The Sultana baseball team knew coming into Friday’s game against Apple Valley things would be much different than their game two days prior.
Earlier in the week, Sultana beat Apple Valley in a 16-1 blowout, having to win that game to force a showdown for second place in the Mojave River League standings.
The Sun Devils are no strangers to big games. The team made it to the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 finals last year, and sent their ace Beau Lloyd on the mound to take on Sultana. As a sophomore last year, Lloyd pitched in all but one of Apple Valley’s six playoff games and has a 1.57 ERA this season.
By the end of the seventh inning, it was clear this was not like that blowout victory with the game scoreless. Lloyd pitched six shutout innings with five strikeouts and allowed five hits. Ryan Martinez came in to relieve in the seventh inning and got three quick outs.
With Sultana starting pitcher LJ Borrego getting out of a jam in the seventh inning, the game moved on into the eighth.
A leadoff walk to Alex Gamez and a flyout by Borrego set the stage for Brayden Booth, the current Victorville Chevrolet High School Athlete of the Week, to step up to the plate.
Did you vote for him?Sultana’s Brayden Booth is the Victorville Chevrolet High School Athlete of the Week
On the second pitch of the at-bat, Gamez took off for second base. Even though it was a steal attempt and not a hit-and-run, Booth remembered the advice he got from his coach beforehand.
“It was a steal but coach said if you see middle-middle then just drive,” Booth said.
Booth turned on the fastball down the heart of the plate and blasted it over the left field fence. Borrego, who was getting ready to go back out and pitch in the eighth inning, watched on from the dugout.
“I almost lost my voice when that happened,” Borrego said.
Borrego’s masterclass on the mound
Despite getting the start in one of Sultana’s biggest games this season, Borrego has not been the ace of the team this season.
He is sixth on the team in innings pitched with this game being just his second start of the season as a pec injury suffered in the fall sidelined him. Sultana head coach David Booth says he kept in touch with Borrego’s parents about how and when to use him on the mound.
Booth got the go-ahead from Borrego’s parents and let him go.
“We knew what he can do. When he came in as a freshman for us last year we knew these were the games that were built for him,” Booth said.
Borrego pitched all eight innings against Apple Valley, allowing five hits with 11 strikeouts.
As the game progressed, Borrego had only one thing on his mind.
“Be a dog. That was my one thing, be a dog. I said that maybe 100 times, be a dog,” Borrego said.
His biggest trouble came in the eighth inning after Booth’s home run. A wild pitch put runners on second and third base with two outs and Apple Valley’s four-hole hitter, Noah Celie, at the plate. Celie reached base with a single in his last appearance after two strikeouts earlier.
Celie worked a 3-0 count, and then swung and lifted a flyball into center field. With the wind blowing strong in the later portions of the game, there was a chance it could take the ball and cause problems. But Chris Manley caught it for the final out and sealed Borrego’s eight-inning complete game shutout.
What’s next
Sultana and Apple Valley, finishing second and third in the MRL respectively, both qualify for the CIF-Southern Section playoffs in Division 4 next week. Despite not returning with any trophies last season, both teams made deep playoff runs.
Sultana made it to the semifinals of Division 4 before losing to Crean Lutheran while Apple Valley made the program’s first-ever CIF-SS finals in program history.
Both teams will wait and see where, who, and when they will play on Monday when the brackets are released.
Apple Valley head coach Jeff Bougher hopes the team can come back strong off of these losses to Sultana to attempt to repeat their run from last year.
“I think what we’re lacking this year is the mental toughness,” Bougher said. “I asked them to take Monday off coming up and just get some rest and mentally prepare yourself for what’s coming.”
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