It was a long time in the making, but the San Marcos baseball team beat Dos Pueblos on Friday.
So long that none of the current Royals seniors had ever done it, not even the previous senior class. San Marcos snapped a lengthy 17-game losing streak to the crosstown Chargers in a 5-4 thriller that came down to the final out.
San Marcos last defeated Dos Pueblos in baseball 9-5 on April 22, 2003.
“From the history, it’s just fun to beat Dos Pueblos,” admitted San Marcos head coach Rob Crawford. “We have a lot of seniors that haven’t been able to do that in the regular season.”
Several seniors were in on the job, including Brandon Atelian (2-for-3, 2 RBIs, run scored), Victor Acevedo (2-for-3, RBI) and Pat Cavalier (1-for-3, RBI, run scored).
Sophomore catcher Riley Moore knocked in the eventual winning run in the bottom of the fifth, scoring Cavalier on a single to left after Cavalier had doubled off the right-field fence to bring home Acevedo.
But old habits die hard and the Chargers, losing 5-2, didn’t go away quietly.
DP immediately threatened with runners on second and third with nobody out to start the next half inning. Unrattled, the Royals’ Shane Wieland – who pitched through jams in all three innings he pitched – struck out the next two batters to relieve some pressure. Although Dane Limosnero scored on a Steven Reveles infield single to make it 5-3, Wieland got the final out to end the inning.
“The difference in the game is that they executed and we didn’t, bottom line,” stated Chargers head coach Nate Mendoza, whose team left runners stranded in scoring position in the final three innings. “They executed when they had guys in scoring position and we didn’t do it.”
Such was the case with the game on the line: two outs in the top of the seventh. DP had already pushed over a run when Reveles brought home Robert Vickers with an RBI single up the middle and Evan Glick was at the plate trying to pick up Reveles – the tying run – from second base.
Wieland just needed one more out. Feeling like the Chargers were seeing his go-to curve too well, Wieland went with the high fastball on a two-strike count, enticing the swing and miss to end the game.
“That was the hardest one Wieland threw all night. He reached deep for that one,” Crawford said of the first-year varsity pitcher.
“I stepped off on that last pitch to take a breather and I was thinking curveball at first,” Wieland said. “But then I just went through my head, ‘I’m just going to blow this one right by him,’ and sure enough that’s what happened.”
The Royals improve to 6-5 overall and 1-1 in the Channel League. Dos Pueblos drops to 3-5 and 1-2 in league.
Vickers led the Chargers at the plate, getting DP off its feet with solo home run in the first inning that just cleared the left-centerfield fence. Vickers finished up 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Limosnero and Reveles also had two-hit days.
Both teams will be active over spring break. Dos Pueblos begins the Inland Empire Classic on Monday with a doubleheader. The Royals are traveling to Arizona to participate in a spring break tournament next weekend.
The next meeting between the two schools – the second of three – isn’t until April 28.
Wieland is looking forward to it, saying Friday wasn’t a fluke.
“We’re a good team. We have a lot of team chemistry and we know we can beat these guys every time,” he said.
SAN MARCOS 5, DOS PUEBLOS 4
Dos Pueblos 100 011 1 – 4 10 1
San Marcos 030 020 X – 5 11 2
DP – McGaughey, Ventura (5), and Salas. SM – Marshall, Wieland (5), and Moore. 2B – SM 3 (Villegas, Cavalier, McCumber, Atelian). HR – DP 1 (Vickers 1st inning, none on). Records – SM 6-5, 1-1 CL. DP – 3-5, 1-2 CL.
