CITY SECTION: GOMEZ BOOSTS POLY TO WIN ERROR DOESN'T FAZE SHORTSTOP POLY 7, BIRMINGHAM 6.Byline: Nick Piecoro Staff Writer His sixth inning error had given Birmingham a two-run lead, and Poly of Sun Valley shortstop Miguel Gomez came into the dugout dugout: see canoe. dejected de·ject·ed adj. Being in low spirits; depressed. See Synonyms at depressed. de·ject  ed·ly adv. .
Teammates huddled hud·dle n. 1. A densely packed group or crowd, as of people or animals. 2. Football A brief gathering of a team's players behind the line of scrimmage to receive instructions for the next play. 3. after the inning and all eyes were on Gomez. `Keep your head up,' they told him. He'd get his chance as a batter in the next inning. Gomez heeded the advice, and in the bottom of the inning Noun 1. bottom of the inning - the second half of an inning; while the home team is at bat bottom inning, frame - (baseball) one of nine divisions of play during which each team has a turn at bat got a two-run, game-tying triple and scored the winning run as Poly topped Birmingham of Van Nuys 7-6 Friday in the first round of the City Section baseball playoffs. Poly (21-6) will host Carson Tuesday in a second-round game. ``Our whole team looked to him,'' Poly coach Chuck Schwal said. ``They all went to his side.'' And Gomez delivered, completing Poly's second comeback of the afternoon. The following hitter, Danny Cardenas, put Poly ahead for good when he beat out a bases-loaded chopper to short to score Gomez. It all made a winner of Joe Hampel, who, except for a rocky, four-run third inning, threw an effective, 120-pitch complete game. Hampel (7-4) briefly lost the strike zone in the third when he walked two and allowed three hits, including a two-run double by Luis Parra that gave Birmingham (20-11) a 4-1 lead. But an inning later, Poly put together a few hits and tied the game 4-4 on a bases-loaded walk to Gomez. Hampel got into more trouble in the sixth, and when Jose Avitia grounded hard to short, it appeared danger had been averted. But the ball took an unexpected hop and Gomez couldn't adjust, allowing the inning to continue. Raul Campos Campos (käm`p  s), city (1996 pop. 391,299), Rio de Janeiro state, SE Brazil, on the Paraíba River near its mouth. followed with an RBI RBIabbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in single to give Birmingham a 6-4 lead. Hampel started the winning rally by singling with one out in the sixth, and Zach Jones-Sims followed with a single to left. Guillermo Lopez struck out, bringing Gomez to the plate with two down. His head was clear, he said, his confidence restored. And with the count 2-2, he turned on an inside fastball from Patrick Roark (6-4) and drove it into the left-center field gap. ``They really picked me up,'' Gomez said. ``That's what I like "That's What I Like" was a popular single by Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers. Father and son team Andy and John Pickles repeated the formula which had took their record Swing The Mood to number one a few months previously. about this team - we all stick together.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Raul Campos of Birmingham goes to the fence to make a nice catch in Friday's playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship . Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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