie the game at 13-13. The game was error filled with the Pirates committing nine errors. The Tigers also struggled defensively with seven errors.

“It was a pretty messy game, but we won,” said Garcia, who summed up the game to a tee.

Bennett retook the lead in the top of the eighth inning with a 4-run spot to grab a 17-13 lead. However, Alameda answered again.

The sixth through nine hole-hitters that scored 14 runs for the Pirates got things going in the bottom half of the eighth with a double by freshman Marco Dominguez, walk by senior Dom Huerta and 2-run double by sophomore Braeden Moore, who 4-for-4 from the plate with four RBIs from the 8th-hole.

“They took control of the game. Sometimes that happens,” Coach Arguello said of the bottom-half of the Pirates’ lineup. “Your one through five isn’t always effective like you want them to be. That’s OK. I’m important to have a confident six through nine that can turn the lineup over and execute when needed. They took on that challenge today.”

A fly ball by Arroyo couldn’t be handled in left field to put the game-winning run aboard with no outs. Judy nearly needed the game, but his deep drive to centerfield was caught, but with Arroyo at third base the flyout by Arguello with one out did the job.

“There were no shortage of errors and mistakes,” Coach Arguello said. “The game had to end and somebody had to win. I feel terrible when one team walks away with a loss after a game like that because it is so emotional.”

The Pirates had a 17-game winning streak, along with winning the 3A/2A Frontier League title last year. It was the first conference title for Alameda since back-to-back league titles in 2001 and 2002.

“It’s pretty big,” said Arroyo when asked about the Pirates having the chance to grab back-to-back conference titles. “We’ve built something here.”

Alameda’s season came to an end with a regional playoff loss to Valley. The Pirates has plenty to build on this season after the 19-4 record from last year.

“I know we have to the team to do it,” Coach Arguello said repeating as league champs. “It’s baseball. You have to go out and play. Give it everything that you’ve got.”

Alameda will play six straight road games starting Thursday against Middle Park (0-6, 0-1).