Rancho baseball team capitalizes on miscues, routs Basic 16-4
Good baseball teams don’t often make a ton of errors. So when two-time defending state champion Basic kicked the ball around a bit Saturday, Rancho was ready to pounce.
The third-ranked Rams took advantage of five Basic errors and smacked four home runs en route to a 16-4, five-inning win over the visiting Wolves.
“We love capitalizing on errors,” junior pitcher Jimmy Gamboa said. “That’s the greatest feeling.”
Gamboa and company were feeling awfully good after the second inning when three Basic errors helped Rancho (16-3, 8-1 Sunrise League) bat around and score eight runs to take an 8-2 lead.
Layton Walls led off the second with a solo home run, and Chayse Baker and Joey Walls added homers later in the inning.
“We tell our guys ‘every inning is important, every pitch is important, every play is important,’ ” Rancho coach Manny Llamas said. “They took that to heart and have been taking it to heart all year. When people make mistakes, we try our best to capitalize.”
The second-inning outburst was more than enough for Gamboa, who pitched the distance and allowed three earned runs on five hits. He struck out three with no walks and threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of 22 batters.
“That’s what you can expect with Jimmy on the bump,” Llamas said. “He’s our leader for a reason. He wants the ball every single time.
“Any time he pitches, it doesn’t matter what team it is, he’s going to get ahead. And our guys feed off Jimmy.”
Joey Walls was 3-for-4 and added an inside-the-park homer in the fourth after two Basic outfielders lost his fly ball in the sun. Matthew Baughn went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and Baker had three RBIs for Rancho, which took sole possession of first place in the Sunrise League.
“A good team like Basic, it’s a great win,” Gamboa said.
Zach Hose and Kyle Turner each hit a home run for the second-ranked Wolves (17-3, 7-2).
Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow @DamonSeiters on Twitter.
