SAN BERNARDINO — What a difference one week can make in the Citrus Belt League.
“The difference is we were hunting people and now we’re going to be the hunted,” Redlands East Valley baseball coach Chris Paterson said.
In a matchup of two of the CBL’s best pitchers, senior right-hander Cash Dabbs had seven strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings to lead Redlands East Valley to a 10-1 victory over Cajon on Thursday.
“We struggled with energy at the beginning of the season but we have it now,” said Dabbs, who picked up his sixth win and now has 85 strikeouts in 57 innings this season.
Dabbs allowed just two hits on 101 pitches as REV (14-8 overall, 7-2 in league) swept the three-game series and won its seventh consecutive game overall. The Wildcats now sit atop the league standings, one game ahead of Citrus Valley and Yucaipa with six games remaining.
“It would be great if we got even hotter,” Dabbs said. “No one’s going to be able to beat us. We have all the confidence in the world.”
REV now has won seven of its last 10 games against Cajon since 2022.
Cajon junior right-hander Gavin Garcia allowed six runs on six hits and walked six in his first loss of the season.
“When we have more walks than strikeouts, when we have more balls than swings and misses (and) more pitches that are missing the plate than are hitting corners, we have some things to work on,” Cajon coach Robert Grande said.
Cajon (16-5, 5-4) has lost three consecutive games for the first time this season. The Cowboys are currently fourth in the CBL standings after starting the week with a one-game lead.
“When you play as sloppy as we have over the past week, there needs to be changes,” Grande said. “Some of those are with personnel and some of it is with the kids having to stand up a little bit and be the young men they’re supposed to be.”
Griffin Cunningham tripled to lead off the third inning and scored on a single from Ty Whittle for a 1-0 lead. Alan Gibbons tripled to lead off the fourth and scored on an error, and Dabbs scored on a single from Eric Rivera as REV grabbed two more runs.
Freshman catcher Zak Flinn walked twice and scored Cajon’s only run in the fourth, advancing to third on Jordan Salazar’s single before coming across on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Contreras.
Garcia loaded the bases in the fifth before leaving the game but was credited with all three runs after three consecutive bases-loaded walks gave REV a 6-1 lead.
Whittle (4 for 5) had an infield single to lead off the sixth for REV, and the Wildcats sent 10 batters to the plate in scoring four more times to take a 10-1 lead.
Cunningham and Alan Gibbons both reached base five times for REV, which collected 11 hits in the win.
REV senior reliever Joseph Prosper came on for the final 1 2/3 innings, getting a double play to end the sixth before tossing a 1-2-3 frame in the seventh to end the game.
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