Damien 12, Diamond Bar, 8: Spartans Do the Little Things to Win Big
Damien players stand along the dugout rail rooting on their teammates.
Sometimes it’s the little things that don’t show up in the scorebook that spell victory.
Not having his usual lights-out stuff, pitcher Nick Amrhein this outing helped defeat Diamond Bar, 12-8, with his legs. In the bottom of the third with the Spartans leading 3-2, Amhein came up with one out and the bases loaded. The senior grounded to second for what looked like the start of an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, but Amrhein just beat the throw to first to get an RBI and keep the inning alive. Before the inning was over, Damien went on to score five more runs to take a commanding 9-2 lead.
“These guys are used to detail work,” Damien head coach Al Leyva said. “They know the little things pay off in the long run. You never know when that defining moment is. It can be as early as the second inning, or beating a throw out. We talk about that, so they’ve bought into that system, and they’re doing a great job.”
Pitcher Nick Amrhein helped Damien with his legs by keeping out out of a double play and keeping the third inning alive.
Although the top and middle of the Spartans’ line up did plenty of damage, including a pair of RBI singles by lead-off hitter Bobby Oatman in the first, a two-run triple by catcher Jorge Ortega and a double by Dorian Granados in the six-run third, and an RBI double by Erik Lewis in the fourth inning, the lower end of the batting order was equally potent. In fact, Joe Larez and Joe Chavez, batting seventh and eighth, respectively, went to the plate eight times and got on base all eight times. Larez walked in all four of his plate appearances and Chavez having been hit by pitches in his first two at-bats, singled and doubled in his next two attempts.
“The top of our line-up does a really good job,” Leyva said. “There’s a reason why they’re there – the reason why they’re hitting over .400. But when we have a big score, it’s because the bottom of our line-up has done the job. And that’s what it takes. It takes a whole team, and they realize that.”
Damien bounced out to an early 3-0 in the bottom of the first. After Diamond Bar starter Henry Omana issued one-out walks to Adam Young and Lewis, Ortega nailed a first pitch fastball for a single to drive in Young. Lewis beat the incoming throw to third, with Ortega taking second. Then J.J. Murillo hit a dribbler up the third baseline for an infield hit to drive in Lewis for the second run and Granados followed with a sacrifice fly to score Ortega from third.
Diamond Bar pounded out 10 hits to match Damien’s total, but the Brahmas were never really in this one. Chester Pak, Kenny Matthews, Robert Torrez and Jonathan Munoz each collected a pair of hits to lead the Brahmas.
Manager Al Leyva catches up Joe Chavez. Whatever he told him it worked because Chavez was 2-for-2, with a double, single and two free passes after being hit twice.
Diamond Bar pulled to within 12-8 in the top of the sixth before the Spartans finally slammed the door to take their record to 16-5 overall and 9-3 in league. Meanwhile, Diamond Bar’s league record dropped to 8-4.
“You always want to get that first one,” Leyva said about taking sole possession of second place over Diamond Bar. “Now that we’ve got the first one, we want to get the second one. That’s just out mentality. We want to win every game.”
With the victory, Damien clinched a playoff berth.
Damien faces Diamond Bar again on Friday at Diamond Bar, and most likely will face Kenny Matthews, the team’s ace.
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