Warren High School freshman right fielder Jayden Lujan gets a hit in a game against Downey on Monday, March 20. The Downey catcher is junior Damian Gonzalez. Downey won, 7-6 in a Gateway League game. (Photo by Mayra Cisneros).

DOWNEY – No matter what sport, it’s just Downey-Warren. In one of the best rivalries in any sport in California, the intensity is ramped up when these two Downey teams meet.

Separated by only a few blocks, anything goes in this neighborly meeting.

Monday March 20 was the latest chapter when the Bears and Vikings met in an early Suburban Valley Conference, Gateway League baseball game at Warren high.

Downey, with an early 5-0 lead, held on to defeat Warren, 7-6, in the first of three meetings between the two schools in league action. They met for game number two Thursday March 23. (Results were unavailable at press time).

“Winning league games are always good,” Downey Baseball coach Jess Gonzalez said. “A win is a win. Our guys figured it out.”

With the win, Downey improves to 7-6 overall and 2-2 in league in third place behind La Mirada (3-0) and Gahr (2-0). Warren is 8-4 overall and 0-2 in league.

A call by the umpire in the bottom of the seventh hurt Warren’s chances to rally a second time..

A walk to senior first baseman Julian Angulo opened the inning. He moved to second on a single by sophomore designated hitter Brandon Ibarra. His brother, junior Marco Ibarra followed with a single to left field, potentially driving in Angulo.

Angulo was stopped rounding third by base coach Jose Nava, but Angulo grazed him on the way back to the base. After the Downey shortstop noticed that Angulo had grazed Nava, the umpires ruled him out and the first threat was squashed.

“I was rounding third hard and tried to put the brakes on and tried to stop myself and grazed coach,” said Angulo, of the play. “It just happened.”

With Brandon Ibarra on second and Marco Ibarra on first, Brandon scored the sixth run from second on a failed back pick to first base by the Vikings catcher.

The Bears still had a chance to tie the game, loading up the bases a second time on a walk and hit batter, but a strikeout ended the game.

“That was a wild game,” said Warren Baseball coach Scott Pearson, of the comeback and unfortunate ending. “I was proud of our guys. They battled, fought back, and never gave up. They proved that they are tough and resilient and know how to deal with adversity. Jess (Gonzalez)does a great job over there (Downey) and these games are always fun.”

Leading the way for Downey was senior shortstop Aaron Torres (2 for 3) and senior center fielder Matthew Garcia (2 for 3). Both players had an RBI.

Warren was led by junior third baseman Marco Ibarra (3 for 4) with a three-run home run, three RBIs and one run scored, while freshman right fielder Jayden Lujan was 2 for 3.

Warren had a chance to take an early, 1-0 lead in the first inning as leadoff hitter Branden Lepe singled and was sacrificed to second by Angulo but was left stranded.

Downey scored five early runs in the second inning, as the Bears committed a couple of errors and a wild pitch, leading to a 5-0 lead.

In the inning, senior right fielder Armando Sanchez led off with a walk by Warren starting pitcher Angel Cervantes, followed by a single by junior first baseman Ricardo Cortez.

Sanchez eventually scored the first run, followed by four more runs on three singles (Cortez, Matthew Garcia and Torres). Torres, who scored the fifth run on a fielding error by the Warren third baseman, also had an RBI single.

“I had to get out of the inning,” said Cervantes of the five-runs by Downey. “I had to eliminate the walks.”

Warren came back with a single run in the bottom of the third inning when senior outfielder Joaquin Gonzalez walked to open the inning, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch by Downey starter Michael Reyes.

Gonzalez came home with the run on a sacrifice fly to center field by Angulo to trail, 5-1. Warren had two runners on in the inning but failed to score.

Reyes, who got the win, meanwhile had allowed only three hits through the first four innings before the Bears scored four in the fifth to tie the game, 5-5.

In that fifth inning for Warren, it only took two big swings of the bat to tie the game.

Angulo opened the inning with a solo home run, followed by a walk to Cervantes and Brandon Ibarra reached on catchers interference. That brought up his brother Marco Ibarra, who connected with a three-run tying home run to put new life into the Bears.

“We were down early and were still confident to get something going,” said Angulo of the comeback.

After the home run by Marco Ibarra, senior shortstop Gabriel Lizarraga and Lujan both singled, but did not score.

“I knew that at least I had to get a hit,” Marco Ibarra said. “He gave me a cookie and I hit it to left center. The more you hit, the more you hit.”

Ibarra was referring to comments always made by his coaches.

“If you put in the work, you see the results,” he added.

Cervantes added of the four-run comeback to tie the game by the Bears, “That was a big bounce back, especially by my team,” he added. “They were hyped and still came up short.”

Downey broke the 5-5 tie in the top of the sixth inning after Cortez was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Maddox Reyes pinch ran for Cortez, and scored on an RBI single by Matthew Garcia to break the tie with the sixth run.

Torres knocked in the seventh run with a single, scoring Travis Lara, who pinch ran for junior catcher Damian Gonzalez.

After Downey broke the 5-5 tie, Warren tried valiantly to tie the game in the seventh but came up short.

Warren High rally falls short against Downey, 7-6