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Desert Christian takes out Braves 12-3 in baseball action

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San Carlos baseball team lost to Desert Christian High School 12-3 as three pitchers struggled, and the Eagle outfield punished them with long flies. The Braves held their own in the first few innings, though.

Starting things off, Eliah Victor flied out to center, Reppert Cassadore, III turned a single into a double but got caught between second and third base. Charles Mendoza earned his walking papers and while Ivan Stevens was at bat, Mendoza stole second, third and home to give the Braves a lead, 1-0.

In the bottom of the first inning, pitcher Ty Whitesinger allowed the Eagles to connect with the ball. Third baseman Mendoza threw one batter out to first, and second baseman Reppert Cassadore threw out another. Left fielder Malakai Martinez caught a fly and the Eagles were held scoreless.

The second inning was productive for San Carlos. Whitesinger singled to centerfield. Deandre Dude walked, and as that was happening the pitcher tried to pick off Whitesinger as he led off of first base. The pitcher’s first attempt at a pickoff was late and his second attempt went astray, allowing Whitesinger to make second. Elijah Bullis came up and flied out to the pitcher, but Dude got to second. This brought Martinez, the left fielder, to the plate. A balk by the pitcher advanced the runners (on second and third) pushing the Braves’ enterprising pitcher over the plate for a second run.

In the bottom of the second, five walks and a balk brought in two runs for the Eagles. Mendoza ended the inning by tagging the opposing leftfielder out at third. The score stood at 2-2.

In the third inning Victor flied out. Cassadore got on base due to a throw that was a few feet wide of first base and then stole second. The next batter Mendoza hit but was out trying to stretch it to a double. With two outs Stevens came up and grounded out to the pitcher.

In the bottom half of the third, the Braves put the Eagles down in order, with a fly to left, a grounder and a strike out on a called strike.

In the top of the fourth, the Braves flied out, struck out and got one single, which Cassadore improved by stealing second, but Stevens grounded out.

In the horrible and almost interminable bottom of the fourth, the Eagles hit and walked themselves over home plate for six runs for a lead of 8-2. A change in pitchers from Cassadore to Martinez did no good. The first two batters were thrown out. But the final out came eight runs later.

The Braves had their work cut out for them in the top of the fifth. Victor singled and was able to work his way around to third as Cassadore took the plate. Cassadore flied out but brought Victor in for the third Brave run. Then Mendoza and Stevens went down to retire the side.

When the Eagles got up to bat in the bottom of the fifth, they added three more runs to their tally to bring the final score to 12-3. The sixth inning was cut short due to failing light. Desert Christian’s field is beautiful, but it has no lights.

Coach Terry Antonio switched players around when the pitching problems started, swapping Cassadore for Whitesinger and finishing the game with Martinez.

On Tuesday, March 12 (after press time), San Carlos takes on eighth place Santa Rita at home. On March 15, they’re off to San Manuel for a challenging game against the number 1 team 2A South, the San Manuel Miners.