Baseball: Arcadia outlasts La Salle after 10 innings.

By Keith Lair, Staff Writer

ARCADIA – The sprinklers told the baseball players it was time to go home.

Minutes after the sprinklers popped on at the Arcadia High School baseball field in the 10th inning, Drew Klein ended the game with a sharp single down the third-base line. The hit scored David Dominguez for the game’s only run to defeat La Salle in a masterful pitcher’s duel by the Lancers’ Bowdein Derby and the Apaches’ Erik Trask.

The 1-0 victory netted the Apaches a third-place finish in the Arcadia Elks tournament.

Klein sent a 2-2 curveball down the line off reliever Austin Wallis to score Dominguez, who had singled to left field with one out, stole second and took third on a wild pitch.

“I never thought it was going to end,” Klein said. “It was a crazy game. He was hanging his curveballs so I thought I would wait on the curve and try and pull it.”

By the 10th inning, both Derby and Trask were long gone from the affair. Trask left after the eighth inning, throwing 112 pitches. He struck out eight and gave up two hits.

“All the guys were throwing really good,” Klein said.

Derby was gone after nine, throwing 112 pitches. He gave up two hits and struck out nine.

Andrew Cordeiro got the win, surviving a harrowing 10th inning. He struck out four in his two innings.

But the Lancers almost drew first blood in the 10th. With one out, Noeh Martinez drew a walk and Derby hit an 0-1 pitch just barely to the right of theright-field foul line. He then hit a high foul ball that both catcher Brendan Campbell and third baseman Darren Kerfoot called for but neither caught.

Derby then hit a shot to left-center field that the Apaches again failed to call for. The ball fell in for a double, putting runners on second and third.

“I think we played well overall except for that last inning,” Arcadia coach Nick Lemas said. “It showed up in communication. We showed a lot of character to get out of it.”

Following Derby’s double, Chris Williams hit a ball at second baseman Dominguez, who threw home to catch Martinez.

Austin Wallis took the loss for La Salle, giving up the game’s lone run.

Trask faced the minimum 30 batters in his stint, despite giving up the two hits, walking two and hitting a batter.

Five Lancers got on base, but La Sale never left an inning with a runner stranded. Williams walked and was knocked out on a double play. Derby had the game’s second hit, a double down the right-field line. But he tried to stretch it into a triple and was thrown out by Dominguez.

“Our pitchers did a good job of controlling the running game,” Lemas said. “Eventually someone had to win. Ten innings, a Trask-Derby battle. They both showed they are the top two pitchers in the area and I think we showed we’re the two best teams in the area.”

Antonio Ruiz singled in the eighth and was picked off trying to steal second base.

The game took 3 hours, 1 minutes to play.

Arcadia had one runner reach second until the ninth. The Apaches put runners on first and second bases with one out, but did not score

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