The Santa Maria Saints came up 91 feet short Friday night.

Their comeback attempt, however, was nothing short of spectacular.

Santa Maria's Rodrigo Jimerez drubbed a dramatic seventh inning double into right field with the bases loaded - scoring three runs to draw his team within one run - before he was caught trying to extend the hit into a triple. The tag was applied a foot from the bag. It was the third and final out.

And as a result, Lompoc escaped Elks Field with the 13-12 win, moving to 5-2 in league and 9-11 overall.

For Santa Maria, it was the second impressive performance of the week. The Saints nearly knocked off the Los Padres League's top team on Tuesday, falling to the St. Joseph Knights (6-1 in league) 10-7. As of the sixth inning, the teams were tied before St. Joseph scored three runs in the seventh inning.

On Friday, it was Santa Maria scoring the late runs.

Down 13-5, Santa Maria saved the drama for the seventh - the first three batters reaching base before the first out. On that out, a sacrifice grounder from George Felix, Jimerez scored. He'd be up again with the pressure palpable later in the inning.

Advertisement

Santa Maria coach Terry Newby - keeping his team aggressive on the basepaths all night - made his best call on the next play. Jason Regalado, at third base, inexplicably broke for home plate while Lompoc's pitcher kept his attention elsewhere. Regalado stole home, and he stole it without a throw. His slide into the plate made the score 13-7 and injected even more life into the rallying Saints.

Regalado also got the starting nod on the mound, pitching into the fifth.

Daniel Ramos followed it up with his own dramatics, singling to center field to plate Alberto Avila. Robert Rodriguez followed that with his own single. However, a force out at second left the Saints with five runs to make up, and only two outs to do it.

They nearly pulled it off. Chris Lopez slapped a bloop single to left field to score Ramos, knocking Lompoc's relief pitcher Rudy Yruegas out of the ball game. His replacement immediately ran into more trouble, hitting the first batter he faced, Joseph Beltran.

And then Jimerez stepped back up to the plate. The Saints were down 13-9 with the bases loaded. Jimerez scorched a hit to right field, heading past first base and then chugging around second.

“Getting to second base, he hesitated,” Newby said. “He should have stayed. But we forced them to make a perfect throw.”

They did. Lompoc third baseman Brandon Alonzo retrieved the throw moments before Jimerez slide into the base, applying a simple tag for a sudden, startling finish.

The game started much slower.

Lompoc scored a single run in the first on Alonzo's sacrifice fly. On the other side, Lompoc starting pitcher Ryan Bower was lights out for the first four innings, striking out the side in the second inning.

His teamed earned him a 2-0 lead on Scott Aguailar's single in the third inning. It was then a 3-0 advantage after Richie Hirzel's standup triple to right-center - a ball that hit off the net, just above the 361-foot sign.

But it was in the fifth when Lompoc really flexed its muscle, and forced Jason Regalado out of the game. The Braves scored three runs. And it should have been a whole lot worse.

However, two remarkable catches from Santa Maria outfielders kept the damage to a minimum. The first was a diving catch from Andrew Clark in center field.

“He gets a good read on the ball and he's an excellent outfielder,” Newby said. “We can count on him.”

Alberto Avila made a similar play just two batters later. He ranged right, tracking a high fly ball before coming down with it inches from the wall. He eventually bounced off that wall, but kept possession.

Santa Maria scored its first run in the fifth on Clark's single to left. The Saints scored four more, the first three on Joseph Beltran's belted fly ball to deep center, which rolled to the fence and cleared the bases. Jimerez sent a pitch into left to plate another run, making the score 7-5.

Lompoc responded with three in the sixth and seventh innings, before the late dramatics.

Cabrillo 11, Santa Ynez 9

Kevin Harman scored Ryan McGinty with a single for the winning run in the eighth inning at Santa Ynez as the Conquistadores (4-3, 9-11) evened their two-game Los Padres League series against the Pirates (4-3, 11-8).

Thomas Lee scored Deuce Galvan with a single for Cabrillo's last run. The Conquistadores out-hit Santa Ynez 14-7 and shook off home runs by Pirates Evan Soliman (three-run homer in the second inning) and Tyler Lowry (three-run homer in the fourth). Galvan hit a solo home run for Cabrillo in the fifth.

Swimming

Cabrillo girls 113, St. Joseph 53

Cabrillo boys 120, St. Joseph 43

The Conquistadores' squads swam to Los Padres League victories at Cabrillo.

St. Joseph sophomore Erica Brannon swam automatic CIF Division IV Preliminary Meet qualifying times in winning the 200 yard individual medley (2:21.16) and 50 freestyle (26.30). Teammate Maddie Mastrup won the 500 freestyle in an automatic qualifying time of 5:29.0.

Cabrillo's Rachel Nelson took the 200 freestyle in 2:15.50 and the 100 backstroke in 1:12.94.

St. Joseph senior Jeremiah Palmerston broke the school record as he won the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.42. He also won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.09. Cabrillo's Casey Ogan took the 200 freestyle in 2:06.57 and the 50 freestyle in 24.27.

April 20, 2008