MONROVIA — The Monrovia baseball team expected its game against San Marino on Monday to come come down to one big moment, and it did.

Monrovia’s Isaias Hernandez said he was looking for something away as he stood at the plate in the sixth inning against San Marino pitcher JJ Wilson, who was locked in a scoreless battle with Wildcats senior James Quesenbery.

It wasn’t Hernandez’s best swing, but he was able to bloop a single to right field that scored Sully Zinn from third base, and that was the difference for Monrovia in a 1-0 victory in the Rio Hondo League showdown.

“It wasn’t his hardest hit ball of the year, but he’s produced runs all year and has been a great clean-up hitter,” Monrovia coach Brad Blackmore said of Hernandez. “He took advantage of one of the little opportunities we had, and when we had that opportunity, he capitalized on it.”

Hernandez admitted there was some frustration on missed opportunities earlier. But he found the pitch he wanted in the sixth inning.

“They had a good pitcher on the mound, we just had to execute,” Hernandez said. “He was throwing away, so I just tried to go opposite with it.”

It felt like a must-needed win for Monrovia, which improved to 19-3 overall and 8-1 in league.

San Marino (16-6, 5-2) had handed Monrovia its only league loss, 8-1, in the team’s first meeting.

San Marino will host the final game of the three-game series Thursday with ace Tomas Bilvado on the hill.

Wilson lasted six innings with 10 strikeouts, and he gave up seven hits.

Wilson was on the losing end of a 1-0 loss to La Canada earlier in league play.

But Quesenbery was just as good and sometimes more surgical. He threw six shutout innings and allowed only two hits. His defense was great behind him. Catcher Braydon Blackmore threw out two runners trying to steal second, and the Wildcats made all of the routine plays while not making any errors.

For Quesenbery, there was some redemption too. In the 8-1 loss to San Marino on March 17, he lasted only two innings and gave up five runs on six hits.

“It’s always special playing those guys,” Quesenbery said. “They’re always a tough team with JJ and Tomas on the mound. I knew I was going to have to deal. I didn’t have a good first start against them, so I had to come back today. I just had to buckle down when the big moments came.”

The Titans had runners in scoring position in the third and sixth innings, but Quesenbery locked down each time. Sutton Powers pitched the seventh and finished the game with two strikeouts and a ground out.

“James came up big on the mound,” Blackmore said. “He let our defense play behind him. He threw a bunch of strikes and we played pretty flawless on defense all day.”

With a victory at San Marino on Thursday, the Wildcats can clinch at least a share of the league title. But they will be facing Bilvado, who is 7-0 with a 1.43 ERA.

That’s why Blackmore was asked if Monday’s game was a must win.

“They’re all must win, especially against those guys,” Blackmore said. “We have three league games left, and our league took a big jump-up this year, it’s more competitive. But most of that is because San Marino has raised the bar the last couple years with their pitching and overall team. So to beat them, you have to match them and today we were able to match them for seven (innings).”