Son helps out father in victory over Orcutt

Steven Orozco made his dad look good.

Santa Maria Dodgers coach Joey Orozco, Steven's father, took heat from some Dodgers fans on a hot day for holding up runners twice on base hits when he was coaching third - including a runner at third base with the potential winning run.

Steven Orozco rendered all that moot by whacking a drive over the left fielder's head in the last of the seventh for a walk-off single. His hit gave the Santa Maria Dodgers a 7-6 win over the Orcutt Yankees in the Santa Maria Valley Babe Ruth 13-Year-Old championship game at Elks Field Saturday.

The Santa Maria Yankees beat the Orcutt Padres 7-4 in eight innings for the Valley 14-15-Year Old Babe Ruth crown. Gilbert Velasco singled in the winning run as the Yankees snapped a 4-4 tie with three runs in the top of the eighth.

Relief pitcher Joseph Clark struck out the side to preserve the win.

As for Steven Orozco, “I got a pitch right down the middle, and I hit it,” he said. “I figured that was where (the pitcher) would throw it.”

Turned out, Joey Orozco made the smart choice by holding the second runner up.

“I saw (the right fielder) bobble the ball,” on Chuy Esparza's single, the coach said. “I was going to send him, but (our runner) had his head down,” so Joey Orozco stopped him at third.

Orcutt's Yankees trailed 6-0 as the top of the fourth began. They were hitless then. The Yankees had three his in the fourth as they tied the score.

The first run scored on Dylan Scheetz's single. The second came home on a wild pitch. Spencer Armstrong scored on Nate De Braun's infield single, and then Jake Van Allen, the Yankees' lone sub, cleared the bases with a three-run double.

David Morales led off the last of the seventh with a single. Reserve Josh Gonzales followed with another hit. Some Dodgers' fans yelled noisily for Joey Orozco to send Morales to third. Nothing doing,

Yankees relief pitcher Troy Prober snapped a good throw to third base on a bunt for a forceout there. Joey Orozco seemed set to send the runner home from second base on Esparza's hit, but held him up at the last instant. Then Steven Orozco delivered.

The Dodgers scored five times in the second inning on four hits. David Morales had the biggest one, a two-run single. Steve Marquez also singled in a run. Pinch runner Jorge Ortega scampered home on a wild pitch for the Dodgers' run in the third.

The Santa Maria Yankees capped off a 17-0 season with a Valley championship. The Yankees got to the evening title game by winning 4-3 in the morning.

With runners on second and third base and two outs in the eighth inning of the night game, “I knew the first pitch would be a fastball, and I jumped on it,” said Velasco.

That he did. Velasco ripped a ground ball through the hole between second and third base and Joseph Bobadilla, who hit a one-out single for his second hit of the night, scored the winning run.

The Padres second baseman fielded Zach Grandy's base hit on the shallow right field grass on his knees, but threw errantly to first base. Joel Enriquez, who had singled behind Bobadilla, scored. Velasco, well on his way toward home, scored too as the ball rolled out of play.

Garcia, the Yankees' starting shortstop, came on as a relief pitcher in the seventh. Garcia threw strictly high hard stuff in the eighth and struck out three Padres swinging with it.

“They couldn't hit the fastball,” said Garcia. “Why change the pitch?”

Garcia just finished his sophomore year at Pioneer Valley High School. “I played for the junior varsity,” he said. “I was one of five guys in the pitching rotation. I played third base when I wasn't pitching.”

Before his big night, Garcia had a big day. He cleared the bases with a double in the morning game, then won it for the Yankees with another double.

The Yankees thought Velasco was the winning pitcher after third baseman Bobadilla threw to first baseman Mark Lopez for what they thought was the last out of the seventh. Devin Greene beat the throw by an eyelash and Prober, who did double duty for Orcutt's program Saturday, scored to make it 4-4.

“That was a close play - I thought the runner beat the throw at first, really,” said Dodgers coach Mike Smith. “The guys did a good job to bounce back from that.”

Velasco said, “It wasn't that bad really. We knew we could hit the ball, so we thought we could come back.”

Garcia, who had come in from shortstop to pitch with one out, bore down and struck out the next hitter. Yankees catcher Alex Grandy made a big save earlier when he chased down a wild pitch, then threw to Garcia to nail a runner who tried to score.

“Our guys battled, but that's a good team and we gave them one too many opportunities,” said Orcutt coach Kendall Greene, Devin Greene's father.

Greene said Prober played in the 14-15 game because, “I had three injured players. I called our league president and he said it was OK to bring him up. He's played for me before. He's a really good kid.”

June 22, 2008