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July 3, 2008
Little League. . .
White Rock had already upset the Española Angels 5-2 in the semifinals to reach the championship game.
The Mariners’ pitchers simply couldn’t find the plate in the bottom of that second inning, and they issued eight walks to the Pirates, leading to nine runs. After what seemed like an eternity of base-on-balls, the shell-shocked Mariners finally went to their dugout.
Coach Rudy Martinez wouldn’t let them hang their heads.
“It’s not over,” Martinez said to his team.
The Mariners responded to his encouragement. Leadoff hitter Manuel Otero stroked a single, Colton Nez followed with a base hit and the next two batters walked, bringing Otero across the plate.
Nez scored on a groundout and the next batter struck out. Marcos Trujillo delivered a two-run double, narrowing the Pirates’ lead to 9-6.
“”We did just what we had to do,” Martinez told his team. “Little by little we’ll catch them.”
Buoyed by his team’s success, pitcher Nez held White Rock scoreless in the bottom of the third and the Mariners took the lead in the top of the fourth inning.
Otero got things started again for Española with a one-out single and Nez followed with another base hit. Otero scored on a groundout and Nez scored on an error, making the score 9-8.
The Mariners scored four more runs to take a 12-9 lead, but White Rock tied it up in the bottom of the fourth. Nez complained of a pain in his side and was replaced on the mound by Dennis Padilla.
The Mariners went ahead 14-12 in the top of the fifth inning on Chris Martinez’s two-run homer, his second of the tournament.
But White Rock exploded for 11 runs in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of erratic Española pitching, poor fielding and back-to-back ground rule doubles by Brandon Hodge and Jared Mang.
It proved to be too much for the Mariners, who were held scoreless in the top of the sixth and final inning.
“That’s baseball,” Rudy Martinez said. “These kids played their hearts out.”
The Mariners will travel to Las Cruces July 8 to play in the American Amateur Baseball Congress state tournament.
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