Banning Coach Mike Reyes doesn’t want his team to hit the panic button just yet.
But that moment is quickly approaching his team, especially after Tuesday’s frustrating 4-1 loss to Notre Dame.
The Broncos have lost five of their last six games and sit near the bottom of the Mountain Valley League standings, just above winless Jurupa Valley. They dropped to 1-4 in MVL play and 4-9 overall.
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“The margin for error just tightened on us some more,” Banning coach Chris Reyes said. “We’ve got to stay positive. This was a winnable game. The last game was winnable. We just got to keep firing away.”
Banning (4-9) plays at Notre Dame on Thursday and at Citrus Valley on Tuesday in a series of games that could decide the postseason fate of the Broncos.
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“Things will turn around for us,” Reyes said. “I know we have been in all our games. I know we can play.”
Tuesday’s game was tied at 1 going into the fifth inning when Notre Dame took a 2-1 lead. Banning hung on until the top of the seventh when Notre Dame broke it open with two more runs to nail down the 4-1 win.
“We had a few chances,” Reyes said. “If we make a few key plays the direction of the game takes a whole different direction.”
Banning loaded the bases in the bottom of the third but managed just one run – Juan Gomez scored on RBI single by Francisco Noriega – and stranded two runs. The Broncos stranded four runners in the game.
“We had this game just like we had our last game,” said Gomez, who turned in a sharp defensive effort from his shortstop position. “We went 10 innings against Rubidoux and lost. But we are getting better.”
Notre Dame batters couldn’t get anything by Gomez, who threw out six batters.
“Juan had an outstanding game,” Reyes said. “He covered the range everywhere. He made every play. I’ve got to give him a lot of credit.”
Banning struggled with runners in scoring position. The Broncos stranded runners in the first, third and seventh innings and were thrown on the base paths on two different occasions.
“It seems like we get on with no one on base,” third baseman Clancy McCafferty said. “When we are in scoring position, it looks like no one is confident.”
Isaac Linares went a strong five innings on the mound. Linares scattered three hits and struck out three batters.
“We still have some time,” Reyes said. “We just have to put some wins together.”
