Baseball: West Aurora rallies twice to beat Metea Valley
West Aurora rallied twice to pull out a 5-3 nonconference win over Metea Valley on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the bottom of the fifth only to fall behind in the top of the sixth when the Mustangs crossed the place twice to go in front 3-2.
West Aurora (6-2) responded with three more runs in its half of the inning to take the lead and thwarted Metea Valley’s comeback effort in the top of the seventh for the home win.
The game time temperature of 40 degrees and a wind blowing in from center field made hitting challenging.
“For our hitters I would say obviously the conditions weren’t very good, but they did a great job of battling and taking advantage of some situations,” Blackhawks coach John Reeves said.
Designated hitter Henry Hinkle opened West Aurora’s half of the sixth inning by drawing a walk from Metea Valley (4-2) relief pitcher Ethan Singer. Keegan Olsen’s single to center and a Jeremiah Juarez pinch-hit single loaded the bases.
Elliott Zielke’s sac fly to center plated Ryder Enriquez, running for Hinkle, and advanced Olsen to third. Olsen scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch during Tyler Fecht’s at bat.
“Honestly, I didn't get a good look at it right away, but I went with my gut,” Olsen said. “I saw the ball go away, and I just had to go in and get the run.”
Fecht finished his plate appearance with a single to left that scored Juarez with the insurance run.
After a strikeout to begin the top of the seventh, Blackhawks reliever Stephen Houston yielded a single to Diego Gutierrez, the junior’s third of the day. After a strikeout, Dayton Ramiscal coaxed a walk. A wild pitch put both runners in scoring position. Houston ended the threat and the game with a strikeout.
Reeves lauded the efforts of both Houston and starter Abe Martinez, who pitched the first five innings.
“A great job by Abe, getting us through five innings,” Reeves said. “Stephen came in and did a good job kind of navigating through some traffic.”
Gutierrez started on the mound for Metea Valley, pitching five innings.
“This was his third time on the bump, second start,” Mustangs coach Steve Colombe said. “He did a really good job, throwing lot of strikes.”
Gutierrez’s RBI single put Metea Valley in front in the first. West Aurora tied it in the third when Fecht crossed the plated on Zach Toma’s single up the middle.
West Aurora took the lead in the fifth when Oscar Alexander’s double to center, the Blackhawks’ only extra-base hit of the game, scored Juarez.
Metea Valley reclaimed the lead in the next inning. Ramsical scored on Tyler Gluting’s infield single. Tyler Darche scored on the same play as a result of an infield error.