The chemical leak emergency in Garden Grove last week had the Rancho Alamitos baseball team trying to find a place to play its playoff game.
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Rancho Alamitos was the home team for a CIF Southern Section Division 8 quarterfinal game against Chadwick on Friday, May 22.
The Rancho Alamitos campus was in the evacuation area.
“All the kids’ stuff was in their locker and in our equipment bin,” said Rancho Alamitos coach Sammy Macias. “We just threw everything into a truck and tried to find out which field was available.”
Los Amigos coach Melo Guess and his coaching staff came through. They offered their facility, which is in nearby Fountain Valley.
Rancho Alamitos beat Los Amigos, 7-5, in the first round of the playoffs. Rancho Alamitos and Los Amigos were Garden Grove League rivals for decades until releaguing a couple of years ago moved many teams around.
The Vaqueros beat Chadwick, 4-2, in the quarterfinals to advance to the Division 8 semifinals.
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Rancho Alamitos was the home team for a semifinal game against Oxford Academy on Tuesday. Rancho Alamitos reopened that morning, so the Vaqueros got to play on their home field, where they beat Oxford Academy, 3-0, to the finals.
Rancho Alamitos will play in the Division 8 championship game against Schurr at Morongo Field in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday at 2 p.m.
“Some people went to Los Amigos again on Tuesday,” Macias said. “They didn’t know our campus was open again.”
Macias is grateful that the Vaqueros’ rivals at Los Amigos opened their field, and their hearts, to them.
“Those guys chalked the lines, raked the field, got everything ready for us,” Macias said. “Those are some good guys.”
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