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Hoover loses a golden chance
Baseball: Three-run lead over Arcadia vanishes late, along with chance to move into second place.
By Grant Gordon
ARCADIA — Big innings, stranded runners and comeback after comeback characterized Tuesday afternoon’s Pacific League baseball game at Arcadia High.
But when all was said and done, none of that really mattered to Hoover High Coach Jim Delzell.
“Yeah, we did come back and play well, but the bottom line is it’s a loss,” said Delzell, shortly after his Tornadoes had squandered a three-run, sixth-inning lead en route to losing to host Arcadia, 9-8, in eight innings. “We just made far too many mistakes.”
Hoover (11-7, 7-4 in league) bounced back from 4-0 and 5-4 deficits, but gave up four runs over the last three innings in a crucial defeat.
“This is a huge game,” said Delzell, whose squad could’ve moved into a second-place tie by defeating Arcadia (13-9, 9-2), but now has just a one-game cushion for the final league playoff spot.
The teams combined to strand 20 runners, with Hoover stranding 10.
Arcadia did plenty of damage with a four-run third, but the Tornadoes countered in the fourth.
Juan Aguirre, who went three for four with two runs batted in and two runs, singled in older brother Oscar, who had three hits, as well, to make the score 4-1.
Consecutive two-out singles by Jason Ochart, who went three for five, and Sako Chapjian, who went three for four with a walk, pushed across Jason Tapia, Adam Ochart and Juan Aguirre to tie the game.
Arcadia jumped back ahead in their half of the inning, but a resilient Hoover squad fired right back.
Once again it was Juan Aguirre who came through in the clutch, driving in Tapia on a two-out single to tie the game at 5 in the fifth.
Two more singles followed, with Bobby Romero and Jason Ochart driving in runs to make it 7-5.
Chapjian led off the sixth with a double and later scored on a hit-and-run single by Oscar Aguirre to make it 8-5.
“And then we just let it slip away,” Delzell said.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, the inning saw a second Tornadoes error in the outfield, which allowed two runs to score.
After Hoover stranded runners at first and second in the seventh, Arcadia had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the inning.
A two-out single by Garrett Tuck would send the game to extra innings.
With Arcadia ace Bryce Rutherford on in relief in the eighth, the Tornadoes went down 1-2-3.
Hoover’s fielding problems popped back up in the bottom of the inning, as the Tornadoes were unable to cleanly field bunts in two consecutive at bats. It all set the stage for David Huntzinger’s bases-loaded, walk-off single.
“It’s frustrating,” Delzell said. “We were down, give our kids credit for battling back — we just didn’t want to win bad enough.
“I’ll give Arcadia credit, they wanted to win more than us.”
But when all was said and done, none of that really mattered to Hoover High Coach Jim Delzell.
“Yeah, we did come back and play well, but the bottom line is it’s a loss,” said Delzell, shortly after his Tornadoes had squandered a three-run, sixth-inning lead en route to losing to host Arcadia, 9-8, in eight innings. “We just made far too many mistakes.”
Hoover (11-7, 7-4 in league) bounced back from 4-0 and 5-4 deficits, but gave up four runs over the last three innings in a crucial defeat.
“This is a huge game,” said Delzell, whose squad could’ve moved into a second-place tie by defeating Arcadia (13-9, 9-2), but now has just a one-game cushion for the final league playoff spot.
The teams combined to strand 20 runners, with Hoover stranding 10.
Arcadia did plenty of damage with a four-run third, but the Tornadoes countered in the fourth.
Juan Aguirre, who went three for four with two runs batted in and two runs, singled in older brother Oscar, who had three hits, as well, to make the score 4-1.
Consecutive two-out singles by Jason Ochart, who went three for five, and Sako Chapjian, who went three for four with a walk, pushed across Jason Tapia, Adam Ochart and Juan Aguirre to tie the game.
Arcadia jumped back ahead in their half of the inning, but a resilient Hoover squad fired right back.
Once again it was Juan Aguirre who came through in the clutch, driving in Tapia on a two-out single to tie the game at 5 in the fifth.
Two more singles followed, with Bobby Romero and Jason Ochart driving in runs to make it 7-5.
Chapjian led off the sixth with a double and later scored on a hit-and-run single by Oscar Aguirre to make it 8-5.
“And then we just let it slip away,” Delzell said.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, the inning saw a second Tornadoes error in the outfield, which allowed two runs to score.
After Hoover stranded runners at first and second in the seventh, Arcadia had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the inning.
A two-out single by Garrett Tuck would send the game to extra innings.
With Arcadia ace Bryce Rutherford on in relief in the eighth, the Tornadoes went down 1-2-3.
Hoover’s fielding problems popped back up in the bottom of the inning, as the Tornadoes were unable to cleanly field bunts in two consecutive at bats. It all set the stage for David Huntzinger’s bases-loaded, walk-off single.
“It’s frustrating,” Delzell said. “We were down, give our kids credit for battling back — we just didn’t want to win bad enough.
“I’ll give Arcadia credit, they wanted to win more than us.”
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