Warren rallies past Downey in rivalry showdown
DOWNEY – With three runs late in the game, the Warren Bears baseball team came from behind to defeat rival Downey, 5-3, Wednesday (March 18) to even up the three-game Gateway League series.
Trailing, 3-1, in the third inning of game one on Tuesday (March 17), the Vikings had their own come-from-behind win, scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth to win, 6-3. Junior pitcher Ozzy De la Cruz went the distance for his fifth win of the season with no losses.
The teams conclude their three-game series Friday (March 20) at Downey.
“(Downey) is always going to its “A” game,” Warren third-year coach Cesar Martinez said. “It’s always going to be a tight ballgame and anything can happen. It’s fun for the city, fun for the district. We’re senior heavy.
“It’s always a dogfight every year. We did what we could and luckily thank God we came out victorious.”
In Wednesday’s game, Downey took the early lead with single runs in the first, second and third innings behind six hits. It was highlighted with a solo home run by senior right fielder Eddie Causley (3 for 4, 2 RBIs, R, SB, HR) in the third inning for the 3-0 lead.
Warren scored two runs in the third and fifth innings and a solo home run in the sixth by sophomore designated hitter Max Ruiz.
With the win, Warren improves to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in league, while Downey slipped to 7-6 and 1-1.
Leading the way for Warren, was four players with two hits each – senior first baseman Carlos Navarro (2 for 4, 2 RBIs), senior second baseman Josue Evangelista (2 for 3, R), senior right fielder Jose Eljaik (2 for 3) and senior left fielder Ivan Martinez (2 for 2). Junior pitcher Micah Sigler picked up the win for the Bears.
All nine starters had at least one hit for the Vikings.
Downey opened with a flair with eight hits in the first four innings, including three extra base hits (double, triple and home run).
Downey senior first baseman Morise Robinson opened the hit parade with a long triple up against the center field wall and came home with the first run of the game on a single to left by Causley.
The Vikings scored again in the second inning after junior designated hitter Nathan Carrasco led off with a double, was sacrificed to third by junior shortstop Braydon Bejines and came home with the second run on a hard infield shot off of Navarro at first.
Causley hit his second home run of the season to left to open the third for the 3-0 lead.
In the third inning for the Bears, Ruiz was hit by the pitch, followed by a walk to Evangelista and an infield single by Eljaik to load the bases.
Ruiz and Evangelista came home for the Bears first two runs on a single to left by Navarro.
“He was our guy last year hitting about .330 and an All-League guy,” said Cesar Martinez, of Navarro’s two-run single. “That was huge.”
Navarro talked of the early scoring by the Vikings and how the guys were pumped up after his hit, “Early on I felt like we were just getting punched in the face with their three runs in the first three innings. We had to recognize that there was a lot of baseball left to play.
“(Wednesday) just helped all of us get back in that little groove that we need to get into and built some confidence into some of the guys.”
Meanwhile, Downey had left seven runners on base in scoring position through the first five innings. They left 11 runners total on base in the game.
Warren took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth after Evangelista opened with a single to left. A ground out sacrifice to Vikings starting pitcher Xavier Renteria by Perez brought home pinch runner Mauricio Duenas for the second run. And the pinch runner for Navarro, Mark Acala, came home with the go-ahead run on outfield error by the Bears to lead, 4-3.
“That was asking our middle of the order guys to be selfless and being selfless bought into what we’re trying to do and do a little extra,” said Cesar Martinez of the sacrifice.
Perez emphasized how important small ball is this season for the Bears. “Small ball is really important and in that moment I was really excited to get it down and I just wanted to help out the team. It’s a good feeling and everyone is pumped up that we were tied after being down in the first three innings.”
In the sixth for Downey, Causley singled to left and was eventually stranded at third in the inning.
“We had a good start and were hitting balls hard, but I’m a little bummed with the loss,” said Causley, who has signed with the University of La Verne next year.”
Causley also talked of the high number of runners left on the bases (11), “That was our biggest problem. A lot of those were with less than two outs also. We just have to shorten up and hit the ball to the right side and move runners over.”
Ruiz added an insurance run for the Bears in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to right for the 5-3 lead.
“Downey-Warren has been one of the most competitive series’ out of all of the series in league,” Ruiz said. “We’re both in Downey and everybody plays at their best.
Ruiz, with his first varsity homer added, “I was down two strikes and I was looking for something in the zone that was hittable. That run gave us some insurance a little bit.”
