The Lathrop Spartans’ bats came alive in a big way with an eight-run rally in the fourth inning to complete a 10-5 come-from-behind victory over visiting River Islands for the second time in three days.
“I was pleased with the at-bats the guys took today,” Spartans’ coach Javier Dominguez-Olea said. “Earlier in the season, we were pressing and swinging at pitches we should be taking, and today you saw us take better at-bats and eventually wear down their starter.”
River Islands (4-3) came into Thursday’s game playing their third game in three days, sending senior Israel Fuentes to the mound. Fuentes silenced Lathrop bats early on, facing the minimum through the first two innings.
Fuentes would find himself with the lead, as he took the mound in the first after River Islands scratched across a run in the first after sophomore Santiago Lopez came around to score on a Lathrop (3-7) error to make it 1-0 in the top of the first.
Lathrop would get to Fuentes in the bottom of the third inning, as Tommy Hammond drove in two of his four RBIs in the game with a two out clutch single after back-to-back walks for the Spartans to make it 2-1 going into the top of the fourth.
The Riptide worked counts early and often, forcing Lathrop starter Rueben Lopez to throw more pitches than Dominguez-Olea would have liked through three. The extended at-bats helped River Islands break through in the fourth with a four-run inning highlighted by an RBI double from designated hitter Dominic Manzanares and an RBI triple from catcher Matthew Echivarre. The Riptide would take a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the fourth seeking the first win over Lathrop in the program’s short history.
“This is a really good team, better than their record shows,” River Islands head coach Cody Kruip said. “They got to us in Tuesday’s game and limited us offensively, but I thought today, we were making their guy work and it paid off in the fourth when we were able to barrel some balls up and find some gaps.”
The lead the Riptide took in the top of the fourth would be short lived. A base hit and back-to-to back walks would load the bases with no outs for Elijah McAllister, who hit a hard ground ball to shortstop that took a tough hop on George Dayeh resulting in two runs scoring.
Two batters later, Lopez would single to help his own cause to make it 5-5 in the blink of an eye with just one out. A walk from leadoff hitter Jordan Cabral loaded back up the bases for Hammond.
“I was honestly just looking for a pitch to hit in the zone,” Hammond said. “In those spots, you can try to do too much, so I shortened my approach and tried to make contact.”
Hammond made contact looping the biggest hit of the game over the second baseman’s head scoring two to help the Spartans take a 7-5 lead. Center fielder Vaughn Sanchez capped the rally just two pitches later, lining the ball into the right center field gap for a two-run triple. Sanchez scored on an errant throw on the play to complete the Little League home run and make it 10-5 Spartans.
Dominguez-Olea sent his offensive leader Hammond out to the mound in the top of the fifth for the all-important shut down inning. Hammond would retire the Riptide in order in the fifth and work around hits in the sixth and seventh innings to close out the win for Lathrop.
“It meant a lot to me that coach trusted me in that moment,” Hammond said. “I closed the game out against these guys last year and then the game two days ago, so I wanted an opportunity to go three for three.”
Thursday’s game was the last non-conference game for the Spartans who begin Western Athletic Conference League action Tuesday against Grace Davis.
River Islands will play two more weeks of non-conference play before league action kicks off on March 25.
“This is a tough stretch for us, but it is intentional,” Kruip said. “We want to go into league battle tested, and playing good teams on short rest will make us better, without a doubt.”
