Warriors pound out 13 hits en route to eight-run win, go game up
in Coastal Athletic League with two games remaining
GILROY – Anchorpoint Christian’s Ryan Tapia didn’t have his best stuff early in Thursday’s first-place battle with Anzar, especially in the first three innings when the Hawks put runners in scoring position in each frame.
“It was a real gutsy performance for him,” said Anchorpoint manager Ken Bradley. “He didn’t have his best mechanics, but he still fought and made the pitches when he needed to.”
Despite the opportunities, Anzar stranded 10 runners on base, nine of whom were in scoring position, while Tapia quickly settled down after the third when the Warriors plated four runs en route to a 12-4 victory – a win that supplies Anchorpoint with sole control of first place in the Coastal Athletic League if it can win its next two games.
“I think I was a little bit wild in the beginning,” Tapia said. “They started to hit the ball and they were coming on, but I had my defense to back me up.
“I think in my mind I did okay, but I could have done better.”
The Hawks complete its season at 5-3 in the CAL, 8-9 overall, and will need all the help it can get from Calvary Chapel, which still has two games remaining against Anchorpoint (4-2 CAL) this week.
“Yeah, it was disappointing because of the amount of runners we left on base,” Anzar manager Andrew Barragan said. “Our team here, when we see a pitcher struggle, that’s when we have to capitalize. We didn’t capitalize on him early … but the kids tried.
“But not to take anything away from Tapia. He settled down and got into a groove, kept us off balance.”
Although he did get into trouble early on with walks, which were then compounded with two Anchorpoint fielding errors, Tapia only allowed one earned run and was pitching a no-hitter into the fifth inning when Anzar’s Blake Selsor broke up the bid. Tapia finished with 10 walks and six strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
“I was very confident out there, that he’d fall into a groove,” Bradley said. “We could have had him go seven (innings), but there was no need to push it.”
Josh Brendle finished the game in relief, recording four strikeouts.
It was the Hawks who jumped out to an early lead in the third, when a pitch in the dirt advanced Nick Salgado to third base, while the ensuing throw back to the pitcher was overthrown, allowing Salgado to help his own cause and score the game’s first run.
Salgado (2.1IP, 3H, 2R, 1K, 1HBP) started on the hill for Anzar and looked strong in the early innings with solid defense behind him. But up 1-0, Anzar’s lead was short lived, as the Warriors posted a four spot in the home half of the third that saw three straight RBI singles from Christian McCrimon, Josh Brendle and Travis Thompson. Thompson would later score on a pitch in the dirt.
“We just had to get our spirits kicked in,” Thompson said. “We had to get ourselves together and we couldn’t rely on Tapia. We had to play together as a team.”
Anchorpoint made its lead comfortable when it tacked on two more in the fourth behind an RBI single from McCrimon and an RBI double from Brendle, while Anzar made it a 6-2 game in the fifth when Zak Fink’s grounder to the left side plated Selsor.
But each time the Hawks scored, the Warriors would respond. In the bottom half of the fifth, Anchorpoint added four more runs, highlighted by a two-run single up the middle by McCrimon.
Anzar kept the game interesting in the sixth when Devon Parish and Davin Clark-Fabela each scored after a pick-off attempt at third led to an overthrow, but once again Anchorpoint answered with two more runs in the bottom half behind a two-RBI single into left field by Josh Marozick.
The game, which carried a winner-take-all scenario in many ways for Anzar, was only made possible after the Hawks were able to post a 4-1 win against Anchorpoint last Tuesday.
“Just for us to get in the kids’ ear – we were only one game away,” Barragan said. “That’s a far cry from winning two games last year and being a game away from a league title (this year).”
Anzar has just one senior in Paolo Marra-Biggs, and will otherwise return the bulk of its roster next season. Anchorpoint, meanwhile, will need to remain focused in its last two games with Calvary Chapel – the first being played today at 4 p.m. – despite having taken two games over CC earlier this season.
“All of the teams in our league are very competitive,” Bradley said. “Each time we play Calvary, we know they’re capable.”
ANZ – 001 012 0 – 4 2 2
ANC – 004 242 X – 12 13 4
WP: R. Tapia
LP: N. Salgado
