Samohi Baseball Lets Late Lead Slip Away—Again

For the third time in seven games, the varsity baseball team appeared to have victory well in hand, only to see it disappear with the setting sun.

The Vikings held a 4-1 lead with two outs in the top of the seventh inning against El Segundo on Wednesday, but the visiting Eagles scored three runs to extend the game and went on to win 6-4 in nine innings in the third-place game of the Crescenta Valley Babe Herman Tournament at Samohi. 

Junior left-hander Adam Padilla pitched brilliantly for six innings, allowing only one run, but he was lifted in the seventh for junior Johnny Barry, who quickly retired the first two batters before allowing a hit and two walks. A single to left field and a bloop single to right field followed off Albert Garcia and, just like that, the Vikings' lead had vanished.

"Adam [Padilla] threw six great innings, but the two previous times he tried to close it out in the seventh, he couldn't do it," Vikings Head Coach Sheldon Philip-Guide said. "So we tried to have someone else close it out today."

Padilla, who had been unable to hold multiple-run leads in the last inning in 5-4 defeats to North Torrance on Mar. 28 and Crescenta Valley on Saturday, said he could've pitched one more inning.

"I do feel like I had one more [inning] in me, but I agree with coach's decision," Padilla said. "Albert and John have never let us down before, so why not let them come in and finish it off?"

Santa Monica jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning after back-to-back base hits by Matthew Stancil and David Tyre-Vigil put runners at the corners. Stancil scored from third on a wild pitch, then Tyre-Vigil stole home on a relay throw after a dropped third strike.

In the third inning, Padilla helped his own cause with an RBI double, and Stancil followed with an RBI single to give the Vikings a 4-0 lead against El Segundo ace Nigel Nootbaar, who is headed for the University of Southern California.

"We have to keep the aggressiveness up, jump on these pitchers early and keep our foot on the gas," Stancil said. "We can't be afraid to make the last out, but if we put them away early, these losses wouldn't happen."

The Eagles (8-8) scratched out a run in the top of the sixth inning, but Santa Monica still led 4-1 going into the final frame. After El Segundo rallied to force extra innings, Santa Monica stranded a runner in the bottom of the eighth. In the top of the ninth, Eric Batty doubled down the left field line to score the go-ahead run, and Seth McKenna's RBI single gave the Eagles a 6-4 lead.

Nootbaar, who had been relieved in the eighth, returned to the mound for the bottom of the ninth. After two fly-ball outs, Garcia doubled to deep left-center, and Ruben Fajardo singled to put runners at first and third. Nick Herrera then grounded out to second for the final out.

Afterward, Philip-Guide didn't mince words.

"We've gotta find guys who aren't afraid to win," he said. "We should've scored more than four runs, but this is the third time this has happened. Giving up three runs in the last [seventh] inning is unacceptable."

Having dropped their first eight games of the season, the Vikings (3-12) appeared to have righted the ship—especially after wins over North Torrance and Oak Park earlier in the tournament. The team's latest setback, though another bitter pill to swallow, will have no bearing on Ocean League play, which opens Tuesday at Hawthorne.

"Everyone expects us to come out strong because anyone paying attention knows we've played a really tough schedule," Padilla said. "The challenge will be Culver City and Beverly Hills. The key for us is not being afraid of success."