Beckman breaks open tight game for victory over former PCL rival Woodbridge

Beckman Patriots congratulate winning pitcher Vinnie Montes after Monday’s victory over Woodbridge. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Former Pacific Coast League baseball rivals Beckman and Woodbridge battled to a 1-1 tie through six innings Monday in a non-league game at Ryan Lemmon Stadium.

But Beckman broke loose for three runs in the top of the seventh inning and reliever Vinnie Montes shut down the Warriors in order in the seventh to help the Patriots win 4-1.

Montes pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three to earn the win.

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With CIF re-alignment before last season, Beckman moved to the Sea View League and Woodbridge remained in the PCL. The two squads battled for league titles over the years.

Beckman Coach Kevin LaValle and Woodbridge Coach Ryan Brucker agreed to keep the series alive. The two teams meet again in May at Patriot Park.

Monday’s match-up was another intense contest.

“I love playing against Ryan Brucker because he’s a really good friend of mine and the tradition behind this rivalry, these games are always heated, I knew it was going to come down to something happening late and I knew it was going to come down to execution and it did. I wish we were in the same league still because these games are fun and they’re rivals,” Lavalle said.

“Half our team knows their team and it’s fun. It can get intense at times, but that’s what it’s supposed to be about. I’ll take the win today and move on. I’ve never been a big fan of coming over here, we don’t win over here very often, but we’re going to feel good about today on the bus ride home.”

“We got rained out {a couple weeks ago} but we’re trying to stay with a home and away with them every year because it’s a fun rivalry that has been around for a while,” Brucker added.

Beckman (5-1-1) had serious scoring chances to push across the go ahead run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but was unable to get the key hit.

In the seventh, the Patriots executed well to get the three runs with two hits. Anton Le led off with a double, his second hit of the game, and pinch-runner Luke Batarse eventually came around to score on a wild pitch. Leadoff hitter Kai Carney was walked intentionally and Gus Powell walked.

Carney and Powell advanced to second and third and both scored on a squeeze bunt single by Jaxson Gomez to put the Patriots ahead 4-1.

“That’s the sport, right? You have to get guys on base and you have to move them over and drive them in and you have to do all three,” Lavalle said. “In high school baseball, you’re not going to hit three solo home runs and win 3-2. Woodbridge and Beckman have always played very similar style of baseball, that’s why it’s fun, it kind of feels like we’re playing against ourselves.”

Franco was effective through five innings, allowing no earned runs and four hits and strking out four in his first start of the season. He normally plays right field.

“It was fun coming out and throwing strikes for my team,” Franco said. “It was my first start, pretty fun, pretty exciting, I was a little nervous at first but first inning felt good. I have a few buddies on that team (Woodbridge) so it was fun pitching against them.”

“It felt great and it was great to get a win,” Montes added. “It feels great getting a win over Woodbridge, former league {rival}. It’s an awesome feeling. They’re a fun team to play and they have some good players.”

Woodbridge (5-5) took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the second inning. Alex Johnson doubled to right center field, Caden Camacho sacrificed him to third and Johnson scored on an infield error.

Beckman came back to tie the game with a run in the third inning off Woodbridge starter Ian Chen. Moe McEvoy led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Le and scored on an RBI single by Carney.

Woodbridge also had runners on second and third with one out in the third inning, but Johnson lined out to left field and Henry Uhrik was thrown out at home to comple a double play.

Brady Beals and Joe Yasui finished on the mound for Woodbridge.

“Tough game, our starter competed well, Beckman is always very well coached so you know when you get late in the game with them and they have runners on second and third and less than two outs, it’s always a bad feeling against a Kevin LaValle-coached team,” Brucker said. “They’re going to be well coached and be able to execute and they did.

“Credit to them for getting the double squeeze down on that play and then we kind of fell asleep there. We got to play better in order to beat a team like that. Ian Chen battled and kept us in the game, he only gave up one run, we got to do a little better offensively and that’s kind of what where we’ve struggled this year, just competing offensively, we got to get better at that.”

Brady Beals and Joe Yasui finished on the mound for Woodbridge, which was held to four hits.

Woodbridge had three brothers in the starting lineup: Caleb Camacho, Caden Camacho and Ezra Camacho, a freshman.

Woodbridge, 2-0 in league after two wins vs. Laguna Beach, is back in Pacific Coast League play Tuesday at Northwood while Beckman plays a non-league game at Costa Mesa.

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