SLO High baseball closes in on league title run with 5-4 nail-biter win over Paso
In a head-to-head series between the two top teams in Sunset League, San Luis Obispo had the edge over Paso Robles with an 8-3 win on Wednesday on the road and a 5-4 nailbiter on Thursday at home.
The Tigers (14-9, 8-2 Sunset) now face Cabrillo (5-16, 2-5 Sunset) needing to win one of two games to secure the league title.
The Bearcats (10-11-1, 5-3 Sunset) remain in second place in league after Thursday’s narrow defeat.
With two outs in the seventh inning, Paso Robles junior Blayne Lowry (.426, 21 RBIs), the team’s leading hitter for average, came to the plate with Emmet Dobroth on third, representing the tying run.
Lowry smashed a 3-2 fastball that sailed on a line right into the mitt of SLO’s left fielder to end the game.
“It’s one of those things you just kind of have to grind it out and understand that you got to trust the process,” said Paso Robles Coach T. J. Durfee. “This was our seventh one-run loss of the season. I know it sounds cliche, but our boys are battling and I couldn’t be more proud of them. It’s disappointing in those type of losses, but we have good depth, good leadership and we just need to keep our head down and keep working coming back to back every single day.”
SLO Mounts a Comeback
Down 3-1 in the fifth inning, the Tigers strung together a rally that included multiple base hits and scored on two wild pitches that led to runs for SLO.
Parker Wyatt, Blake Schafer, Landon Drenckpohl, Tyler Blaney and Jacob Riley each had multi-hit games for the Tigers.
SLO starter Jaden Taylor, a senior lefty, pitched five innings, giving up three earned runs, while recording five strikeouts. Blaney came on in relief to close the game, giving up one earned run while striking out two.
“I was trying to throw a lot of strikes, get some strikeouts and get a lot of weak contact,” Taylor said.
The lanky southpaw throws a fastball hovering between 82 and 84 miles per hour and a sinker averaging about 78 mph, along with a slider.
“We’ve been working hard,” Taylor said. “Winning league would be achieving a huge goal for us.”
Riley, a SLO pitcher/infielder who’s leading SLO with a .423 batting average, said he was happy with the way his team battled versus a tough team in the Bearcats.
“Paso is always fun,” said Riley, “There’s great competition over there. They have a great team. Both games this week were a battle.”
SLO Coach Sean GabrieI added: “I just love the intensity that we brought the entire series.”
“A lot of our wins all season have truly been team wins,” Gabriel said. “It’s not like one guy taking over. It’s everybody doing their part on both sides of the ball. Our pitchers giving us a chance, our defense makes plays and its different guys showing up in the lineup every game and getting big hits.”
Paso Robles Looks to Bounce Back
Paso Robles was led Thursday by Lowry (3-for-4) and Talen Freitas (2-for-4), as pitcher Nate Contreras tossed four innings, giving up one earned run.
The Bearcats have been led this season by Marcus Garcia, last year’s league MVP, who is batting .379 and a go-to arm on the mound, along with Lowry, Freitas and Emmett Dobroth (..328, 17 RBIs).
“Marcus is just a phenomenal athlete and I know coaches aren’t supposed to have favorites, but he’s just a favorite, not just because of what he does talent-wise on the field, but how he carries himself, how he picks up his teammates, sticks up for his guys, how he shows up, the passion, how he shows up each and every day,” Durfee said.
Durfee said Garcia has attracted some Division 2 college baseball interest and will be successful no matter what option he chooses at the next level.
The second-year head coach said that his team has the resilience to bounce back from some tough losses of late and finish strong.
“We had a spring break tournament, and we played three Top 100 teams in the state, and we tied one and lost to two by one run., and they’re heartbreakers,” Durfee said. “They’re fully invested, but at the same time, whether you’re a high school kid or you’re a professional, you get kind of beat up physically, mentally, emotionally on those tough losses. It’s one of those things where the season’s a marathon, and we have to keep preaching positivity.”
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