Torkelson powers Gauchos to important NBL win over Cardinal Newman

The Casa Grande High School baseball Gauchos weren’t perfect, but they were more than good enough to win an important North Bay League game over Cardinal Newman, 7-4.

Playing on a mild spring afternoon on Cardinal Newman’s immaculate diamond Friday, the Gauchos matched the bat work of Spencer Torkelson with good-enough pitching and some spectacular glove plays to record their fourth straight NBL win and, at 4-2, remain a game behind Maria Carrillo (5-1) in the chase for the league championship. Casa is now 10-3 overall. Cardinal Newman, with the loss, drops to 5-11 overall and 2-4 in league.

Casa’s bat was supplied by Torkelson, a senior who had four hits, reached base five times and drove in four runs. Three of the RBIs came on the key swing of the game.

In the bottom of the second inning, Casa had a run in with the bases loaded and two outs. There was still a lot of baseball to be played, but it was at a crucial point in the game. An out and the Gauchos would hold a one-run lead; a hit and Cardinal Newman was in a big hurt.

Torkelson supplied the hurt, soaring a long drive over the center fielder’s head to clear the bases. The Gauchos ended the inning with a 4-0 lead and never trailed.

The pitching was split between sophomore Aaron Van Tigham and seniors Jason Wutsch and Jack Hill.

Van Tigham, who is developing into the Gauchos’ most consistent moundsman, didn’t have his best stuff, but he did have control, and perseverance. He worked through four innings, giving up six hits, but just two runs, only one earned. He struck out two, but only walked one. Wutsch pitched two innings, and although he gave up only one hit, he yielded two runs after walking two and hitting one. Hill gave up a hit and a walk before closing out the game in the seventh.

First baseman AJ Miller helped bail the Gauchos out big time with his glove in the sixth inning. The Cardinals were rallying with the first four batters in the inning reaching base when Miller stretched over the railing to snare a foul pop-up with a catch that seemed to take the momentum out of the Cardinal bats. He latter ended the inning by snaring a line drive that was smacked right at him.

Blake Berry had three hits for the Gauchos, including a run-producing single in a two-run fifth-inning rally. Quinton Gago contributed two hits to the cause, driving in a run.

Jaguars defeated

Earlier in the week, Casa coach Paul Maytorena came close to cleaning out the Gauchos’ pitching cupboard, using four hurlers to subdue Windsor’s Jaguars, 7-3, in a game played on a chilly Casa diamond.

Gago, Chris Joaquim, Billy Brown and Parker Ruoff were all generally effective in throwing the Gauchos to the victory.

Gago started for Casa, got into immediate trouble, and gave up two runs in the opening inning. He then settled down to pitch two scoreless innings. He gave up two runs on three hits, walking none and striking out two. Gago was both hurt and helped by the inconsistent Casa defense. The Gauchos made three errors behind their teammate but also bailed him out with two double plays.

Sticking to a pre-game plan, Maytorena brought in Joaquim to start the fourth inning. The junior right-hander had trouble getting his pitches to descend into the strike zone, walking the bases loaded in the fourth, but escaping two innings of work without giving up a run or a hit.

Brown pitched a scoreless fifth. He did walk one, but that runner was gunned down at second on a steal try by Casa catcher John Green.

Ruoff finished off the seventh, giving up a run on a hit and error. That rally might have made the Gauchos a little nervous had shortstop Hance Smith not made a brilliant stop of a hot grounder that took a quick high hop as it approached the infielder. Smith’s quick hands snared the ball just as he neared second base. Once in possession, it was a simple process to step on second and fire to first for the twin kill. Smith ended the game with a nice stab of a soft liner that initially appeared destined to drop into left field for a hit.

“Our pitching has been inconsistent, and we wanted to give Brown and Ruoff a chance to get into a game,” Maytorena exclaimed of the Gauchos’ unusual pitching pattern.

On the offensive side, Casa Grande had nine hits and took advantage of five Windsor errors, The Gauchos did all their scoring in two big gulps.

After Windsor had scored two runs in the top of the first, Casa Grande bounced back for three in the bottom of the inning. One out into the inning, Berry, Green and Joaquim ripped consecutive hits for a run, and two more came in on Gago’s groundout and a two-out knock by Stephen Proctor.

A trio of Windsor errors handed the Gauchos four runs in the fourth inning, with Torkelson and Berry providing key RBI hits. The two-run single by Berry was one of his three hits in the game.