A Different Day And A Different Result for Coyotes

Revenge is sweet, or so the saying goes. The Calabasas High baseball team had to learn about the opposite side of old adage the hard way.  

The Coyotes lost to host Lake Balboa Birmingham 6-1 on Thursday in an opening round game of the Valley Invitational Baseball League playoffs, the loss coming one week after they defeated the Patriots 18-1 in the summer season finale.  

"What can I say, it just wasn't our day this time around,'' Calabasas coach Ed Edsall said. "Birmingham had plenty of motivation against us. How could they not after our last game? There wasn't very much we could do against them. ''  

Calabasas (8-11) couldn't figure out a way to solve the problems Kevin Torres posed on the mound. The Birmingham starter was in control throughout and finished with a complete game six-hitter. Torres struck out seven and walked two for the Patriots (10-9-1).  

"Torres was on today and we weren't,'' Edsall said.  

Calabasas' Jordan Bass had two hits, including a double, but the Coyotes weren't able to string together many hits and mount much of an attack. Alex Rubanowitz, Josh Ehrich, Jacob Camhi and Allan Clark managed to add singles, but Trevor Weiss' three strikeouts certainly didn't help.

"Jordan swung the bat pretty well, but it wasn't enough, not even close,'' Edsall said. "For us to be successful, we need everyone on this team to hit.''  

The Coyotes' Travis Cassidy didn't have his best stuff against Birmingham. He ended up going the distance, giving up six hits and striking out five. Walking five batters proved to be his downfall though.  

The Coyotes did get on the board first, in the fourth inning. With one out, Ben Vizvary walked and Bass followed with a double to give Calabasas a 1-0 lead. Cassidy and Ben Shifman grounded out, stranding Bass at second base.  

The Patriots rallied in the bottom half of the fourth inning, scoring four runs. A pair of wild pitches and an error by the Coyotes were costly mistakes.   Birmingham added a run in the fifth inning when Torres scored on an infield groundball off the bat of Steven Rodriguez.

And the Patriots scored again in the sixth inning when Nick Acosta crossed the plate on a Daniel Gomez base hit.  

"Losing is never fun, but overall, we're pleased with the improvement made by our kids over the course of the summer,'' Edsall said. "Now, we have a better understanding of what we need to work on to be better prepared for the fall season.''