By Eric Terrazas, Staff Writer
El Rancho High School’s baseball team has put together quite a stretch over the last few days.
The Dons, with their 5-2 victory at Santa Fe on Wednesday, have won five of their six games and grabbed sole possession of first place in the Del Rio League.
Senior pitcher Julian Vizcarra turned in another good performance for El Rancho (11-5 overall, 5-1 league). He allowed seven hits, walked and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings.
Anthony Sanchez, Dylan Guzman, Nick Vasquez and Esteban Solis each drove in a run for the Dons, who scored four seventh-inning runs to earn the win against the Chiefs.
Wednesday’s triumph continued an impressive stretch for the Dons, who captured second place at last week’s Righetti Tournament.
El Rancho hopes to keep things going at home today at 3:15 p.m. against Santa Fe.
“In the Del Rio League, anything can happen on any given day,” Dons coach Frank Llanes said. “We want to enjoy it while we’re on top. We have a really good group of guys who are buying into what we are preaching.
“I’m pleased with our pitchers and the defense behind them is really solid. That’s a good thing to have – good defense and pitching with timely hitting.”
Vizcarra has been stellar on the mound with a 4-1 record and 1.31 ERA. He also has made his presence felt offensively with a .300 average.
Senior catcher Frank Vargas and junior outfielder-pitcher Esteban Solis are two of the Dons’ offensive leaders.
Vargas, who is hitting .400 with two home runs, has a team-high 13 RBIs and has scored 11 runs. Solis, meanwhile, is hitting .320 with two homers and 11 RBIs.
La Serna and California, both 4-1-1 in league, also are playing well.
The Lancers are coming off a hard-fought 1-0 victory at California. Ryan Cordova drove in the game’s only run with a seventh-inning single that scored Kyle Goethe.
Mike Zimmer earned the win for La Serna (9-6-2 overall) while Gavin Calender got the save.
The Lancers also took part in last week’s National Classic and went 2-2.
“The kids played well,” Lancers coach Anthony Gonzales said. “It was a great experience and a really good tournament. We were the only Division 4 team in the tournament. We went 1-1 against Division 1 teams, 0-1 against Division 2 and 1-0 against Division 3.”
Gonzales praised the Lancers after their win against the Condors (10-5-1 overall).
“California is always tough. Even tougher at home,” Gonzales said. “We showed a lot of poise and character. We found a way to get it done.
“It was a great effort by our team.”
La Serna will host the Condors today in the season’s third and final regular-season meeting between the teams. Game time is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
“We want to keep the momentum going,” Gonzales said. “We have to keep playing hard for all seven innings.”
California also is feeling optimistic about its prospects.
“We’re having a good season at this point,” Condors coach Tony Nieto said. “We’re feeling very confident about our team.
“The Del Rio League is very competitive. We know it’s not going to be easy.”
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