BASEBALL: Underdog Vasquez falls against Crean Lutheran
May 28, 2014
ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press Assistant Sports Editor
LANCASTER - Jacob Musial was dealing, the Vasquez baseball team's bats were rebelliously backing him up and the improbable looked quite doable on Tuesday afternoon.
But in an upset-in-the making gone awry against top-seeded Crean Lutheran, a case of something quite good not lasting long enough predominated.
"We rode (Musial) as long as we could," Vasquez coach Paul Clemens said after his team's 7-4 loss.
Limited by a right shoulder injury which flared up at quite an inopportune time, three innings was all Musial could give the Mustangs as their season ended in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 6 playoffs.
"It was very irritating," Musial said.
Through two innings, it was the Mustangs (13-6) who annoyed the Saints (24-4-1), refusing to play the role of big underdogs and enjoying a 3-0 lead going into the third inning.
Musial recorded a 1-2-3 frame in the first and had four strikeouts after two innings, around the time his troublesome shoulder decided to be a problem again.
"My arm was starting to go away slowly," Musial said.
That combined with the Saints starting to play like the top team in Division 6 was a bad combo.
After only allowing a single in the first two innings, the senior gave up six hits in the third as the three-run lead evaporated.
Down 3-2 with two outs, Crean Lutheran hit three consecutive line-drive singles to take a 4-3 lead before Musial finally got a fly ball to right field to end the frame.
Even then, it was only a one-run game, and with the way Vasquez had gotten to Crean Lutheran starter Matt Markus early, there was no reason to believe the Mustangs were done.
"It was anybody's game," Clemens said.
By then, however, Markus had completely regained his composure.
Following a three-run first inning in which six of the first seven Mustangs reached first base safely - including No. 6 batter Garrett Berry on an error by Saints shortstop Jonah Halverson - Markus settled down and scattered three hits and three walks over the next five scoreless innings.
He gave way to closer Will Tomlinson in the seventh, finishing the game with seven hits, four walks, three earned runs and six strikeouts.
"I just made a couple of adjustments with my mechanics and went out there and threw and did what I knew how to do," Markus said.
Their starter unable to adjust his ailing shoulder, the Mustangs turned to third baseman Frankie Linstrom to switch positions with Musial at the start of the fourth.
Linstrom, who went 3-for-4 as the leadoff hitter, was serviceable in relief, giving up three hits and three runs.
Only one of Linstrom's runs was earned, as Vasquez shot itself in the foot by committing two errors late in the game.
"You could tell it turned around and cost us not only the runs, but the game ultimately," Clemens said.
Its season down to its last three outs while trailing by four, Vasquez got a leadoff double from cleanup hitter Bobby Aguilar. He then stole third and came in on an RBI groundout from Berry.
Moments later, Manny Lomeli struck out looking and the Mustangs' year - which earlier had looked like it could see another day - came to an end.
Clemens, who is stepping down as the coach after only one season, couldn't wait for the next one to get started.
"We'll be strong next year," he said. "This is absolutely a learning experience and they will absolutely be ready for it next year."
With the Mustangs losing only four seniors, there's a good chance Clemens' forecast might come true. On Tuesday, two of those seniors, Musial and Linstrom, made it a closer call than most expected.
"We definitely did a lot better than I thought we would," Musial said. "We kicked a lot of butt.
"Everyone was on their A game."
ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press Assistant Sports Editor
LANCASTER - Jacob Musial was dealing, the Vasquez baseball team's bats were rebelliously backing him up and the improbable looked quite doable on Tuesday afternoon.
But in an upset-in-the making gone awry against top-seeded Crean Lutheran, a case of something quite good not lasting long enough predominated.
"We rode (Musial) as long as we could," Vasquez coach Paul Clemens said after his team's 7-4 loss.
Limited by a right shoulder injury which flared up at quite an inopportune time, three innings was all Musial could give the Mustangs as their season ended in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 6 playoffs.
"It was very irritating," Musial said.
Through two innings, it was the Mustangs (13-6) who annoyed the Saints (24-4-1), refusing to play the role of big underdogs and enjoying a 3-0 lead going into the third inning.
Musial recorded a 1-2-3 frame in the first and had four strikeouts after two innings, around the time his troublesome shoulder decided to be a problem again.
"My arm was starting to go away slowly," Musial said.
That combined with the Saints starting to play like the top team in Division 6 was a bad combo.
After only allowing a single in the first two innings, the senior gave up six hits in the third as the three-run lead evaporated.
Down 3-2 with two outs, Crean Lutheran hit three consecutive line-drive singles to take a 4-3 lead before Musial finally got a fly ball to right field to end the frame.
Even then, it was only a one-run game, and with the way Vasquez had gotten to Crean Lutheran starter Matt Markus early, there was no reason to believe the Mustangs were done.
"It was anybody's game," Clemens said.
By then, however, Markus had completely regained his composure.
Following a three-run first inning in which six of the first seven Mustangs reached first base safely - including No. 6 batter Garrett Berry on an error by Saints shortstop Jonah Halverson - Markus settled down and scattered three hits and three walks over the next five scoreless innings.
He gave way to closer Will Tomlinson in the seventh, finishing the game with seven hits, four walks, three earned runs and six strikeouts.
"I just made a couple of adjustments with my mechanics and went out there and threw and did what I knew how to do," Markus said.
Their starter unable to adjust his ailing shoulder, the Mustangs turned to third baseman Frankie Linstrom to switch positions with Musial at the start of the fourth.
Linstrom, who went 3-for-4 as the leadoff hitter, was serviceable in relief, giving up three hits and three runs.
Only one of Linstrom's runs was earned, as Vasquez shot itself in the foot by committing two errors late in the game.
"You could tell it turned around and cost us not only the runs, but the game ultimately," Clemens said.
Its season down to its last three outs while trailing by four, Vasquez got a leadoff double from cleanup hitter Bobby Aguilar. He then stole third and came in on an RBI groundout from Berry.
Moments later, Manny Lomeli struck out looking and the Mustangs' year - which earlier had looked like it could see another day - came to an end.
Clemens, who is stepping down as the coach after only one season, couldn't wait for the next one to get started.
"We'll be strong next year," he said. "This is absolutely a learning experience and they will absolutely be ready for it next year."
With the Mustangs losing only four seniors, there's a good chance Clemens' forecast might come true. On Tuesday, two of those seniors, Musial and Linstrom, made it a closer call than most expected.
"We definitely did a lot better than I thought we would," Musial said. "We kicked a lot of butt.
"Everyone was on their A game."