Hot Huskies Bats Needed to Turn Away Late Compton Rally and Hold On

by Cerwin D Haynes

The bats came alive in a big way Thursday as East Los Angeles College (6-12, 2-3) baseball exploded for 20 hits, pulling away - holding on - and then pulling away again late to defeat Compton (2-16, 1-7), 19–10, in South Coast Conference play.

A nine-run victory usually would not signal that the winning team had to "hold-on", but Compton nearly erased the Huskies' comfortable lead in the eighth inning.

After ELAC built an 11-2 advantage, the Tartars erupted for eight runs against the ELAC bullpen to suddenly make it an 11-10 game. Corey Guy's two-run homer highlighted the rally, and Compton strung together several hits and walks to keep the inning alive as the Huskies saw their nine-run cushion nearly disappear.

Thankfully, the home Green quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning thanks to their freshmen. CF Alex Sotelo opened the frame with an RBI double, 3B Moses Aguirre followed with another run-scoring double, and freshman P/DH Daniel Quiroz added an RBI single. Later in the inning, C Gabriel Rincon delivered the decisive blow with a three-run double before sophomore SS Israel Espinoza capped the rally with an RBI single as the Huskies plated eight runs of their own to regain control and put the game away.

The Pack came close to wasting a good start by Quiroz (1-0), who threw seven strong innings of three-hit ball. He only gave up two earned runs with a walk, striking out one. He also helped his cause at the plate, going 2-6 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Freshman C Gabriel Rincon had a big day, going 4-5 with two doubles and a triple while driving in four. Freshman 1B Phillip Chaidez - who's doing one heck of a dual-threat Shohei Ohtani imitation on the mound and at the plate - went 2-3 with a homerun (3) to left; he had 3RBI while scoring four times and walking thrice.

HUSKY BITS

• Sophomore reliever Kellen Gewecke came on during that near-fatal eighth inning with the Huskies up 11-9. He gave up a walk and an RBI single, but he picked off a runner at first and induced a grounder/force out at second to hold the lead. He pitched a scoreless ninth and got the save, his first of the season.

UP NEXT:

If the Huskies are going to make up ground in the South Coast Conference standings, they'll need to grab the rubber match this Saturday at Compton. Game time at 12 noon.