Canyon del Oro High School baseball player Ryan Retz didn’t let Catalina Foothills’ win streak reach double digits.
Retz hit Tommy West’s first pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off double Tuesday night in CDO’s 3-2 win.
Ryan Gerber scored from first on the play to end Foothills’ nine-game winning streak.
“(With) a man on first, I just wanted to hit a gapper and not do too much,” said Retz, who finished 4 for 5 at the plate while pitching eight strong innings.
“Last time (the teams played) it was really close and I knew it was going to be a battle the whole way.”
CDO coach Len Anderson was glad to see Retz at the plate in the tied game.
“He is the type of guy that you want in that situation because he can hit it into the gaps,” Anderson said.
“He’s got ice water in his veins and he’s a guy that loves those big type of situations. He thrives in them and anything he does doesn’t surprise me.”
With one out in the ninth, CDO’s Griffin Ronstadt tripled into right center field. But he was tagged out at home later after Gerber missed a sign.
“I thought the squeeze was on, but it wasn’t,” said Gerber, who reached first on the bunt while Reid Hunter flipped the ball from his glove to catcher Matt Riley to get Ronstadt.
“Apparently, I did it wrong, but it seemed to work out. I saw that he was out and thought, ‘Oh no,’ when I reached first.”
On the mound, Retz threw 99 pitches, including 19 in the eighth. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the inning by striking out Hunter.
Retz got a no-decision while Vicente Teran picked up the win after pitching the ninth.
After spotting CDO a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Foothills tied the game at 2 in the fifth on Robbie Petrillo’s two-out single.
“That was a good high school baseball game,” Foothills coach Lance Robertson said. “Coach Anderson has a great team.”