SALINAS VALLEY — Soledad High split their two Gabilan Division baseball games with the Salinas High Cowboys last week.
The Aztecs began the week with a 10-9 win over the Cowboys last Tuesday at home, then lost 3-2 on the road on Friday afternoon.
“Well, I thought we had a pretty dominant performance last Wednesday as we were up 10-3 in the seventh inning with one out,” said Soledad head coach Damien Ryan. “Tried to get some guys in the game but things didn’t go quite exactly how we wanted. We came out with the victory as Ethan Sanchez threw a tremendous game and gave up just one earned run. Nathaniel Lopez and Jordan Nichols were amazing at the plate. Lopez had four runs batted in for the game.”
In Friday’s game with the Cowboys in Soledad, the Aztecs took the lead on a sacrifice bunt in the top of the sixth inning by Daniel Garcia, which scored Juan Esparza. In the bottom of the sixth, the Aztecs came out and got an out quickly, then allowed a run that tied the game at 2-2.
In the seventh, a leadoff walk and stolen base allowed the Cowboys to score the winning run from second base on an infield hit.
“The PCAL Gabilan Division is nothing like the lower divisions, as you have to be on point at all times,” Ryan said. “We’re competing with most schools that have an enrollment twice our size and there’s no day off for an off game.”
Daniel Valenzuela took the pitching loss for Soledad and finished with five strikeouts. Daniel Garcia had an RBI and Juan Esparza had two basehits.
Soledad, 4-3-1 overall and 1-3 in the Gabilan Division, played Wednesday at St. Francis and will host the Sharks on Friday.
The Greenfield Bruins are 9-3 overall and 3-3 in the Mission Division. The Bruins played three games last week and finished with a 2-1 record for the week.
Last Monday Greenfield defeated Watsonville on the road by a 10-1 score. Kenny Pajas pitched a complete game four-hitter for the win. The Bruins finished with nine hits, with Nathaniel Trujillo leading the way with three hits.
The next day, Greenfield won 15-13 against the visiting Robert Louis Stevenson Pirates. Frankie Hernandez earned the pitching win. Also pitching were starter Fabian Gonzalez and work on the mound by Damien Martinez.
Gonzalez led Greenfield with six runs batted in and Kenny Pajas had two hits and two RBIs.
The Bruins ended the week with a 11-0 loss in Pebble Beach to Stevenson. JJ Hall threw a no-hitter to get the victory. Greenfield’s only game this week is on Friday at home against King City.
Gonzales High is looking for its first win after dropping a pair of games to Watsonville by 15-5 and 15-8 scores. This week the Spartans will play at North Salinas on Thursday afternoon.
With an 11-1 victory last Tuesday at Coalinga Union, the King City Mustangs baseball team snapped a five-game losing streak.
The Mustangs’ Joaquin Sabala threw six strong innings, allowing just one unearned run, while Pablo Aguirre led the way offensively against Coalinga with five runs batted in.
King City kept the hits going in the next game as they opened the Cypress Division with a commanding 25-2 win against the host Pajaro Valley Grizzlies.
Freshman RJ Ayon had multiple triples for the two games and Jacoby Chavez added a three-hit game against Pajaro Valley. As a team, the Mustangs totaled 13 hits in one game, combined for 20 stolen bases on the week and played clean, aggressive baseball throughout.
With the wins, King City is 2-5-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the Cypress Division.
This week the Mustangs played on Monday at home against Pajaro Valley and will host the Marina Mariners on Thursday and then play against the Greenfield Bruins on the road on Friday.
