Anzar’s Nico Mendoza pitched 3.2 innings of one-run relief on
Thursday, then connected on a game-winning RBI liner to right field
in the seventh to lift the Hawks past visiting Trinity Christian
8-7 for the Coastal Athletic League title.
SAN JAUN BAUTISTA
Anzar’s Nico Mendoza pitched 3.2 innings of one-run relief, then connected on a game-winning RBI liner to right field in the seventh to lift the Hawks past visiting Trinity Christian 8-7 for the Coastal Athletic League title on Thursday.
The regular-season finale between the two CAL foes had a winner-take-all backstory, and Anzar’s thrilling one-run victory on Thursday erased Monday’s thrilling one-run defeat.
A 7-6 loss earlier in the week kept Anzar’s title-winning hopes on hold until Thursday, and even then it wasn’t an open-and-shut game.
Knotted at 7-all entering the seventh on Thursday in San Juan Bautista, Trinity Christian got the go-ahead run to third base with no outs. But a pair of shallow pop-ups and a strikeout from Mendoza, his third of the day, prevented the private Monterey school from pocketing its eighth run of the game, and supplied the Hawks with a chance to win in the home half of the seventh.
Leadoff hitter Tanner McKinney started the frame with a walk, while teammate Nick Salgado pushed him into scoring position for Mendoza, whose RBI single to right field plated the game-winning, and title-winning, run with ease.
“He had an all-around game,” Anzar manager Andrew Barragan said of Mendoza, who tossed 3.2 innings of relief and allowed one run on two hits. “He pulled us out of that game.”
Mendoza relieved starter Devon Parish (3.1IP, 5H, 4ER, 3K, 4BB) in the fourth inning, and entered the game with bases loaded and one out. Mendoza allowed one run on a walk in that inning, but forced the next batter out at home and got the following batter to strike out, leaving the bases full.
Trailing 6-3 at that point, Anzar’s Niko Hebert cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer to left field. But Trinity responded with its own run in the fifth to keep the lead at three.
Now trailing 7-4 in the sixth, Barragan went to his players and told them it was moving time — if they were going to win, the runs would have to start coming now.
“And one kid said, ‘Hey coach, we’ve got them right where we want them,'” Barragan recalled.
After Mendoza and teammate Brian Fredrickson walked to open the sixth inning, and after the next two batters for Anzar struck out, Jordan Parish took a two-out, 1-2 pitch over the right-field fence to knot the game at 7-all.
“I just asked him if he could punch it to the right side,” Barragan said.
Parish’s heroics only set up Mendoza’s in the seventh, and the Hawks escaped with title in-hand.
Last year, Anzar was in the exact opposite position with Anchorpoint Christian. Needing to win the final game in order to claim the CAL title, the Hawks fell short against the Gilroy school, and finished runner-up in the CAL standings.
“It was a good pick-me-up,” Barragan said.
The Hawks finish with an 8-1 record in the CAL, 10-10 overall.
“It was a good game for them,” the manager added. “I was proud of them. They never gave up.”
TRIN — 200 410 0 — 7 7 3
ANZR — 300 103 1 — 8 6 3
