Eitwanda baseball team has that late inning magic

VIDEO: Etiwanda coach Don Furnald talks about this team and the season.

Some teams have that knack for late-inning comebacks and some don’t. The Etiwanda baseball team is one that definitely has that.

The Eagles (18-6, 10-5) claimed a share of the Baseline League title with a 5-4, 6-5 sweep of Upland today at Memorial Park. It is the school’s first league title in the sport since 1996.

In both games Etiwanda won it in the final at-bat. The first game the Eagles were only down 4-1 but went into the final inning tied at 4. They won it in the bottom of the seventh with a run-scoring single by Tyler Freeman, just a sophomore.

The nightcap comeback was even more noteworthy. The Eagles were down 5-2.

It marked the sixth and seventh last inning wins of the season. That’s nearly one-third of the team’s games this season. And because they have done it to often, they are that much more confident they’re going to do it again.

The most notable comeback came against Damien when they trailed 9-0 in the fourth, only to emerge with an 11-10 win.

The Eagles have nine wins by one run and four more by two runs. They have just two losses by a run and just one by two runs. So more often than not they’re coming through in the clutch.

By now other teams know that too. I’m sure when the first two Etiwanda batters reached in the seventh of the second game some negative doubts had to creep in for the Highlanders.

Also remember Etiwanda is playing every game on the road because of the construction on campus of a new football stadium. The Eagles have to take a bus to practice every day as well. This is shaping up to be quite a memorable one already and the playoffs have yet to begin!

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