Sports
Final Flurry Lifts Calabasas High In VIBL Victory
Coyotes come from four runs down in the sixth inning to beat Montclair Prep, winning for the sixth time in the past seven games
The Calabasas High baseball team played about as poorly as it possibly could for five-plus innings on Monday against visiting Panorama City Montclair Prep.
Luckily for the Coyotes, they finished strong.
Trailing by four runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning, Calabasas mounted a furious rally, scoring six runs en route to an improbable 6-4 come-from-behind victory over the stunned Mounties in a Valley Invitational Baseball League game.
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"Like we always say around here, really it's been our motto, it's not how you start, it's how you finish,'' Coyotes coach Ed Edsall said.
That has been the case throughout the summertime for Calabasas (8-10), which lost seven consecutive games during the early stages of VIBL play, only to close out the season with wins in six of its last seven games.
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"I'm proud of my guys, they've been resilient the past two or three weeks,'' Edsall said. "Instead of packing it in and giving up, they've gone out there and battled every step of the way. You saw a great example of that today.''
Montclair Prep (8-11) managed to get on the board first, scoring three times in the top half of the fourth inning. An inning later, they scored again to take what appeared to be a decisive four-run advantage.
That, however, wasn't the case.
Trevor Weiss got things started for Calabasas in the bottom of the sixth inning with a base hit and Alex Rubanowitz followed with a walk. Josh Ehrich stepped up to the plate and cleverly bunted his way on to load the bases.
Suddenly, the Coyotes had momentum. Jacob Fields laced a single for Calabasas, scoring a pair of runners to cut the deficit to 4-2. Two batters later, Ben Vizvary walked and Ehrich scored. Travis Cassidy then delivered a base hit to tie the score at 4.
Max Shifman capped the rally by lining a grounder that was misplayed, allowing two runs to cross home for the final margin of victory.
Fields got the start for Calabasas and gave up three runs on four hits in four innings of work. He struk out five. Justyn Lee replaced Fields and did a serviceable job in his two innings on the mound, giving up one run on three hits with two walks. Bret Bachelis entered the game in the seventh and closed things out, retiring the only two batters he faced to earn the all-important save.