The Dos Pueblos baseball season came to an end on Tuesday, but the fact that the Chargers were even playing was a pretty cool thing.
After sitting in last place in the Channel League with two games to go, the Chargers wound up sneaking into the playoffs and battling a strong visiting team from Loyola, falling 6-3 in the wild card round.
“We can’t be bummed out — we made the playoffs. They just played better than us today,” said coach Nate Mendoza.
Cubs starter Greg Astor, a 6-2, 225-pound flamethrower, struck out eight Chargers by using a high-80s fastball mixed with a curveball that found the strike zone early and often.
DP freshman Matt York takes a swing as the Chargers' dugout looks on.
“It looked like he was throwing harder inthe seventh than he was in the earlier innings. He’s a strong pitcher, man — a strong, big kid. He beat us with his fastball today, that’s for sure,” said Mendoza. “He started throwing that first-pitch curveball for a strike, and that’s hard to beat at the high school level.”
The Chargers struck first with a two-run home run off the bat of senior Josh Paden in the second, but Loyola scored five in the fourth and added another in the sixth. DP freshman Ben York drove in the Chargers’ third run on a double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too late.
“We didn’t play the best season we have, but we battled at the end and took every opportunity we could and snuck in at the last minute. Our team just had heart when it came to battling back” said Paden.
Sophomore starter Joe Huthsing gave up four earned runs on seven hits in five inning. The youngster, who was the team’s ace this season, was cruising until a couple of close calls went against him in the fourth inning.
Dan Hays led off with a single, but was thrown out while trying to steal by DP catcher Chuy Lopez. It was Lopez’s second such put-out of the game. The Cubs then picked up a single-double-single combo, with the latter hit driving in Loyola’s first run. The next two runs came in on a bases-leaded walk and a throwing error on a pickoff move. A wild pitch and a sacrifice scored the final two of the frame.
“Joe’s a humongous competitor, and that can be his downfall sometimes, especially on the mound. He’s learning, you know, he’s young… He’ll learn, and he’s had a fantastic tear this year for a sophomore,” said Mendoza. “He battled out there for us, and he’s gonna have a strong career here.”
The Chargers wrapped up at 14-14, while Loyola improved to 18-11. In his two years at the helm, Mendoza has a league title to go along with this year’s dramatic run for a playoff spot.
“I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum now. I’ve been on the high side and I was definitely on the low end. I was in last place going into the last two league games of the season, so we’re happy where we ended up. I’m happy where this program’s going,” he said.
LOYOLA 6, DOS PUEBLOS 3
Loyola…000 301 0 — 6 9 1
Dos Pueblos…020 000 1 — 3 6 1
Astor and Hayes. Huthsing, Speier (6), Tirador (7) and Salas. WP — Astor, LP — Speier (5-5)
2B — L: La Bruna, Swick. DP: York. HR — DP: Paden (2nd inn., one on).
