COD Baseball shakes off 10 game skid, knocks out the Knights, 12-8

COD (3-17; 1-4) pushed past a 10 game losing streak in a big way, as Izayah Alvarez snagged 6 RBI's in a Conference win, taking down the San Diego City Knights (1-13; 1-4), 12-8.

Desert would jump onto the scoreboard in the third inning as freshman third baseman Mario Ramirez (Rancho Mirage H.S.) went opposite field, doubling to right field and scoring freshman second baseman Delvan Gomez (Cerritos Gahr), giving the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead. Gomez would go 2 for 3, with two runs scored and a run batted in on the afternoon.

Desert would plate four more runs in the fourth as a double to left by freshman left fielder Anthony Gutierrez (Yucca Valley H.S.) scored two and a two out, opposite field double to right by sophomore center fielder and leadoff hitter, Izayah Alvarez (Palm Desert H.S.) scored two more, to give the Roadrunners a 5-0 lead. Gutierrez would go 2 for 5 with two RBI's.

The Knights would find the scoreboard in the top half of the sixth, scoring a pair, as Desert still held onto a 5-2 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, the Roadrunners got those two runs back, and then some, scoring three runs. Alvarez would double to score freshman right fielder Anthony Ruff II (Moreno Valley H.S.) and Gomez scored Alvarez with a single to right. Freshman designated hitter Nelson Sanchez (Indio Shadow Hills) would hit a two out single to left, scoring Gomez and giving Desert an 8-2 lead. Sanchez would go 3 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Alvarez would comment after the game, "Everybody just got on base for me today, everything just fell with the cards, caught a lot of barrel today and felt good at the plate." Alvarez's six RBI's are the most for an individual player in a single game for the Roadrunners this season so far, the previous single game high being three RBI's, which was completed twice in 2019, both times by sophomore Nathaniel Lopez (Palm Desert H.S.).

In the top of the seventh, San Diego City added another run, but the Roadrunners would bring the knockout punch in the bottom of the seventh as Alvarez hit a three-run inside-the-park home run. "(I was down) two strikes on that a bat right there, (I was) just (hoping to catch) some barrel on that right there," said Alvarez, "(the) left fielder went to go dive for it and got three for that and got an inside the park home run, it was a good time."

Freshman right handed starting pitcher Jacob Curiel (Moreno Valley H.S.) tossed a solid seven and two-thirds innings, surrendering six runs, all earned, on eleven hits, striking out five and walking none. Commenting after the game, Curiel stated, "(It was a) good win. Good bounce back from yesterday, we needed this win, it's been awhile, and it helped with our confidence." Also stating, "(It's) good to get a first (Conference) win under the belt, definitely not the last one."

Curiel's seven and two-thirds innings pitched is the longest outing of the season so far for the freshman starter and joining freshman right hander Julian Inzunza-Varelas (Thermal Coachella Valley) for the second longest outing for Roadrunners starting pitching in 2019.

Sophomore first baseman Jonathan Mejia (Palm Desert H.S.) went 2 for 5 with a run scored out of the clean-up spot and freshman short stop Riley McDonald (Murrieta Mesa) went 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI out of the seven hole in the lineup on the afternoon.

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Information, Story & Photo provided by COD Sports Information.