Aragon baseball wins wild one at South City after four lead changes in first three innings

So, when the Warriors (0-4, 5-10) loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh to get cleanup hitter Yordonis Medina-Pineda to the plate representing the game-winning run, it felt like South City might return the walk-off favor.

“Every inning we’ve played this year, with the exception of two games, the game has been on the line,” Aragon manager John Rally said. “So, this team is just kind of battle-tested, and really unfazed by it at this point.”

South City had already plated one run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Emilio Oseguera to make it 11-8. So, when Aragon’s sophomore closer James Wright followed by walking No. 3 batter Gio Bernal to reload the bases, Rally made a mound visit. The first-year manager said he was intent on staying with the right-hander the whole time.

“We were going to let James carry us,” Rally said. “He’s been nails in these types of situations. He’s been serving as our closer of sorts. And he’s only a sophomore. He doesn’t overwhelm anyone on the mound, but he’s a gamer and, in those kind of situations, he’s just going to keep giving us a chance.”

South City freshman Dylan Munsayac was in the on-deck circle during the game’s final at-bat, licking his chops at the chance to hit with the game on the line.

“I was just thinking if Yordi got on, I would either tie it or walk it off right there,” Munsayac said. “I was confident enough.”

Munsayac and the Warriors nearly got the chance. After running the count to 2-2, Wright won the battle, getting a fastball just up the bat of Medina-Pineda to coax a popup to short and earn his second save of the year. Medina-Pineda put a good swing on the pitch, but just got under it a little bit.

“Just a little bit,” Munsayac said regretfully. “Just a little bit under.”

It was a fitting end to a wild game. South City pitching issued nine walks on the day, while Aragon’s defense committed seven errors. A slow and sloppy start resulted in four lead changes through the first three innings, with South City starting pitcher Josh Nabung lasting just two innings. It was Nabung’s first start in two weeks as he missed time due to an injury to a finger on his pitching hand.

“So, he was a little rusty coming out,” South City manager Matt Schaukowitch said. “I thought maybe he could flush it out after the first inning, but it just wasn’t the case today.”

Nabung escaped a rough first inning to allow just one run, thanks to a fantastic diving play by sophomore second baseman Jayden Tejada to end the inning. South City responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame on RBI singles from Bernal and Munsayac. The Dons sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the second, capping a go-ahead four-run rally with a two-run single by senior Xavier Ruiz. But the Warriors answered with four runs in the bottom of the frame, capped by Munsayac’s RBI double, to swing ahead 6-5.

Aragon, though, kept the line moving in the third, taking the lead for good with a three-run outburst. The bottom of the order set the table, as a leadoff walk to Brandon Potter and a single by junior Alex Gosselin turned over the order for leadoff hitter Saxon Lucia. The junior sent a liner to right field that was misplayed for a three-base error, allowing both the tying and go-ahead runs to race around the bases.

“We knew going in to this game that the wind was blowing over to right,” Potter said. “So, we knew the ball was going to carry there. I was looking at the right fielder, and he was kind of flat-footed a little bit ... and when he stood still, I saw the ball ... was going to go over him.”

Potter said he wasn’t surprised that Gosselin — who also served as Aragon’s starting pitcher — was able to score all the way from first.

“He’s a hell of an athlete,” Potter said. “He’s very fast. But, yeah, it’s all about getting great reads. And he got a great read.”

After two rough innings with shoddy defense from the left side of his infield, Gosselin got back on track to earn the win, turning in five innings of work. The junior right-hander set down seven in a row at one point. It would have been 10 in a row, if not for an infield error in the fourth.

“That was a big, big deal from him,” Rally said. “We kind of left him out to dry defensively. It wasn’t so much on him. I mean, they were hitting the ball hard. They were taking good swings. But he settled down and just kept putting it in there, and eventually our defense started doing their job.”

It was the defense of Potter in right field that helped settle down Gosselin. With the Dons having taken a one-run lead in the top of the third, South City junior Diego Carranza opened the bottom of the inning with a lofty fly ball down the right-field line that saw Potter chase it down with leaping finish to glove it.

“It was actually a bad route,” Potter said. “I’m normally an infielder, so in the outfield it was not a great route. I attribute it to being a two-sport athlete.”

Potter, usually a corner infielder, was making his first varsity start in the outfield. He followed up his long, running catch for the first out with a good read on a sinking liner off the bat of South City sophomore Josh Ornelas to catch it running straight in for the second out. Gosselin went on to retire the side in order.

Gosselin worked five innings, allowing seven runs (two earned) to earn the win. Munsayac worked four innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits in relief of Nabung. Junior left-hander Vince Bernal, in addition to having three hits at the plate, worked a scoreless seventh, walking one and striking out three.

South City, despite hitting .356 on the year, has now lost eight straight.

“This is really the first game back that we’ve really slugged the ball a little bit,” Schaukowitch said. “Unfortunately they just didn’t fall when we needed them to fall.”