Downey baseball beats Bellflower twice in Gateway League games
Downey pitcher Fabian Lopez (10) makes a pitch as they play Bellflower in their league varsity baseball game at Downey High School on Tuesday. Downey defeated Bellflower 5-4. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
The Downey High School Vikings Baseball team opened the Gateway League with two come-from-behind wins over Bellflower this past week.
After going 9-4 in the first 13 preseason games, the Vikings came from behind twice in consecutive games over Bellflower to open league with a 5-4 walk-off victory Tuesday (March 25) and an extra-inning, 5-3, win Wednesday (March 26).
Highlighting the walk-off win at Fred Yanez Field was a two-run single by senior first baseman Sammy Mojica to open league action. A day later, the Vikings trailed the Buccaneers in the sixth inning, but two innings later junior Morise Robinson hit an inside-the-park home run to lead, 4-3. The Vikings added an insurance run to hold a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
With the two wins, Downey improved to 11-4 overall and 2-0 in league in second place behind La Mirada with a 4-0 record.
“Our league is a monster,” Downey coach Jess Gonzalez said. “Every league win is big. They’re all big. They’re hard to come by. It’s a grind and all these teams are tough. There is no easy win in this league.”
Downey 5, Bellflower 4
In Tuesday’s first league game, the Vikings trailed Bellflower, 4-2, heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Senior first baseman Derek Bringas, who was hit by the pitch for the second time in the game, moved to second on a single to right by junior Sebastian Cortez.
After a force out at second to get Bringas, as Robinson reached on a fielder’s choice, a double to left by sophomore Nathan Carrasco knocked in Cortez to tie the game, 3-3.
With runners on second and third, Mojica hit a two-run single to right sending Robinson and Carrasco in for the tying and winning runs.
Cortez led the team with three hits, an RBI and a run scored.
“On varsity it was my first walk-off hit,” Mojica said. “It shouldn’t have been a close game, but we kept fighting and fighting. We kept putting pressure on them and you only have to hit the ball so hard.”
Senior lefty Fabian Lopez (2 for 2, R) pitched six and a third innings and scattered eight hits and four runs and struck out eight batters.
“I felt like I established my fastball and got that going and I tried to minimize damage,” Lopez said. “That’s my motto every time. If you can keep the runs low, it gives us a chance.”
Lopez didn’t get the win, as junior reliever Jerry Calvert picked up the victory for the Vikings.
Bellflower opened the game with a run in the first inning, as junior right fielder Isaiah Lopez raced home on a squeeze play bunt by center fielder Gavin Sanchez for the 1-0 lead.
Downey took the lead, 2-1, on RBI singles by senior shortstop Marcos Quinonez and Sebastian Cortez (3 for 4, R, RBI) in the third inning.
Bellflower answered in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly by junior third baseman Gabriel Casias, scoring Sanchez to tie it a 2-2.
In the fifth inning, senior shortstop Issac Lacey (2 for 4, R, SB) singled to center, stole second and came home on a run-scoring single to right center by junior catcher Ripken Bramasco to give the Buccaneers a 3-2 lead.
Bellflower added a fourth run on an infield error sending senior pinch hitter James Asberry home to lead, 4-2.
Downey 5, Bellflower 3
In game two of the three-game series, the Vikings scored twice in the opening inning on a two-out double by Mojica, scoring Bringas and senior Eddie Causley for the 2-0 lead.
Bellflower answered with three runs off Downey starter Caleb Monroe (4 Ks) to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first. Isaiah Lopez singled to right, followed by a walk to Lacey and consecutive RBI singles by designated hitter J.J. Cadenas and Bramasco to tie the game, 2-2.
Casias (2 for 2, RBI, SB) had the fourth single in the inning, scoring Bramasco to take a 3-2 lead.
Bramasco led the Buccaneers with three hits in the game.
With the two losses, the Buccaneers remain winless in league with an 0-8 record and are 4-9 overall.
After the first inning, Monroe settled down and allowed only two hits, no runs and only four base runners through seven innings of work.
“He settled down and pitched a great game,” Gonzalez said. “He pitches to contact and he’s around the zone. He doesn’t walk a lot of guys, but they’re going to put the ball in play, but we got to play defense behind him.
“(Wednesday) we made no errors.”
Downey was perfect on the field in both games with no errors.
The Vikings tied the game, 3-3, in the sixth on a RBI single to left by Lopez, scoring Robinson.
Bellflower had a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, but after Monroe struck out his fourth batter in the game, the runner was thrown out to end the inning on a stolen base attempt.
“Just throwing a lot of strikes,” said Monroe, who had his longest outing this season. “I don’t strike a lot of guys out, just throw it down where they can hit the ball.
“It’s important to get these two wins and it’s really important because we have a really good league and some big teams, and we got to start off hot.”
Robinson opened the eighth inning with his inside-the-park home run. It was a hard single to right and James Asberry dove for the ball but it went all the way to the fence.
As Robinson rounded second, he was only thinking of three bases but saw Gonzalez waving him in for the go-ahead run.
“I was thinking three (bases) and it was my first high school home run,” Robinson said. I was very excited and was trying to pump up my team.
“We came out with a W.”
Sophomore pitcher Ozzy De La Cruz pitched the final inning for Downey to pick up the save.
The Vikings wrap up the three game series with Bellflower today (Friday) at Downey.
