After a horrific start Tuesday, Giants pitcher Zac Cook got three consecutive outs to end the first inning and then blanked the Red Sox through the fourth and was relieved by Eddie DeAvila.
DeAvila threw 1 2/3 innings of shutout ball before the Red Sox got four unearned runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth but that was not enough as the Giants held on for a 13-8 win. This forces a showdown for the Spreckels Park major championship at 5:30 p.m. today between the same two teams at Brock Elliott School.
The first six Red Sox batters reached base with four walks, a hit batter and a single with Santee Duarte, Lucas Stackpole, Caden Salas and Nikolas Reitz all crossing the plate for a 4-2 lead.
That was all the scoring the Red Sox would manage until the final frame when a two-out throwing error off the bat of Kevin Rosenbaum allowed Reitz and Dacota House to score. Nick Guevara came up next and blasted the ball over the right field fence to come within 13-8, but DeAvila rallied to strike out the next batter for the win.
With Cook (four strikeouts, two hits) and DeAvila (three hits, one strikeout) keeping the Red Sox in check, Steven Aquila led the 14-hit Giants attack, going 4 for 5 with three doubles – two of them ground-rule – and five RBI, reaching base a fifth time on a fielder’s choice.. Leadoff batter Shea Ward got on base five times, going 3 for 3 with a walk and he reached on an error. No. 2 batter Sammy Veuve also reached five times, going 3 for 5 with a pair of fielder’s choices with four RBI and three runs.
Cook was 2 for 2 with a walk and he was hit twice and Alex Gatty was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run.