Bishop Amat baseball clinches Del Rey title with win over La Salle in 9 innings
LA PUENTE – Bishop Amat players lifted junior Omar Arretche on their shoulders following the team's gutty, come-from-behind victory over La Salle, 9-8, in nine innings Friday to clinch a fourth straight Del Rey League title.
Bishop Amat (14-9, 10-2) took two of three games this week from La Salle (16-7, 7-3), which was trying to win its first league title since 2012.
Arretche, who replaced struggling starting pitcher Izac Muniz in the third inning with Amat trailing 5-0, went the final 6 2/3 innings. He had four straight no-hit innings to close out the game.
Arretche also was 2 for 5 at the plate with three RBIs, which included a two-run double. He won the game when he took a fastball off his hip with the bases loaded and two outs, forcing in Roman Spencer for the run that broke an 8-8 tie.
Bishop Amat's Omar Arretche pitched the final 6 1-3 innings, ended with four straight no hit innings, had a two run double and drew the HBP with the bases loaded for a come from behind 9-8 victory over La Salle to clinch the league title. He talked about it. pic.twitter.com/cuChJ1WDlj
- Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻💻 (@SGVNSports) April 25, 2026
Bishop Amat coach Robert Prieto talked about how they rallied from a 5-0 and 8-5 deficit to pull out a 9-8 victory over La Salle in 9 innings to win a fourth straight Del Rey League title pic.twitter.com/Om1iRwPWXz
- Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻💻 (@SGVNSports) April 25, 2026
"We never backed down. We were down five runs and came back and kept adding runs and eventually tied it," Arretche said. "On (pitching), I was just trying to hit my spots with as much as I had left. It feels great, these (teammates) are amazing to be around."
Spencer got Amat's two-out rally started in the ninth with a base hit. Ryal Salcedo also legged out a hit. After Santiago Ramirez was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Arretche was hit by the first pitch to force in the winning run.
Bishop Amat coach Robert Prieto talked with Arretche before his at-bat.
"I told him anything that is (thrown) in was a run and he's wearing it and don't get out of the way of the baseball," Prieto said. "Just being a total team player, that's what you want to see."
Arretche, who got the final two outs in a 4-2 victory over La Salle on Wednesday, was clutch in every way Friday, especially down the stretch against a potent La Salle lineup.
"Omar went out and slammed the door, he was just phenomenal," Prieto said.
There was an incident on the field at the game's conclusion.
After Arretche's hit-by-pitch forced in the winning run, Arretche rounded first base and Amat players chased him as they celebrated. The players wound up in left field, and La Salle left fielder Drew Ward was caught in the middle of the celebration.
Words were exchanged between the teams, and La Salle coach Andy Nieto got into a heated discussion with Lancers coaches. Nieto previously coached at Bishop Amat.
La Salle baseball coach Andy Nieto had some choice words toward the school he once coached at following a 9-8 loss to Bishop Amat in 9 innings.
Bishop Amat won on a bases loaded walk off walk, and the celebration run toward left field crossed paths with La Salle outfielder Drew… pic.twitter.com/VUb40VWv3g
- Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻💻 (@SGVNSports) April 25, 2026
"I'm embarrassed for Bishop Amat," Nieto said. "I wore that uniform and that (celebration) would never, ever happen on my watch. They won fair and square and deserve to celebrate one hundred percent. But you don't rush my left fielder. That is not OK.
"I have a lot of respect for president Richard Beck and principal Gabe Escovar, but they would be embarrassed and I'm embarrassed for you Bishop Amat. I wore that uniform with great people and great parents and did some great things. It was a great chapter in my life. But for this to happen, that's not OK."
La Salle had a 5-0 lead after two innings. Amat came back to tie the score 5-5 in the fourth inning.
La Salle scored three runs in the fifth to go up 8-5. Amat came back again, scoring three runs in the sixth inning to tie the score. The game stayed that way until the ninth.
"You never want it to end like that," Nieto said of the hit by pitch that produced the winnings run. "It was a dogfight. It went nine innings, and in the end, Amat battled back and closed it out.
"We were unable to finish and squandered a couple leads and in the end they closed it out and won. They deserved it."
It looked bad for Amat early. Muniz needed 33 pitches to get out of the first inning.
La Salle scored three runs with the help of two walks and a hit batter. Its only hit in the inning came on Drew Ward's bunt to load the bases. La Salle scored when a bases-loaded walk forced in a run and on two ground outs.
Ward went 3 for 4 with an RBI.
Bishop Amat's miscues continued in the second inning, as it dropped a fly ball in left that would have ended the inning.
La Salle took advantage, scoring on singles from Ward and Daniel Ruiz to extend its lead to 5-0.
Amat, which had only two hits through three innings, finally got a rally going in the fourth inning. Back-to-back errors by La Salle resulted in two runs for Amat.
Arretche's two-run double tied the score 5-5.
La Salle answered in the fifth inning. Isaiah Romero's bases-loaded walk gave it the lead and Miguel Romero's fly out to right field scored a run. A throwing error by Amat brought in one a run for an 8-5 lead.
Amat scored three runs in the sixth inning to tie the score 8-8.
Joaquin Cruz belted a two-run double and Tony Becerra walked with the bases loaded to tie the score.
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