Patriots rally for 4-3 victory over Temescal Canyon
Johnny Alley delivers a pitch during Heritage's win over Temescal Canyon Tuesday. (Photo by Rick Rowell) By Paige Mendez, Correspondent ...
By Paige Mendez, Correspondent
The Heritage High baseball team rallied for a 4-3 victory Tuesday afternoon over Temescal Canyon.
After a slow start and trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning, Brenton Jackson got the ball moving for the Patriots with a ground ball single, followed by Johnny Alley's fly ball single to shallow left. Josh Martinez was then walked and the bases were loaded for their fifth batter in the lineup, Parker Kristall.
Kristall hit a sacrifice fly that brought Jackson in. Alley then came home on a wild pitch in the next at-bat to tie the game.
Temescal Canyon brought out some well-timed bunts in the game, and particularly in the fourth inning. They led off with a single on a bunt from Grant Givens, who stole second on the next at-bat and got to third on a teammate's sacrifice bunt as well.
Kristall accounted for the second out of the fourth inning with a great catch on a line drive at first base but threw the ball over the third baseman's head while trying to catch Givens, who scored on the error. That put Temescal Canyon up 3-2. Alex Ramos, who had taken over on the mound for Alley, the starting pitcher, got the next hitter on a flyout.
"We know we have depth in pitching and it's nice to know that we don't have to wait for our guys to get tired," said head coach Tony Martinez of the luxury he has with multiple well-trained pitchers on his roster. "We have the 'next man up' mentality and it's a really awesome thing, as a coach."
Offensively, the Patriots didn't have an answer for the Titans until the bottom of the fifth, when a single from both Alley and Kristall, as well as a Titans fielding error, loaded the bases just in time for a hard grounder down the third base line from senior Fernando Ortiz.
"I was just trying to do my best in the moment for my team," Ortiz said. "I was waiting for that moment and it finally came."
That moment, he said, was a chance to do something for his team after having to sit out for the first half of the season due to a back injury. Ortiz said he felt like each of his three hits in this game were part of that moment for him.
"I think Fernando made the biggest difference for us offensively today," Martinez said. "He's letting it all go on the field."
That hit from Ortiz in the bottom of the fifth scored two runs, putting Heritage up 4-3 going into the top of the seventh, meaning they would only need three outs in order to take the win.
The first Temescal Canyon batter reached base on an error. Then Josh Martinez relieved Ramos on the mound and proved once again the team’s depth in the bullpen with two strikeouts and a flyout to end the game.
With this type of comeback, Martinez said he was not surprised to see his players not lose their cool, because, he said, that's just how they play.
"We know that if we do get behind, we're going to be able to come back," Martinez said. "We just stay patient here; we haven't lost here all year and we're comfortable here."
Their overall record is now 9-6 overall, 5-3 in league, and it's their first year playing in a new, higher division. That move, Martinez said, is one he was told not to make by many parents and community members.
"We were told to petition to stay down in a lower league and I told them that's not what we were doing with this program," Martinez said. "If we go 0-12, then we go 0-12. But I knew we had guys in the pipeline to be playing in this league and I just want to say we're here to stay in this league and if we can [move up] to D-2, we will."
The game was the first of a three-game series versus the Titans, which will be the second-to-last series of their regular season. The next Titans-Patriots matchup will be a doubleheader Thursday at TC.
Heritage infielder Joey Doskocil dives to reach a ground ball during Tuesday's win. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
