The Dos Pueblos High baseball team fell to visiting Mira Costa 13-6 on Friday night at Scott O’Leary Field in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.
The offensive slugfest saw the Mustangs score nine runs in a decisive third inning.
The Chargers got off to a strong start behind Nick Salcido on the mound. Salcido carried Dos Pueblos through the first two innings while holding Mira Costa scoreless. Offensively, the Chargers wasted no time getting started, scoring three runs in the first inning after two walks left runners on first and second base. Marcus Carbajal and Salcido each hit RBI singles, and Stone Saunders grounded into a fielder’s choice to make the score 3-0.
The Mustangs blew the game open in the top of the third inning, scoring nine runs on six hits. Most notable were a single to left field by Caden Ceman and a line-drive double to left field by Austin Olness, with both hits driving in two runs. The score at the end of the third inning was 9-3.
With the pressure on, the Chargers continued to battle. Mattias Di Maggio hit an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 9-4.
“I told them what happens next is up to you guys, we’re still in it,” Chargers head coach George Hedricks said in regard to Mira Costa’s third inning. “We’ve scored double-digit runs every game so far, let’s do it again… Win or lose, you have to go about it the right way. I was just trying to remind them, you’ve been here before. You guys had a nine-run inning two days ago.”
After a scoreless fifth inning from both teams, Dos Pueblos scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth after Evan Bean and Carbajal were hit by pitches with the bases loaded. That would prove to be the remainder of the Chargers’ scoring for the game.
The Mustangs added two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings, finishing with13 hits to prevail over the Chargers with a final score of 13-6.
“They didn’t give up. There’s a lot of heart. You heard them cheering for their teammates, the seniors were getting in, and they were picking each other up. They get really excited for their guy, and that’s the kind of team they are,” said Hedricks. “I just appreciate the seniors and the underclassmen learning from them. You just gotta love being out here, and I love this group.”
The Chargers finished their season with a 20-11 overall record after their CIF quarterfinal run.
