PLACENTIA – El Dorado baseball coach Matt Lucas is starting to notice a trend with his team.
The Golden Hawks had two recent come-from-behind victories, and it happened again Friday.
El Dorado scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to defeating Canyon, 4-2, in a Crestview League game at El Dorado High.
Ian Meyer delivered the go-ahead run with a flare over second baseman Joe Bedillion.
“They’re pretty resilient,” Lucas said of his team. “They do a good job when their backs are against the wall.”
The Golden Hawks (7-3, 2-0), who have won four in a row, swept the home-and-home series with the Comanches (2-5, 0-2). El Dorado rallied in the late innings against Canyon on Wednesday.
Ryne Kisslan silenced the El Dorado bats through the first four scoreless innings. He allowed just three hits. The senior also helped his cause with a single and a run scored in the Comanches’ two-run top of the fifth.
Nick Sova grounded a single past the second base bag to drive in the Canyon runs.
El Dorado ace Nick Sprengel (2-0) had been cruising along until the fifth.
The Golden Hawks used small ball to score their first runs of the game. Joe Russo drew a lead-off walk against reliever Hunter Cooper (0-1). He stole second and third before scoring on a groundout by Jesse Lopez. Adrian Romo scored the tying run when Cooper’s curveball bounced to the backstop.
Brandon Mulrooney singled and swiped second to set up Meyer’s winning RBI. The Golden Hawks stole five bases in the fifth.
“We’re pretty aggressive on the bases,” Lucas said. “We’ve got good speed up and down the lineup. That’s just the way our offense has to work.”
Sprengel, a senior left-hander who will play for the University of San Diego next season, finished his outing by striking out Tyler Cotter to end the sixth inning with two runners on.
Sprengel appreciated the run support his teammates gave him.
“When the team responds like that, it’s just really sweet,” he said. “It’s a good feeling.”
Derek Reilly hit a solo homer for El Dorado in the sixth, and Skyler McMillan had two strikeouts in the seventh while earning the save.
