PHOTOS: Beckman battles back twice to capture wild PCL opener over Northwood

Beckman Coach Kevin Lavalle talks to his players after Saturday’s win. (Photos Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Beckman High School’s baseball team refused to back down Saturday in the Pacific Coast League opener against Northwood.

The Patriots (3-0, 1-0) fell behind twice, but rallied both times, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to win 10-5 at Patriot Park in the first of 21 league games for both teams in the expanded eight-team league.

Northwood (1-2, 0-1) led 3-0 going into the bottom of the second inning before Beckman eventually tied it 3-3 in the foutth inning. Then Northwood moved ahead 5-3 with two runs in the sixth before Beckman responded again. Ashton Kanegae then shut down Northwood in the seventh for the win.

“I had a feeling we were going to come around,” said Beckman Coach Kevin Lavalle. “We’ve been swinging the bats really well and had a great week of practice. I can’t say I would haved bet money that we were going to come back but I had a good feeling about these guys.

“This 2023 team seems to be built a little differently. It’s fun. They love each and they compete. Whenever you play a baseball game, you’re not going to have 10 guys who have great games. Some guys are up and some guys are down. We’ve got a lot of time to fix the things we need to fix.”

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

In the bottom of the sixth, Maddex Soto had an RBI double, Kai Suzuki drew a bases loaded walk, Carter Speights had a two-run single and Wyland Okomoto drove home two with a double. Okomoto scored on a wild pitch for the seventh run of the inning.

Northwood used two balks, an error and a squeeze RBI bunt single by Ahmad Kazi to score two runs in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead.

The Timberwolves started fast with three runs in the second inning. Jordan Kim had an RBI single, Adam Harper a sacrifice fly and Joseph Harper an RBI single. But Beckman countered with a run in the bottom of the second and two in the fourth, one unearned, to tie it.

Gio Sambito came on in relief of Speight, the starting pitcher, to restore order. He pitched until the sixth when Kanegae came on to get the win. Kanegae was also 2 for 3 at the plate with three runs scored.

Bobby Bangs started on the mound for Northwood before being relieved by Casey Euper in the fifth.

“It was a great Pacific Coast League battle,” said Northwood Coach Doug Euper. “I tip my hat to Beckman, they were more aggressive team and played a better game than we did. We needed to play better, that’s too good of a team.”

Northwood had other opportunities to score, stranding three runners in the first.

“We talked about that,” Euper said. “They did what they needed to to stop us from tacking on some runs and opening up a big lead. I knew at the time that might end up costing us.

“I think it’s going to be close games all over the place just like it was today. It doesn’t change my feelings. I love my team, I love my guys, they’re disappointed today and then our job is to try and get us better prepared next time that we play.”

Second baseman Rylan Littlejohn was 2 for 3 with two runs scored for Northwood.

Fans seem to enjoy the first of a number of league Saturday games as the stands at Beckman were packed for the contest, which started at 11 a.m.

Also in the PCL:

Woodbridge 1, University 0: Matt Kuromoto had a complete game shutout striking out six for Woodbridge. Chase Quezada had a hit, the game-winning run and made two diving plays in the field. Quezada scored the game winner on a wild pitch.

—-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com