The Dos Pueblos High baseball team broke open a pitcher’s duel in the bottom of the sixth inning to capture a 3-0 victory over rival Santa Barbara and complete the series sweep on Friday afternoon.
Jameson Barth and Max Cruse combined to shut out the Dons, surrendering just one hit between them. It was the first shutout of the year for Dos Pueblos. Barth pitched four no-hit innings, and Cruse closed out the game with three innings in relief.
“This year it started off where the offense was carrying us and our pitching was figuring it out a little bit,” said Dos Pueblos coach George Hedricks. “The last couple weeks it has been the opposite. We’ve been pitching our butts off.”
Santa Barbara’s best opportunity came in the top of the first inning, as Jetner Welch and Max Winkler drew back-to-back walks with one out. Welch advanced to third on a passed ball, but Barth escaped the jam with a clutch strikeout for the second out and induced a popout to end the threat.
“It wasn’t pretty in the first inning. That could have gone a lot of different ways. Early in the year I don’t think he would have gotten out of it,” Hedricks said. “That’s the kind of growth he has had these last few weeks—being able to slow the game down and make the pitch.”
Santa Barbara starting pitcher Emiliano Ramirez was locked in through five innings, shutting down the Dos Pueblos offense with a crisp fastball and a devastating breaking ball.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ramirez was cruising until he hit Stone Saunders with one out. Evan Bean followed with a hard ground ball that took a wicked hop into the face of Santa Barbara shortstop Max Weddle, who was left bleeding profusely from the mouth.
After the injury delay, Dos Pueblos had runners on first and third with one out. Saunders came home to score on a wild pitch, giving Dos Pueblos a 1-0 lead. Marcus Carbajal followed with a double down the left-field line that scored Bean, increasing the Chargers’ lead to 2-0.
With two outs in the inning, Spencer Holtz doubled to the left-center field gap, extending the Dos Pueblos lead to 3-0.
“Every start since the Anaheim tournament he’s been better and better. His pitches are getting sharper. He’s getting more confidence,” said Santa Barbara coach Steve Schuck. “You take that bouncing ball away and he gets into the seventh inning. What more can you ask?”
Cruse retired Santa Barbara in order in the top of the seventh to secure the victory.
With the win, Dos Pueblos improves to 15-7 overall and 7-3 in the Channel League. The Chargers are one game behind first-place San Marcos. Santa Barbara drops to 9-12 overall and 3-7 in Channel League play.
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