From the archives: Mills wins it in 12 innings

Mills manager Tony Adornetto said his team has been in a number of close games this season, dropping one-run decisions to both Aragon and Woodside.

“I expect every game is going to be like [this],” Adornetto said. “It’s unfortunate it had to end on an error. We made our share of mistakes. Luckily it didn’t hurt us too much.”

Both teams had their chances in extra innings, but time and again, pitching and defense got them out of jams. In the top of the 12th, Sequoia (3-2 PAL Ocean, 7-6-1 overall) had Matt Elliott in scoring position at second base with two outs, but the Cherokees could not come up with clutch hit as Mills relief pitcher Sereno Esponilla got the third out on a called third strike.

In the bottom of the 12th, Aram Moshkounian drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. Bryan Hidalgo then hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that went between his legs and trickled into shallow left field. The Sequoia left fielder hustled to the ball and with Moshkounian heading home, sent a throw to the plate that beat Moshkounian. Moshkounian slid into the Sequoia catcher, who couldn’t hold onto the ball. The home plate umpire did not make an initial signal, but when his teammates told Moshkounian to touch the plate, the umpire signaled “safe,” ending the marathon.

Despite the loss, Sequoia manager Corey Uhalde was proud of the way his team played.

“There were certainly frustrating moments, but the key was we battled,” Uhalde said. “There was never a point where they weren’t in this game. For me, that overshadows the execution.”

The two teams combined for five runs on 13 total hits, all singles.

By the time Moshkounian scored, it overshadowed tremendous starting pitching performances from Mills’ Joey Carney and Sequoia’s Jake Mauldin. Both pitchers gave up runs in the first inning, but that would be all the scoring until the eighth inning.

Carney walked Mauldin to lead off the game before retiring the next 15 batters he faced. He had a no-hitter through five innings, but Elliott broke that up with a single up the middle on an 0-2 count. It was the first real trouble Carney found himself in the game and he escaped unscathed. Elliott took second on an errant pickoff attempt and went to third on a groundout. With Mauldin at the plate, the Cherokees attempted a squeeze bunt, but Mauldin was hit by the pitch, which forced Elliott back to third base. Mauldin promptly stole second with Elliott attempting to score on a delayed double steal, but he was cut down at the plate on a perfect throw from shortstop Esponilla for the second out of the inning. Mauldin went to third on the play and then tried to steal home, but was thrown out at the plate.

Carney worked into the ninth inning, allowing just one earned run on just five hits.

Mauldin was even more impressive. He also allowed only five hits in eight innings of work, striking out 11 in the process.

“We were off balance all day,” Adornetto said.

Mauldin also faced some adversity and he too got through with flying colors. With the scored tied at 1 in the bottom of the fifth, Mills loaded the bases with no outs, on a pair of singles and a fielder’s choice. Mauldin struck out the next two batters and got a groundout to get out of the jam and end the inning.

Sequoia reliever Cameron Greenough faced a similar situation in the ninth inning and he too got out of the inning without allowing the winning run.

“We’ve been carried by our pitching all year. Our team ERA is well under 2 (runs per game),” Uhalde said. “We play a lot of 2-1 games and I thought that would be enough (Tuesday).”

Although the run Greenough allowed was unearned, it was the first run of any kind he’s allowed in 15 innings of work this season.

Sequoia wasted little time in taking a 1-0 lead. Mauldin walked to lead off the game, went to second on a groundout, took third on a passed ball and scored on Carl Wassermann’s groundout RBI. Mills came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Esponilla led off with an infield hit and went to second on an error. Moshkounian’s sacrifice bunt moved Esponilla to third and he scored on Hidalgo’s groundout.

The Cherokees went back ahead 2-1 by scratching a run across in the top of the eighth. Ryan Perkins singled and went to second on an errant pickoff attempt. Oliver Contento put down a sacrifice bunt to move Perkins to third and he scored on Elliott’s opposite-field flare single to right.

The Vikings tied the game in the bottom of the inning, with Hidalgo again driving in the tying run, plating Esponilla, who had drawn a one-out walk.

Hidalgo was in the middle of the game-winning rally as well. Although he officially only gets two RBI, his grounder through the shortstop’s legs drove home the winning run.