Cantu’s four-hit outing not enough for Patterson in D-IV baseball playoffs

Santiago Cantu lingered in right field, site of Patterson High School’s final postgame meeting of the season, long after the team had been dismissed.

The Tigers’ slender shortstop blinked back tears after his junior season came to an abrupt end Wednesday at Tony Zupo Field, as Lincoln triumphed 10-1 in the early game, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 that the Fighting Zebras rallied to win 6-4.

“This isn’t a team; it’s one big family,” said Cantu, who started the clincher on the mound and left with the score tied 4-4. “This was a good year for us; we really came together as a team and had each other’s backs.”

Cantu is a star in the making and will begin next season as a favorite to capture The Bee’s Player of the Year honor. He entered Wednesday’s action having gone 5 for 6 in the postseason with two doubles, a triple, a home run and seven RBIs.

But his 4-for-4 performance in the clincher, which included two doubles, a triple and two RBIs, wasn’t enough.

In fact, the team wasted his leadoff triple leading 4-2 in the fifth. After he clubbed reliever Zach Lowe’s first pitch of the game off the wall in left, Lowe got a groundout, a strikeout and a flyout to escape unscathed.

“I couldn’t get down after just one pitch,” Lowe said. “Every athlete wants to be in that position. It’s what makes it fun. It’s awesome.”

Lincoln coach Graylon Duncan thought it was a turning point.

“We’re in a bind there, and we noticed a difference when they didn’t score,” Duncan said. “It was more than just not getting a run; there was a letdown.”

Patterson skipper Tony Lomeli agreed.

“Especially with the 4-5 hitters coming up,” said Lomeli, a member of the Tigers’ 1993 section championship team. “We relied on timely hitting in league and into the playoffs, and we weren’t able to do that today.”

Heading into the bottom of the fifth with a two-run cushion instead of three, Lincoln (25-6) stroked four consecutive singles off a fading Cantu to tie the score 4-4. Patterson managed to avoid falling behind when center fielder Alec Espos fielded a single off the bat of Dylan Munch and threw out Ruben Sanabia at the plate.

Of course, had the Tigers (21-8-1) been able to push across Cantu, they’d have gotten out of the inning with their lead intact.

Patterson reliever Antonio Bustos retired the first two batters in the sixth, but a walk to Elijah Garcia, a single by No. 3 hitter Jordan Erickson and an intentional walk to cleanup man Charles Middleton loaded the bags for Sanabia.

“When the count went to 2-0, I knew I was going to get a fastball,” Sanabia said. “I knew I was going to hit it.”

Duncan, whose team lost the series opener 5-0 on Saturday, said his team had an advantage falling into an 0-1 series hole. Knowing his team had to win two games Wednesday, “We could prepare for 14 innings,” Duncan said.

In other words, Patterson was hoping to roll out of Zupo after seven innings of baseball, playing to avoid 14 innings of play. Playing two games was a best-case scenario for the Fighting Zebras.

“We were a little surprised when they didn’t throw (Cantu) in the first game,” Duncan said. “Who knows? If we’d beaten him in the first game, maybe we would’ve let down a little bit in the second game.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 11:55 PM with the headline "Cantu’s four-hit outing not enough for Patterson in D-IV baseball playoffs."