Baseball: Chandler blanks Horizon to end losing streak

April 18, 2016 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Chandler banked on its sophomore ace, manufactured runs and played a solid game on Monday afternoon to put halt to a skid that was threatening its postseason aspirations.

The Wolves baseball team still isn't a lock to qualify for state come April 30, but its performance in an 8-0 victory over No. 9 Horizon is a step in the right direction in the Division I contest at Chandler High. Right-hander Roshan Patel hurled 6 2/3 shutout innings to help No. 24 Chandler end a five-game losing streak.  A four-run, second inning spiced up by Horizon fielding woes and coach David Lopez has a brighter outlook with four games left in the regular season. The top 24 teams in the power-rankings qualify for the state tournament.

"We're a young, scrappy team," Lopez said after the game having started a lineup that included only three seniors. "These guys have been working hard during the whole skid. It was nice to see the hard work come back in the form of a win today."

Chandler 8-15 overall and 4-10 in power-ranking games, hadn't won since March 29 when Patel got the better of current No. 4 Perry, 2-1. Patel breezed through the first five innings by allowing just two hits. Horizon didn't put a runner in scoring position until the sixth when it put together two hits and had runners at second and third and noone out. Patel had an 8-0 lead at the time, but rared back and pitched like the lead was slim. A ground out, strikeout and pop up ended the inning without damage. 

Patel left with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh. Lefty Jacob Lagos took over and needed two pitches to secure the final out on a ground ball.  Chandler scored a run in the first, four in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth to give Patel plenty of support. Catcher Sam Helms delivered two hits and two RBI. Teammates Bryce Lamb, Zach Pena and Adrian Badqui each drove in a run.

"(Patel) is a competitor with a good fastball and changeup," Lopez said. "He throws strikes. You keep telling kids anything can happen on a given day. We're trying to change the culture here and have an expectation where the playoffs are expected every year." Patel has five wins this season and has given up five runs in those victories -- two of them shutouts.

Chandler has qualified for state in Lopez's first two years as head coach (19-10 and 18-12). They've won in the first round and been eliminated in the second. This year's team won't have as good a record, but that won't matter too much if the Wolves are able to qualify.

While Chandler's losing streak ended, Horizon's continued and is at three games. The Huskies' bats have been quiet in losses the last six days to Sunnyslope (4-1), Mountain Ridge (5-1) and Chandler. Horizon has fallen out of the top eight in the power-rankings, a finish which secures a first-round bye at state for those teams. Horizon is 14-9 overall and 9-5 in power-ranking games. Horizon finished with six hits in Monday's game. Noone had a multi-hit game.