If the Colony High School baseball team had to pick one opponent to have the number of, Chino would be a prime candidate. Though Chino entered Tuesday with a 21-4 record, Colony defeated the Cowboys for the second time this season in as many meetings, the Titans’ 8-3 victory pulling them into a tie for first place in the Mt. Baldy League with Chino.
Though Colony (16-6, 8-2) has played in the shadow of league foes Chino (21-5, 7-2) and Don Lugo, which defeated Colony 17-2 a month ago, the Titans now find themselves in the driver’s seat to secure the league’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs with two games remaining in the regular season.
“It’s a big win, but like I just told my kids, we’ve still got work to do,” Colony coach Tom Keller said. “Nobody is going to roll over for us, and the two games we have left are just as important as the one we just played.”
Colony center fielder Kyle Zosky produced the game’s key hit, a bases-clearing double with two outs in the fourth inning. The junior went 2 for 2 and reached base all four times he came to the plate, but none was more important than the clutch hit to left-center field that gave Colony a 5-1 lead. Colony loaded the bases with one out for Aaron Bernal, who gave the Titans a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the previous inning, but he struck out to land Zosky in a pressure situation.
“The turning point of the game was definitely the three-run double,” Chino coach Gary Libby said. “It was a 2-1 game, but to get a bases-clearing double in that situation was clutch.”
Bernal (7-1) and Zosky teamed up on the mound to hold a Chino team averaging nearly nine runs a game well below its average. Bernal, who won a 2-1 decision when Colony faced Chino on March 31, allowed three runs on six hits in 4 and 2/3 innings Tuesday.
Zosky escaped an inherited jam in the fifth inning with a strikeout, but not before Chino pulled within 5-3 thanks to an RBI double by Chaneng Varela that was followed by a sacrifice fly from Alec Cordova. Zosky faced just six batters over the final two innings, inducing a double play in the seventh after a leadoff walk.
“Our starter, who did a great job against (Chino) the first time we played them, was getting a little tired,” Keller said. “(Zosky) did a great job shutting the door on them.”
Colony answered Chino’s fifth-inning push with three insurance runs in the sixth to swell the lead to five. Junior left fielder Ernie Avila, who was 3 for 3, produced the big hit in the frame, a two-run single. Prior to Avila padding the lead, Colony catcher Shawn Sweeney scored his third run of the game on a bases-loaded walk.
Chino pitchers issued six walks in all and the Cowboys committed two errors, including one to begin Colony’s four-run fourth inning. Chino starter J.J. Franklin allowed five runs — one earned — on eight hits and three walks in five innings. Reliever Ryan Gasio walked two and hit a batter before exiting in the sixth prior to a pair of RBI hits.
“They put the ball in play and forced us into mistakes,” Libby said. “We’re tied for first place with three games left. This was just a bump in the road, and we’re not going to make it into anything more than a bump.”
Chino has games remaining with Montclair, Ontario and third-place Don Lugo. Colony plays at Montclair, and hosts Ontario in the regular-season finale May 11.
