Arbor View uses five-run third to pull away from Bonanza

Arbor View’s baseball team got a solid line drive and even a big blast in the third inning on Thursday.

But the game turned on a ball not struck nearly as well.

Nick Roeper’s bloop double opened the floodgates for a five-run third, and the Aggies went on to defeat visiting Bonanza 13-3 in six innings.

“We just had to swing the bat,” Arbor View coach Gary White said. “Good things happen when you swing the bat.”

Roeper’s one-out popup to left fell between the left fielder and shortstop to put runners at second and third for the middle of the Arbor View order. Star shortstop Nick Quintana walked to load the bases, and Joe Fitzhugh lined a sharp single to right to score two runs.

Quintana was overly aggressive rounding third, and ended up in a rundown. But he scored when Bonanza catcher Micah Higa couldn’t handle the throw from third baseman Jay DeSoto.

Ryan McHale then drove the next pitch over the fence in left for a two-run homer and a 5-2 lead.

“We just chipped away,” White said. “We got a couple of good hits. We got a few hits here and there, and took advantage of a few mistakes.”

Arbor View starter Austin Pfeiffer was solid, allowing one earned run on two hits in five innings, to get the win. Pfeifer struck out four with two walks.

“He did a good job controlling the at-bats,” White said. “Sometimes he’d lose his focus and he’d be up in the zone, but he kept making adjustments and making big pitches.”

Quintana showed good patience, drawing two walks, and Fitzhugh and McHale made Bonanza pay for pitching around Arbor View’s star.

Fitzhugh was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs, and McHale went 2-for-3 with two runs and four RBIs.

“I moved Joe from the fifth spot to the fourth spot, and he’s just line drives, line drives,” White said. “I moved Ryan down to the fifth spot to take a little pressure off him. He was pressing early in the season. Now he’s getting that line-drive stroke back. And the home run he hit was huge to get us back in the game and give us the lead.”

Bonanza starter Danny Ruiz staked himself to a 1-0 lead when he led off the second with a homer to left. The Bengals added an RBI single by Byron Naftzger later in the inning for a 2-0 advantage.

Trevor Jackson was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs, and Brandon Stevens added two hits for the Aggies, who evened their season record at 3-3.

“They’re good ballplayers,” White said. “My job basically is to stay out of their way, make sure nobody gets hurt and sign the lineup card.”

Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a double and the homer to lead Bonanza (3-3).