SANTA ROSA — The Santa Rosa Warriors defeated the Monte Alto Blue Devils 12-11 in a back-and-forth bi-district game Thursday night.
The Blue Devils and the Warriors stole bases at will to put runners in scoring position. Wild pitches, bad pickoff throws and dropped balls were common, giving each team easy runs.
Santa Rosa scored four runs during the bottom of the first inning and kept the Blue Devils at bay for the first two innings. However, in the third, Benito Sarrion’s bases-clearing triple brought three runs in for Monte Alto.
Warriors first baseman David Bazaldua had a great day at the plate. The senior went 3-for-4, knocking in four runs with a triple, double and single.
“I felt good,” he said. “I went in confident, ready to swing the bat and get this win. It came down to the last inning today, and our teammates pulled it out.”
Monte Alto took a 9-6 lead in the fourth after RBIs from Ryan Galvan and Juan Gallardo. Santa Rosa responded in the fourth and fifth courtesy of freshman Fernando Garcia.
Garcia’s RBI singles in both innings gave the Warriors a 10-9 lead.
“It was my first time getting good hits,” Garcia said. “It felt good.”
Monte Alto took the lead again when Gallardo drove in another run for an 11-10 lead in the sixth. Santa Rosa took back the lead in the bottom half after a wild pitch brought home Luis Trevino.
The Warriors started Bryan Rojas on the mound, but pulled him in the sixth inning for Alex Rojas. He came in and shut things down to advance to the area round.
“I knew I was going to shut them out,” Alex Rojas said. “I came in ready, had to back up my brother and get the job done.
“It was a good game, but we knew we were going to take it at the end. We came in confident. I knew I was going to come in, back up my brother and finish this game for him.”
