Rancho’s 8-run frame blows open extra-inning win at Coronado

Las Vegas Review-Journal

7 years ago

Rancho players Carlos Hernandez, second from left, and Joey Walls, third from left, jump up in celebration after Hernandez scored the team’s first point of the game in the seventh inning while playing against Coronado at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Rancho shortstop Edarian Williams runs to catch the ball while outfielder Joey Walls runs after him during the fourth inning while playing against Coronado at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Coronado infielder Cristian Herrera rounds third base while playing against Rancho during the fourth inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Coronado infielder Cristian Herrera (20) celebrates with shortstop Joey Calvert (1) after Herrera scored the team’s first point while playing against Rancho during the fourth inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Rancho pitcher Jimmy Gamboa pitches against Coronado during the fifth inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Coronado pitcher Kyle Hall pitches against Rancho during the sixth inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Coronado infielder Cristian Herrera bunts while playing against Rancho during the sixth inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Coronado shortstop Joey Calvert catches the ball, attempting to tag Rancho’s Carlos Hernandez at second, during the seventh inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Coronado shortstop Joey Calvert attempts to tag Rancho’s Carlos Hernandez out at second, although Hernandez slid in safe, during the seventh inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Rancho pitcher Tanner Ray pitches against Coronado during the seventh inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Rancho second baseman Chayse Baker throws toward first during the seventh inning while playing against Coronado at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Rancho outfielder Chris Verdugo slides in safe at first as Coronado first baseman Boston Mabeus tries to catch the ball during the ninth inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Coronado pitcher Makana Doo pitches against Rancho during the ninth inning at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Rancho players celebrate after first baseman Layton Walls hit a three-run home run to bring players Jimmy Gamboa and Kagen Kennedy home in the ninth inning against Coronado at Coronado High School in Henderson on Thursday, March 22, 2018. Rancho won 9-1. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie

Chayse Baker needed to make amends when he stepped to the plate in the ninth inning Thursday with the score tied and the bases loaded.

He was 0-for-4. Two innings earlier, the Rancho second baseman had grounded into an inning-ending double play, stranding the go-ahead run.

He more than made up for it this time around.

Baker blasted a two-run double over the left fielder’s head, sparking an eight-run inning and sending the Rams to a 9-1, nine-inning victory at Coronado.

“Early on in the game, I was in a similar situation and I choked,” Baker said. “Every at-bat is a new at-bat and if I can flush the previous ones, I’ll be OK.”

Rancho (11-2, 6-1 Sunrise League) trailed by a run headed to the seventh, but Carlos Hernandez reached on an error to start the frame. After a bunt got him to third, Anthony Guzman singled him in, sending the game into extra innings.

Andrew Baughn singled to lead off the ninth, Guzman walked, and after Edarian Williams reached on an error, Baker’s two-bagger started the outburst. A walk and two singles later, the Rams led 6-1, and Rancho’s Layton Walls ended any hope of a comeback with a three-run homer.

“Rancho baseball. That’s what you have to do, just get the next guy up and that’s exactly what we did,” Rancho coach Manny Llamas said. “We let these guys swing and they love it.”

It spoiled what was, until the ninth, an excellent duel on the mound. Coronado’s Kyle Hall fired 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and one unearned run. Jimmy Gamboa tossed six innings and struck out six with just one run allowed for the Rams, giving way to Tanner Ray for the final three innings.

“Jimmy’s our workhorse,” Llamas said. “He wants every big game, and he did a great job.

“(Ray) wanted the ball in that spot, and good for them.”

Coronado (5-2, 1-1) left nine runners on base, and four times ended an inning with a man on third, including in the seventh. Cristian Herrera was 3-for-4 with a double and scored the Cougars’ only run on a double from Braeden Ewing in the fourth.

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Contact Justin Emerson at jemerson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2944. Follow @J15Emerson on Twitter.