No. 4 El Toro extends winning streak to 10
ANAHEIM – A few days before No. 4 El Toro has to face Tesoro in a crucial series for the South Coast League title, the Chargers first had to warm up with a game at No. 7 Esperanza.
Bring on the Titans.
Matt Chapman went 3 for 3 and the Chargers scored in every inning except the first to secure an 8-5 nonleague victory over the Aztecs on Saturday at Esperanza.
It was the Chargers' 10th consecutive victory.
“It was a good battle between two good teams,” Chargers coach Mike Gonzales said. “It was a really good win. They are a really good program and they have been on a roll.”
The Chargers (23-6) will be host to Tesoro on Tuesday in Game 1 of the final two-game series of the regular season. The Chargers need only one victory to clinch the league title, but their last defeat came at the hands of the second-place Titans.
“We’re really excited at the position we are in,” Gonzales said. “It’s going to go down to the wire and we are eager to see if we can get it done next week.”
Esperanza (18-9) had won five in row coming into Saturday’s game. Next week the Aztecs will play Foothill, which they lead by two games for the top spot in the Century League.
The Chargers struck first courtesy of some wild Esperanza pitching.
Ryan Joyce led off the inning with a single and advanced to second base on a Brad Anderson wild pitch. He stole third base a few pitches later and Anderson then spiked a slider into the dirt that bounced over the catcher, allowing Joyce to come in and give the Chargers a 1-0 lead.
Esperanza came back with two runs in their half of the second inning to take the lead, but the Chargers used a two-out rally to go ahead for good.
Chapman got the rally started with a single. He advanced to third on an errant throw on a pickoff attempt and came home on Mitchell Tolman’s ensuing single. Tolman advanced to second on a wild pitch and Joyce’s second single of the game brought in Tolman to give the Chargers a 3-2 lead.
“It was very important to get back on top there,” Gonzales said. “It was a good job by our guys to get some quality at bats in key situations.”
Joyce went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
The Chargers got a boost from the bottom of the order. Tim Alhanati, Jayson Yano and Cole Tomlinson went a combined 4 for 9 with a double, two RBIs, three runs scored and three sacrifices.
“Our 7-8-9 guys had great days today," Gonzales said. “They had hits, drove in and scored some runs and moved guys over when they had to. They played a huge part in today’s game.”
