Trojans rally late over Clovis

Held in check for six innings by senior right-hander Landon Williams, Mayfield finally found some holes in the seventh.

The Trojans parlayed four singles and a wild Clovis High relay into three runs, rallying for a 3-2 victory over the Wildcats in the opener of a Class 6A state best-of-3, round-of-16 series at Bell Park.

linkThe seventh-seeded Cats (17-10) will need to win twice today in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. If Mayfield takes the first game, the second won’t be necessary.

Senior right fielder Emilio Romero, the Trojans’ No. 9 hitter, ended a long battle against Williams with a looping two-out RBI single just inside the right field line to drive in the game-winner. The 10th-seeded Trojans (14-10), who had hit just two balls out of the infield and managed only three hits off Williams until the seventh, strung together three singles to start the frame, with the tying run scoring on the errant relay throw.

“Landon was nails today until the seventh,” Clovis coach Richard Cruce said. “We were unlucky at the end, but that’s baseball.”

Clovis built a 2-0 lead on an RBI double by Williams in the third inning and a run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder by junior right fielder Austin Adams in the sixth. But Mayfield senior Eric Lucero, who struck out one in the first three innings but nine over the final four, got two strikeouts to escape the jam.

“We’ve got to be better with people in scoring position,” Cruce said.

Romero also made a strong throw from right field to get courtesy runner Jason Freeman at the plate as he tried to score from third on a short fly ball to end the third inning.

“Eric Lucero threw a great game today, and Romero had a clutch hit to drive in that run,” Mayfield coach Miguel Gomez said. “It was a great game. We’ve got so much respect for Clovis; they’ve got a good group of kids, and we’ll have to battle hard again tomorrow.”

Williams walked no one and struck out six, finishing with a seven-hitter. Lucero gave up six hits and two walks, including one intentional.

“He got stronger throughout the game,” Gomez said of his right-hander. “He did a great job tonight of keeping us in the game.”

Senior right-hander Matt Lanier will pitch the first game today for Clovis. If they get to a third game, Adams will take the mound.

Meantime, Gomez said he will probably chose from three lefties — senior Ben Tingen, junior Louie Lombardi and sophomore William Haywood — with junior right-hander Kiefer Allen also a possibility.