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The Indians avoided becoming another victim by going right at the Grizzlies.
Thanks to aggressive base running and a strong outing by Garrett Gooding, Hart built an early lead and held off Golden Valley 5-3 on Wednesday at Hart High School.
“I thought we did a good job getting ahead in the game,” said Hart head coach Jim Ozella. “When we’re behind we’re down 1-0 or 2-0 or 4-0 and it takes our game away.”
With the win, Hart (12-13, 6-8) moves into a tie with Golden Valley for fourth place in the Foothill League with one game left. Both teams are a game behind Saugus, which beat West Ranch on Wednesday.
The Indians were able to get to Golden Valley starter Scott Barlow in the first inning as Kevin Bailey led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a triple by Nolan Simons.
Pat Valaika then stepped up and plated Simons with an RBI double.
The early run support allowed Gooding to settle in and stick to his game plan.
“The first inning, the team got out ahead,” Gooding said. “It gave me confidence so I just pitched my game. I just tried to throw strikes.”
The Grizzlies (11-13, 6-8) put runners in scoring position in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but Gooding was able to get out of every jam.
He was especially impressive in the fourth, when Golden Valley had runners on first and second with no outs. Gooding induced a pair of flyouts from Jon Granado and Josh Smith before striking out Tanner Swire to end the threat.
“Give him credit,” said Golden Valley head coach Scott Drootin. “Every time we thought he was teetering, he threw a good pitch.”
Hart’s offense did its part by staying aggressive on the base paths. The Indians stole seven bases in the game and kept Barlow looking over his shoulder.
Hart scored again in the fourth inning when James Scott smacked a leadoff double and later scored on an RBI single by Bailey.
The Indians tacked on a pair of insurance runs off Grizzlies reliever Justin Jamroz in the sixth. J.T. Barnes and Bailey drove in Josh Wagner and Josh Brown with back-to-back sacrifice flies.
Golden Valley rallied for three runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by a two-RBI single by Kamran Young that scored Anthony San Miguel and Nick Hernandez. But Hart reliever Theo Stafford induced a line-drive out to end the game.
Bailey and Scott each went 2-for-3 to pace Hart. Gooding went 6 1/3 innings and was charged with the three runs and also allowed six hits with six strikeouts.
Ozella said it was a clutch performance considering the late-season stakes.
“I told our guys we’re in the playoffs this week,” he said. “That’s the mentality you’ve got to have.”
Barlow buckled down after the first inning to allow three runs on seven hits. Brandon Smith went 2-for-4 for the Grizzlies, who lost a Wednesday game for the first time since Foothill League play resumed after spring break.
“We’ve been playing pretty well during the week, but I think people are noticing that we’re a good ball club,” Drootin said.
