Fohi baseball team surges past Colton; see video highlights

Coach Brandon Colbrunn said that his Fontana High School baseball team has gone through some "ups and downs" this season.

Last week against Colton, the Steelers found themselves on the "down" side in the early going, trailing 4-2. ?But then the Fontanans roared back in the late innings for an 11-5 victory, giving them hope that the season was advancing in an "up" trajectory.

Anthony Ayala and Andres Solis each went 3-for-4 to spark the Steelers, who raised their record to 5-2 in Sunkist League competition and 8-8 overall.

"It was a little scary there in the early parts of the game," Colbrunn said. ?"We got down, but the kids battled back and got a win.

"We've seemed to get better during the league season. ?We've got a good chance to get into the playoffs and finish well, but it's going to be tough."

Solis slugged a triple, double, and single while scoring two runs and driving in two runs.

"We've done a pretty good job this year, but we could improve a little bit, though," he said. ?"There were a couple of games where we got ourselves down early and we couldn't come back, so we've got to get on top early in the game."

Solis crushed a run-scoring triple to help give the Steelers an early 2-0 advantage before Colton rallied for four runs in the bottom of the third inning.

However, the Fontanans collected four runs in the fifth inning, thanks in part to the wildness of the Colton pitchers, to take the lead for good.

Ayala later belted a two-run home run over the fence in left field to help the Steelers pull away. ?Overall, he drove in three runs and scored four times.

"We came out shaky, but we put a couple of hits together and drove the ball, and we kept our defense solid," Ayala said.

In fact, the Steelers made a spectacular defensive play in the first inning. ?With two out and a runner on third base, a Colton batter smashed the ball right back up the middle, and Fohi pitcher Steve Mendoza, reacting quickly, was able to get his glove on it and slow it down. ?Shortstop Ayala maneuvered to his left, grabbed the ball, and threw to first for the out.

Mendoza gained the victory with relief assistance from Greg Landry and Miguel Radillo.

Jesus Encinas and Adrian Armas helped the Steelers offensively by collecting one single and one RBI apiece.

Gerardo Torreblanca drove in two runs and Juan Luna and Rigoberto Perez each had one RBI for the Steelers. ?Colton's pitchers combined for 10 walks and one hit batter.

(To see video highlights, visit www.youtube.com and search for "Fontana High School baseball.")

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Source: http://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/articles/2013/04/18/sports/doc516dc513b3b1f564258995.txt

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