LJ baseball 2, Lincoln 6 - 5/13

Lincoln rightfielder Dom Mendoza (on ground

in background) is helped up by a teammate after

he slid across the cement on his spikes at Muirlands,

catching a long foul ball by Harper Lane of La Jolla.

But the catch was ruled out of bounds, and

Lane (not pictured) walked on the next pitch

in the bottom of the third inning.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Lincoln lost their first two games to Morse last week, May 4 and 6, before eking out a win in the three-game league series Fri., May 8.

That put the Hornets and Coach Jesse De La Torre in a 4-4-1 hole, two and a half games behind City League leader La Jolla (7-2 at that point), tied with Scripps Ranch for second place.

On Wed., May 13, Lincoln did the same thing Morse did to them last week to the Vikings, winning its second game in a row to force a do-or-die game deciding the league championship on Lincoln's home field Fri., May 15.

The question remaining: Will La Jolla (7-4) win the third game, the same way Lincoln (6-4-1) did against Morse last week?

How it got to this point:

The visiting Hornets, ruining the hosts' Senior Game honoring seven graduating 12th-graders, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third on Ari Estrada's bases-clearing double to center. The fly went over centerfielder Harper Lane's head, not a small feat, in Ronnie Spellman Field's roomy outfield.

The Vikings countered, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth on Hunter Durfee's sacrifice fly to center, driving in Ryan Khourajian from third. Khourajian had singled for the second time to left, moved to second on a walk to Joseph Crudo, and took third on a wild pitch.

Coach Gary Frank's thinking before the game on starting Durfee at first base, moving Khourajian from first to behind the plate and starting catcher Carter Strauss to second base: "To get another bat in the lineup. Some guys have not been hitting the last few games."

Viking Andrew Cardenas (7) scores on a basehit

by Harper Lane in the top of the fifth, with

LJHS coach Gary Frank (4) running alongside

him from the third base coach's box.

The Vikings now trailed 3-2.

Plus, "Ryan and (starting pitcher) Will (Griebe-Arzate) grew up together. Giving guys opportunities."

Griebe-Arzate's curveball was good, and his velocity on his fastball seemed elevated. He got stronger in the fourth and fifth innings, striking out the side in the top of the fourth, all three on called third strikes, using his slower curve to offset his fastball.

In the fifth, the junior struck out two of three batters, inducing soft contact on the other out (a groundball to Durfee for a tagout along the first base line).

In the bottom of the fifth, Lane, hitting in the second slot, struck a hard grounder through the hole to right field, bringing Will around from second. La Jolla trailed, 3-2. Griebe-Arzate had led off the inning with a solid single to center. Strauss sacrifice-bunted him to second.

The Hornets went up 4-2 in the top of the sixth on a groundball by Alexis Padilla to second base for an error. Estrada came around to score from second.

In the top of the seventh, Frank inserted Lane on the mound after Griebe-Arzate's six innings of work. Will only allowed three hits, struck out nine, and walked two.

Rightfielder Dom Mendoza, a lefty hitter who blasted a two-run first-inning home run Monday for the Lincoln difference, crushed another one to straightaway-right, clearing the fence about 355 feet away and bouncing on the Muirlands pavement beyond. That closed out the scoring.