Call it fate or destiny.
In the bottom of the fifth inning on Saturday at Dodger Stadium in the City Section Open Division championship game, pinch-hitter Masen Ruiz stepped to the plate for Birmingham with two outs and the bases loaded in a tie game against El Camino Real.
It was months ago that Ruiz left Chatsworth for Birmingham after the resignation of coach Marcus Alvarado, his uncle. He was one of Chatsworth’s best players as a junior outfielder but rode the bench for much of Birmingham’s season.
Called upon in the most pressurized of situations, Ruiz hit the ball over the head of El Camino Real right fielder Ryan Glassman for a three-run triple to key Birmingham’s 4-2 victory. It was Birmingham’s ninth City baseball title and first time in coach Matt Mowry’s 20 seasons that he’s won a City title and West Valley League title in the same season.
Standing on third base with the Birmingham crowd roaring, Ruiz said, “Honestly, I didn’t know what was going on. I blacked out.”
Ruiz, the grandson of former Granada Hills Kennedy coach Manny Alvarado, had people telling him to be patient and be ready when an opportunity presented itself. He hadn’t batted since May 7 against Cleveland. Anddid he deliver with a drive that rolled to the right-field fence off pitcher Hudson December and finally gave the Patriots breathing room.
“If my name was called, I was going to do anything for the win,” Ruiz said.
Nathan Soto made it to the sixth inning for Birmingham before closer Aidan Martinez and his 92 mph fastball was summoned from the bullpen. He struck out two batters when El Camino Real had runners on second and third. Then he struck out two more in the seventh.
Martinez missed last season because of Tommy John surgery but returned to be one of the Patriots’ most important two-way players.
“It was a long road back,” Martinez said. “I just wanted to be back.”
El Camino Real scored iin the first inning on a throwing error. Birmingham tied the score on an RBI single by Martinez.
After some early jitters in the first inning, the two teams settled down to play good defense in support of their pitchers. Shortstop JuJu Monroe-Truitt made two heads-up plays with force outs by throwing the ball to third baseman Sebastian Valadez to help out Soto. El Camino Real’s outfielders were busy keeping December out of trouble through four innings despite three hit batters and two walks. Birmingham had runners aboard in the second, third and fourth innings.
Birmingham players charged the field and threw around water during their celebration. Ruiz ran in from right field to join. It was a day he waited for and came through.
Southern Section Division 1
St. John Bosco 5, La Mirada 2: Defending Division 1 champion St. John Bosco is on to the semifinals after 13 strikeouts from Julian Garcia and two home runs from James Clark. St. John Bosco will play host to Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday. The other semifinal has Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Norco.