The 14-and-under Lower East Side Gauchos team had a tough week, winning two and losing two heartbreakers. In the Harlem RBI League the Gauchos came back from a 5-0 deficit only to lose 7-5. Trailing 7-5 in the last inning the Gauchos loaded the bases with one out; hard-hitting Robert Ramos then hit a smash in the hole that looked to tie the game, but the Harlem shortstop speared it and turned the double play to send the boys of the L.E.S. home.
The Gauchos then played the 13-and-under Gothams in a nonleague game. The Gothams are one of the top programs in the city and recruit citywide. The Gauchos took a big lead behind the pitching of Ismael Alvarez, but the Gothams roared back in the last inning before losing 8-7. The Gauchos then crushed the Coney Island Thunderbolts in Harlem RBI League play 12-0. The game was called with the Gauchos batting and nobody out in the fourth due to the mercy rule. That game marked the pitching debut of pint-sized Everett Alvarado, one of three 12-year-olds on the roster. Alvarado came on in relief of Danny Nunez, who had struck out the first six Thunderbolts of the game.
To finish the week, the Gauchos played the South Harlem Reds 16-and-under B Team. The Gauchos took a 6-1 lead, and were cruising, but the Reds came back and eventually took a 10-7 lead. The Gauchos tied the game back up in the bottom of the seventh on Red Rivera’s two-run double, sending the game into extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Harlem’s third baseman Ramirez hit a two-run homer, his second of the game, to regain the lead. In the bottom of the eighth the Gauchos scored quickly and got runners to second and third with two out. Unfortunately Harlem got the last out, and the Loisaida boys lost 12-11.
Gaucho Ismael Alvarez was away part of last week as he attended the Major League All-Star game. Ismael was one of four finalists nationwide in the Pepsi Pitch, Hit and Run contest. Ismael almost won the national championship before losing to Josh Elander of Round Rock, Tex. He also got to shag fly balls during the Home Run Derby, and met former pro stars Orlando Cepeda and Fergie Jenkins.
