Chavez holds on for 1-0 victory over Lindsay to win D-VI baseball title
VISALIA — It wasn’t the ending that Chavez baseball coach Scott Neal anticipated, but the 16-year coach will take it nonetheless.
With the No. 2 Titans holding on to a precarious one-run lead against No. 5 Lindsay in the Central Section Division VI title game — and the tying and winning runs on base — Neal intended to turn to senior Marcos De Lira to close things.
DeLira took the mound and started warming up in relief of starter Jacob Sixtos, but unfortunately, he had already been subbed out twice for pinch-runners and umpires determined he wasn’t able to re-enter the game.
Neal then turned to Tristen Amusten, giving the senior right-hander the opportunity to save the day, and he did just that. The team's starting right fielder got the final three outs, finishing things off with a strikeout to give the Titans a 1-0 victory at Valley Strong Ballpark for their first section title since 2016.
“Tristen is pretty much our No. 1 guy all year,” said Neal with a grin. “So I guess it was a happy accident, I guess.”
Chavez (19-12), which was 8-12 on April 18 after suffering its fourth consecutive loss, regrouped and one 11 straight, capped by Saturday’s victory.
“We had a loss to Firebaugh and it kind of lit our fire and we haven’t lost since,” Neal said.
Jacob Sixtos had dominated the first five innings, limiting the Cardinals (19-11) to just three hits while striking out five.
After working out of trouble in the sixth, he walked the first batter Bryan Martinez in the seventh and Nate Lopez reached on an infield hit to put the tying run in scoring position.
Once in the game, Amusten, who had a 1.36 ERA in 16 previous appearances, wasted little time making an impact. He bounced off the mound and caught a pop up off the bat of Nick Masiel for the first out. He then picked off Martinez, stepping off the mound and throwing to third baseman Jose Agredano for out No. 2.
Then facing Cardinal lead-off hitter JJ Vasquez, Amusten struck him out looking on a 1-2 count, setting off a Titans’ celebration along the third-base side of the field.
“It’s very exciting,” Amusten said. “I can’t really put it into words. I’m proud of everyone, especially my teammates.”
Lindsay threatened to score some runs in the sixth against Sixtos. Anthony Mosquedo led off with a single, but John Mosquedo grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Bailey Brown followed with a single and moved to third on a double by Diego Jauregui.
Foreshadowing Amusten’s effort in the seventh, Santos then struck out Nacho Espinoza to end the inning.
“I just knew that if I get us out of that jam it puts us in a perfect spot to win the championship,” Sixtos said. “I really needed to get my team up to bat, get back in the seventh and just let these boys work.”
Chavez scored the game’s only run in the fourth.
Sophomore Benji Perez walked, sophomore punch-runner Julian Villarreal stole second and moved to third on a single by DeLira, who had two hits on the day. Miggy Ramirez then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Villarreal.
“We’ve got a lot of sophomores playing for us, so we’re young,” Neal said. “They’re great kids and they’ve played together for a while so I’m looking forward to the next couple of years.”
Sixtos walked the first batter he faced and then retired the next eight batters he faced. He allowed six hits, walked two and had six strikeouts.
“It’s just pure excitement,” Neal said. “We won it in ’15 and ’16 and this is still just as exciting.”
