Announcement
U-T SAN DIEGO By John Maffei
The rains came overnight, and Rancho Buena Vista High baseball coach Sheldon Watkins asked his players to be at the field two hours before first pitch Saturday. Four hours of a spike drag, raking and five bags of a drying agent later, the Longhorns and La Costa Canyon started their Avocado West League game 90 minutes late.
It was worth the effort for RBV, which scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to edge LCC 2-1. "The field was more wet than we figured," Watkins said. "But neither coach wanted to postpone the game and play four games in a week instead of three. So we made the effort and got the field ready. It was a big win, a win that puts us in a position to make a little bit of a run."
Scoreless through six innings, league-leading La Costa Canyon (12-8, 5-1) broke through in the top of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to Ryan Casper. Gabe Earich, who had worked out of jams all day, was relieved by Mike Benson, who recorded a strike-out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
LCC pitcher Scott Souter was cruising through six innings, but Earich singled to open the bottom of the seventh for RBV (8-12,2-4) and he was then sacrificed to second. Josh Woodard was intentionally walked in what LCC Coach Justin Machado said was a miscommunication. After a fly out, Brooks Stotler singled to tie the game and Kevin Collard lined the first pitch into the right-field corner for the winner.
"I've been struggling at the plate, so I needed a big hit there," Collard said. "Id been thinking too much, so I decided if I got a pitch in my zone I was swinging." Collard said he got an inside fastball. "Thats my third game-winning hit of the season, so the guys are calling me "Mr. Clutch," Collard said.
Other Avocado West League Scores:
Carlsbad 5 Fallbrook 1
El Camino 12 Vista 8
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