Baseball: Rams' Walkoff Prolongs Wildcats' Skid

Before the bottom of the sixth inning with his club down one run to rival Monrovia, Temple City coach Barry Bacon gathered his team together and implored them to take a deep breath and focus on getting one run.

The Rams — with an assist by Bacon — did one better than that.

Temple City’s Jonah Jarrard singled off Monrovia reliever Carl Daniels with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning to plate Caleb Halverson and seemingly tie the game at two.

But Bacon continued to wave Corey Copping home, and Monrovia right fielder Chris Burkholder’s throw took a bad hop over the Wildcats catcher as Copping safely slid into home plate to give Temple City a 3-2 walkoff win at home Friday afternoon. 

Bacon said after the game that his decision to send Copping home was made on a hunch that he’d make it in time.

“It’s an instinctual thing,” Bacon said. “We’re at home. If I got a shot, we’re going to take (it). And the ball was hit firm and on the ground and I’m just like, ‘the kid from second runs well. Let’s just give him a shot.’ ”

It was fitting that it was Copping who scored the winning run for the Rams, as it was his strong performance on the mound that kept Temple City within striking distance. 

Copping pitched a complete game and struck out 11, while giving up two runs on two hits and two walks.

Copping’s one hiccup came in the top of the fifth when he hit the leadoff batter and an ensuing error gave the Wildcats runners at first and second with no one out for shortstop Nick Bueno.

Bueno then ripped a pitch into the left-field corner for a two-run double and a 2-1 lead. But Copping recovered and proceeded to get the final nine batters out keep the deficit at one.

“Corey was pitching so well,” Bacon said. “I thought one run was enough for him and the Bueno factor came in and got them two. But our kids didn’t really flinch.”

Monrovia co-head coach Dave Moore said that Copping didn’t do anything that caught the Wildcats off guard, blaming part of the problems on his team’s timid approach at the plate. Monrovia has now lost three straight, including two in a row in league play.

In all three games, the Wildcats (8-10-1, 4-2) have blown late leads.

“We’re offensively not very good right now,” Moore said. “But for at least six or seven innings our pitching is doing a great job of keeping us in the game. It seems like every time we get to a position where we want to put someone away, we haven’t been able to do it the past couple of weeks.”

This time the Wildcats’ troubles began when Burkholder lost control of his pitches. Burkholder walked two of the first three batters in the bottom of the seventh, and the Wildcats pulled Daniels out from right field to relieve Burkholder, who had pitched an excellent game prior to the seventh. 

“The kid from Monrovia absolutely dealt today,” Bacon said. “I thought he threw a fantastic game.”

The switch didn’t solve Monrovia’s location woes as Daniels walked his first batter to load the bases and set the stage for Jarrard’s seventh-inning heroics.

The win gives Temple City a 1 ½ game lead in the Rio Hondo League standings. 

“It’s huge,” Bacon said. “It’s a good win for us.”