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By Frank Smith
The San Manuel varsity baseball team has won two of the past three ball games with wins over Superior and Miami – taking a tough loss to Globe.
The Miners hosted the Superior Panthers on April 2 picking up the win 5 – 3 in a close contest, the Panthers scored one run in the first inning, and two runs in the fourth inning while the Miners scored two runs in the second inning, and three runs in the fifth inning. Superior scored three runs on two hits and the Miners scored five runs on seven hits.
On the mound for the Miners was Anthony Garcia with T. J Brown catching and Bryan Valdez came in for relief. Garcia allowed two hits, three runs, struck out 13 batters, and walked five.
Offensively, Shane Kelly went 2 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs; Demetrious Dietz went 2 for 4 with a run scored; and John Ruiz went 1 for 3 with a double, and a run scored.
Head Coach Steve Elmore said, “We started the game a little slow, but made our adjustments and got the win. Anthony and Bryan pitched a great game recording 13 combined strike outs. We need to work on some things hitting wise, but overall it was a good win.”
San Manuel then hit the road for a trip to Miami to take on the Vandals and returned home with a 13 – 1 win. The Miners scored two runs in the second inning, one run in the fourth, four runs in the fifth, three runs in the sixth, and three runs in the seventh inning while the Vandals scored their only run in the fourth inning.
On the mound for the Miners was John Ruiz with Brown catching; Ruiz allowed four hits, one run – one earned, struck out nine batters and walked three.
Offensively, Ruiz went 3 for 5 with home run, one RBI, and two runs scored; Dietz went 3 for 5 with two doubles, and three runs scored; Andy Monfred went 2 for 5 with four runs scored; and Marty Rodriguez went 3 for 4.
Coach Elmore said, “We played a complete game today. We hit well the entire game and John pitched a great game recording nine strikeouts in seven innings. We kept the errors to a minimum on defense and that helped us get out of innings very quickly. Overall, I would say this is the best game we have played so far this season.
The Miners returned home to play host to the Globe Tigers on April 5 taking a tough 12 – 14 loss, San Manuel jumped out to 5 – 0 lead in the bottom of the first inning but the Tigers came roaring back to score seven of their own runs in the top of the second inning to take the lead 7 – 5. The Tigers would score again in the top of the third to add to the lead 9 – 5 but the Miners went to work and scored six runs in the bottom half of the third inning to take back the lead 11 – 9. The Tigers scored a run in the top of the fourth inning and three runs in the sixth inning while the Miners battled back in the bottom half of the inning to score a run to bring the score 13 – 12 in favor of the Tigers. Globe scored one more run in the top of the seventh inning but the Miners did not answer the call in the bottom half of the inning 14 – 12.
The Tigers scored 14 runs on 11 hits while the Miners scored 12 runs on 12 hits.
On the mound for the Miners was Richard Romo with Brown catching and Valdez came in for relief. Romo (took the loss) allowed 11 hits, three doubles, 14 runs – 4 earned, struck out eight batters, and walked nine.
Offensively, Anthony Garcia went 3 for 5 with a double, a homerun, and two runs scored; T.J Brown went 3 for 4 with a double and three runs scored; Danny Quijada went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored; and Jake Torrres went 2 for 4 with a double, and a run scored.
Coach Elmore said, “We had a good game hitting today, with 12 hits and scoring 12 runs. Fielding was a different story. We made numerous errors in the field at all positions. Our pitchers did their best to get ground balls and pop flies, but we were unable to field them cleanly. We went from playing our best game of the season to playing one of the worst games defensively. We are halfway through the season and we are playing well. We just cannot have games where we commit so many errors.”
The Miners will travel to Kearny to take on the Ray Bearcats on Thursday with the varsity playing at 2 p.m. and the junior varsity taking the field at 4 p.m. San Manuel will then host the Tombstone Yellow Jackets on Friday with the varsity playing at 2 p.m. and the junior varsity playing at 4 p.m.
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