Twenty games into the season and Canyon del Oro coach Keith Francis has found a routine that works for his ballclub.
Collect four solid innings from the starting pitcher, shorten the game by sending in his bullpen arms to bridge the game to the final frame, and follow it up with timely hitting late in the count.
Senior pitcher Max Smith tossed four scoreless innings, struck out four batters and gave up two singles as host CDO beat Sunnyside 11-2 for its sixth straight win. The Dorados (19-1) opened the season with a 6-4 win against the Blue Devils on Feb. 25.
Click here to view more stats and scores from around Southern Arizona on Thursday.
People are also reading…
Francis believes that if his team can stick to his new formula, it will beat the game, which, in his eyes, is the real opponent.
“He left the field tonight upset,” Francis said. “The game did. Because we beat him. We pitched well; we hit; we executed; we did everything we had to do. The opponent is really the game; you beat the game and you’ll beat the opponent.”
Senior Nick Ames drove in the game’s first two runs when he launched a double to the left-center fence in the first inning. CDO led 8-0 by the end of the second inning.
Smith, who finished the game 2-for-4 with an RBI, said the hot start helped carry the team throughout the game.
“Everyone was up and going; that’s the thing that’s been missing the past couple of days,” Smith said. “We started off early, which we haven’t done in a while, and it felt really good.”
Although the Dorados may have been able to ride Smith for seven innings, Francis used junior Spencer Packard to pitch the fifth, brought in Ames for the sixth inning and then senior Erick Migueles to close.
It’s all a part of Francis’ plan to keep his guys competing throughout a game.
“We did it yesterday, we did it today, and I’ll try it tomorrow,” Francis said. “We’ve got talent on this team; we’ve just got to learn to compete and play the game right.”
Click here to view this week's Fab Five rankings of Southern Arizona's top five baseball, softball and boys volleyball teams.
Sunnyside (12-6-1) had six hits, with four of them coming in the game’s final three frames. Despite the slow start, coach Gabriel Moraga was encouraged by the way his team finished.
“Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the pitcher — he threw well,” Moraga said. “To beat a team like that, you have to play perfect, and we were far from that today. We didn’t stand a chance to win today.”
BOX SCORE
CANYON DEL ORO 11, SUNNYSIDE 2
Sunnyside 000 020 0 – 2 6 2
Canyon del Oro 350 300 x – 11 9 0
W – Smith (5-0). L – Cecena (3-3). 2B: CDO – Ames, Migueles, Peterson.
