Saugus High baseball rattled off a few runs to start its home game against Christian High of El Cajon on Tuesday but was unable to keep the momentum going, falling 4-2 on Friday afternoon.
The Patriots, who are on an 11-game win streak, scored three runs in the first inning.
The Cents (6-14 overall, 2-3 in Foothill League) scored two of their own in the same frame when Brandyn Cruz hit a two-run double.
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Christian (12-2 overall) scored once more in the fourth inning for the final word.
Saugus coach John Maggoria said both teams seemed to flatline after the fourth.
“We were clean defensively,” he said. “Didn’t make any errors. They were a really good hitting team, but after those three runs they didn’t do a whole lot.”
Three Centurion pitchers saw action in the contest. All of them are sophomores.
JV pitcher Anthony Ramirez threw the first inning, then Bobby Garcia took over for five 2/3 innings and at one point retired 10 batters in a row. Davis Brown followed to close out the game.
Cruz had three hits in addition to his two RBIs. JC Choy and JP Flores each had two hits.
Saugus, which currently sits in fourth place in the Foothill League standings, returns to league play against Canyon High on Wednesday at home.
“I think the guys are excited,” said Maggoria. “Six weeks of school left and 10 league games. That’s the chance to make the playoffs.”
“We just got done playing 20 games in 40 days. We have 10 league games, and we need to win about eight of them. It’s really simple to our guys. Every game is an elimination game form here on out.”
