–Courtesy Photo / Heather Wilde
By Aaron Valdez
Following a couple of games that saw them overcome significant deficits, the “Comeback Cats” of Monrovia Baseball ironically squandered a 4-0 lead during their 6-5 loss to La Quinta in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 Championship on Saturday.
By the end of the third inning at the Riverside Sports Complex, the Wildcats seemed to be in the driver’s seat and were on the cusp of clinching an elusive CIF title. However, the game turned out to be far from over as the Blackhawks quickly stormed back to take a 6-4 lead.
A two-run RBI double from Isaac Salazar and a pair of errors from Monrovia’s defense ended up being the biggest factors in the Wildcats’ demise.
Monrovia did cut their deficit down to one when Gabe Arellano recorded an RBI single. However, a tremendous effort from La Quinta reliever Andres Arellano ultimately secured the championship for his team.
The Wildcats finished the season with an overall record of 23-5-1, which is a huge turnaround from last season where they didn’t even qualify for the postseason
