Gabriel Ruiz had it going.
The Grand Island Five Points Bank pitcher was making Lincoln East’s batters work on Thursday night at Ryder Park. There were moments of adversity as well, with Lincoln East getting two runners on in the sixth with no outs and two in the seventh with one out.
But with a stout defense behind him, Ruiz said he felt like he cranked it up a notch as the game went on with Five Points holding off Lincoln East 5-2 to win the Cornhusker League Juniors Championship.
“I knew that if I didn’t, they could pull me out,” he said. “I knew I had it in me to push through and finish the game.
Five Points took a 1-0 lead out of the bottom of the first inning on a Ruiz RBI single to left field that brought home Ian Arends. They brought home four more in the second, going up 5-0.
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Ruiz recorded an RBI walk that scored Miles Nelson. Then, Aldo Martinez hit a line drive off of Lincoln East pitcher Jack Ohler’s knee cap that scored Trent Verplank.
East’s Sawyer Hepburn picked up the ball and tried to make the play at first but couldn’t connect with first baseman Teague Martin. Arends scored on the error. Ohler would stay in the game for two more pitches before he was relieved.
On the last run of the inning, Grayson Sack scored Gavin Ruether on a hard ground ball to left field.
East scored its first run of the game in the third, with Sam Roberts scoring on a Carter McPeak single to right field. Their second and last run of the game came in the fifth, with Hepburn coming home on a Landen Lingenfelter groundout.
In his complete seven innings, Ruiz threw five strikeouts and one walk, giving up five hits. Sixty of his 100 pitches were thrown for strikes. He’s now 6-2 this season with a 2.21 ERA.
“I knew coming into this game, they were a solid team,” he said. “I had to go up there and do my job and let my defense work.”
Five Points coach Adam Brown said Ruiz has been a ‘workhorse’ for them this season.
“He comes in and executes,” he said. “He likes his fastball, and he can locate it at any time. He also likes his offspeed stuff. He just works hard, and he has that mentality in him that when he goes out on the mound, he’s going to work harder than anybody else.”
Five Points’ defense also made a couple of high level plays, particularly in the fifth inning. Martinez ran in and fielded a hard ground ball at third base and made the difficult play to first, throwing the runner out by a step. Not to be outdone, Sack at second base made nearly the same play for the final out of the game except he was running away from first on the play and had to shift all of his momentum to make the out.
At the plate, Ruiz’s two RBIs also brought his season total up to a team-high 29. Verplank led the team in the game in hits, going 3-3.
“We were excited to come in and compete for a league championship,” Brown said. “It’s been awhile since Five Points has been in it, so we just wanted to come in and execute. We knew Lincoln East was a pretty good team. Obviously, they won their half. …We knew they were going to be a good team, so we wanted to come in focused and put a complete game together.
Grand Island Five Points Bank 5, Lincoln East 2
LE; 001; 010; 0—2; 5; 2
FP; 140; 000; X—5; 8; 1
WP—Ruiz. LP—Ohler. 2B—FP: Arends. 2B—LE: McPeak.