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Dylan Blakey had a three-run home run to lead Woodbridge’s comeback. (Photo: OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).
Woodbridge High School’s baseball team, down by four runs entering the top of the seventh inning, exploded for eight runs and went on to defeat Irvine 13-9 Saturday night in a hotly-contested final game of a Pacific Coast League tripleheader at the Great Park Stadium.
Woodbridge (9-5, 6-2) snapped a four-game winning streak by Irvine (4-9, 4-4) and remained in second place behind league leading Beckman.
Dylan Blakey belted a three-run home run in the seventh inning, had four RBI on the game and also came on in the sixth in relief to get the win for the Warriors, striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh.
“That was big, he’s such a strong kid and he has the potential to do that on any fastball,” said Woodbridge Coach Ryan Brucker of Blakey’s home run. “He’s been struggling a little bit lately trying to find the right pitch he wants to hit. He had a good day yesterday, he had two hits and he hit a ball hard at the end of the game, so he’s been putting together good at bats, so I was happy to see that happen for him and to go in and close it out on the mound for us was really good. He was the MVP, he deserved it.”
“To come back, I’m real proud of their resilience, especially after losing a tough one yesterday (6-4 loss to Irvine in eight innings). Like I said, we got to be a little bit better on defense but we’re sitting in second place and chasing Beckman and I don’t feel like we’ve played like a complete game yet. We got to clean some things up on defense and clean up our offensive approach and I think we have a lot of room to grow, so I like we’re we’re at. I’m just proud of them, they always compete, they never go down.
“As a coach, that’s all you can ask for.”
Irvine Coach Gabriel Cota said he was proud of his squad’s effort. One day earlier, Irvine was celebrating a 6-4 extra inning win over Woodbridge at Ryan Lemmon Stadium.
“That’s just baseball right there,” Cota said. “That’s a crazy 24 hours. We preach in our program about the game being more than just baseball. It’s a microcosm of life and sometimes you’re going to be up and sometimes you’re going to be down.
“I told my players after the game the scoreboard doesn’t dictate whether they’re winners or losers, I was really proud of the way we played the game. We didn’t respond when they were kind of doing some stuff that our players didn’t like and I told them don’t think about that. Obviously, it didn’t fall our way in the end but that’s part of the game. It happens.”
Brucker, informed of Cota’s concerns, said he had no comment.
It was a wild finish to a hard-fought game.
Woodbridge used a walk, an error and a hit batter to load the bases in the seventh. Then Sean McCance singled to drive in two runs. Blakey followed with his home run to left field off Tate Zimmerman, who came on in relief of starter Caden Shaffer.
“I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates getting on base,” Blakey said of his first home run of the year. “Down 9-5, it took everyone to make a comeback. Today was a great team effort all around.”
Jake Amundson, Nate Perry and Chase Quezeda also had RBI doubles in the inning.
Irvine trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning but scored six runs, two coming on a home run by Taylor Skelley to take a 7-2 lead.
“Taylor has had to battle to get himself into the right mindset,” added Cota, the Irvine coach. “He’s absolutely physically gifted. I’m really happy to see him have success tonight. He can do anything he sets his mind to, and we are going to rely on him the rest of the way.”
Woodbridge also had three errors in the inning which helped the Vaqueros take the lead. There was also a walk and a hit batter.
Woodbridge got closer in the top of the sixth with three runs on a bases loaded walk by Kyler Collver and a two-run double by Brandon Abernathy to cut the lead to 7-5.
However, Irvine countered in the bottom of the sixth with two runs, one a squeeze bunt by Ian Hew, which drove in pinch-runner Ethan France.
But the Vaqueros were unable to hold the lead.
McCance started for Woodbridge before being relieved by Justin Durby in the sixth.
McCance had two hits, two runs scored and three RBI and Perry had two doubles, an RBI and scored three runs. Irvine was led offensively by Zimmerman, who three hits and two runs scored and Bryan Wilhelm, who had two hits and two runs scored. Hew had a single, scored two runs and and had an RBI.
The game was the final of three at the Great Park. Beckman and Northwood also recorded victories. Admission was free and youth baseball players showed up to interact with the players, many lining up near the dugouts to talk to players in between innings. There were also contests for youngsters in between games.
For highlights of the other two games, click here:
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
