ROUNDUP: Scotties, Hillers clinch title; Cougars, Pats, Knights win
- Updated: May 20, 2016
Helix greets home run hitter Jack Stronach at the plate on Thursday.
2016 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL
By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
LA MESA (5-20-16) — Even though he didn’t want to talk about it, his Helix Highlanders presented coach COLE HOLLAND with his first league championship during his 15 year reign as Helix mentor.
Helix players await Jack Stronach (11) to score a run on Thursday.
Make no mistake about it, Holland earned this title, which concluded with a 3-0 victory over Granite Hills on Thursday (May 19). Of course it took one of Holland’s players, winning pitcher JACK STRONACH, to expose the coach for his milestone victory.
Even wilder than that is Helix ended in a 3-way tie for the Grossmont Hills League championship with Grossmont and Granite Hills.
“We’ve won five of our last six games down the stretch,” Holland said in explaining Helix’s drive to the flag.
By winning, the Highlanders figure to gain the No. 7 berth in the Open Division. Grossmont, which shares the pennant, secures the No. 5 spot in the Open Division, while Granite Hills, which skidded to the finish, figures to be the No. 1 seed in Division I.
Stronach, a happy-go-lucky sort headed for UCLA, spun a complete game 2-hit shutout of the Eagles.
The senior right-hander was all business with the stakes as high as they were as he walked none and struck out 5.
“Way back at the beginning of the season Coach Holland told me he was going to need me to pitch, so I worked hard to get my arm in shape,” Stronach recalled. “This is the first season that I’ve pitched since the sixth grade.”
UCLA has him ticketed to play third base. That’s fine since Stronach proved all year that he’s a bigtime hitter as he slugged his 5th home run in the sixth inning in the key win over Granite Hills.
“It was a 2-1 pitch,” he said of his latest longball. “Extending our lead to 3 gave me a lot more room to work with.”
“I have a no-stress approach when I’m pitching,” Stronach said. “I stayed loose, didn’t even think about other things. I pounded the inside with my fastball and got them to chase my off-speed pitches on the outside.”
Helix’s Jake Hernandez (right) attends Thursday’s championship-clinching game.
Helix had a special guest in this game in that teammate JACOB HERNANDEZ, who is suffering from lymphoma, was in attendance.
“He was a huge motivation and boost for us,” said Stronach.
Granite Hills pitching ace ANDREW BROWN gave up his first runs in league play all season. Brown, who pitched six innings, surrendered 3 run on 5 hits. That’s the first runs allowed by Brown all season.
“To beat a guy like Brown is no simple matter,” Holland noted.
“The guys who have been there before came up big for us,” he added. “I just hope we can keep it up in the playoffs.”
GROSSMONT 6, VALHALLA 3 – Few teams in East County have deeper pitching depth than the Grossmont Foothillers.
There’s no question CALVIN FARRIS, JACKSON HULETT and JAYDEN LOMBARDO give Grossmont a powerful starting pitching staff, and then there’s junior KANNON ROMERO who early in the season was ticketed to be a reliever.
Romero has given Grossmont more than relief support as he proved in Thursday’s (May 19) regular season finale. Due to Romero’s solid work on the mound in a relief tag by Lombardo, Grossmont earned a share of the tri-Grossmont Hills League championship with Helix and Granite Hills.
Valhalla seniors on Senior Day.
The Foothillers are now ranked No. 5 in the Open Division.
“We did what we had to do in the last three games,” said Grossmont coach JORDAN ABRUZZO.
The Foothillers closed the league season with a rush, posting three straight wins.
“All along we’ve focused on what we had to do,” Abruzzo added.
Abruzzo said he was not surprised by the way the league ended. “We have the best league in the county,” he said. “For three of our teams knotted for the league title is not all that surprising. This has to be the best league in the county.”
Senior shortstop STEVEN OUELLETTE, one of the hottest hitters in East County, was 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Grossmont took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as KYLE PINEDA reached base on an error and stole second. ADAM LOPEZ doubled to center, Farris then singled to center to make it 2-0.
Valhalla fought back in the bottom of the first as LEWIS DIRKES tripled to center field and scored on a sacrifice fly by COLE HENDERSON. COLE HOWARD reached base on a single and eventually scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by BROCK MOSIER.
Grossmont regained the lead in the second inning as CALEB TEDOKON singled and advanced on a sacrifice by BAILEY VAN EVERY. Tedokon moved again on a passed ball and scored on a base hit by Ouellette.
Valhalla counterpunched in the third. Howard walked and Henderson singled. The Norsemen eventually tied the game on a base hit by RILEY O’SULLIVAN.
In the fifth inning Grossmont regained the lead for keeps. Lopez doubled and stole third, Farris stroked an RBI single. Lombardo slashed an RBI single to make it 5-3 Foothillers.
Grossmont put the game away in the seventh inning as JACKSON HULETT plated a run with a sacrifice fly.
STEELE CANYON 12, EL CAPITAN 7 – Steele Canyon closed the regular season by banging out a dozen hits, including 3 apiece by AVERY TUCK, JOSH ESQUIBEL and KANE FIEDLER to knock off El Capitan on Thursday (May 19) in Rancho San Diego in a Grossmont Hills League finale.
In a rare slugfest between these two teams the COUGARS had to come from behind twice to squeeze out the victory.
In the second inning the Cougars knocked out 6 hits and 6 runs to wipe out an early 4-0 El Capitan lead. The key hit was Esquibel’s 2-run single.
El Capitan took a 4-0 lead in the first inning buoyed by JASON MOORMAN’s 3-run homer and an RBI single by SEAN DUNNE.
In the fourth inning El Capitan counterpunched with 3 more runs as KENNY OLHAUSER tripled in a run and scored on a base hit by VICTOR CARLINO. An RBI double by JAKE MEDFORD capped the inning.
Steele Canyon put the game away in the fifth inning. The Cougars laced 6 hits with RBI going to Fiedler (single), YUSEF SMITH (walk) and AVERY TUCK laid down a bunt to drive in a run. MATTHEW BRINKMEIER hit a sacrifice fly to score another run. Esquibel laced a 2-RBI double to finish the scoring for playoff hungry Steele Canyon.
CHRISTIAN 9, SERRA 6 – The Patriots scored 2 runs in the first inning on an RBI single by NATE CAZARES and a walk to ETHAN CONTRERAS in Thursday’s (May 19) Central League finale.
In the second inning ZACH HOGUIESSON slashed a line drive over the head of the center fielder to drive in 2 runs. He later scored on a base hit by JUSTIN LEDGERWOOD to make it 5-0.
Serra clawed back with 3 runs to make it 5-3.
In the fifth inning Christian added a run when Hoguiesson stole home.
Christian took advantage of a double by Cazares, 2 walks and and error when the right fielder lost a fly ball that handed the Patriots 2 runs.
CHASE WEHSENER capped the Christian scoring with an RBI single in the seventh inning.
Knights seniors and their families on Senior Day.
FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 15, ARMY NAVY 6 – Two big innings helped Foothills Christian nail down a share of the Ocean League championship Thursday (May 18) at Barona.
The Knights, who knocked off Army-Navy, earned a share of the league title with San Diego Jewish Academy.
Foothills Christian overcame a 3-2 deficit with a 7-run third inning. Key blows in the big inning included a 3-run triple by JUSTIN EICHER, run scoring singles by MARK PROFETA and TREVOR SMALLWOOD to carry the load.
The Knights pounded out 15 hits including 3 by Profeta and 3 more by CHRIS STALLARD.
Foothills Christian will play a non-league game at Mission Bay on Friday (May 20) at 3:30. Then it’s off to the playoffs.
MOUNT MIGUEL at EL CAJON VALLEY, 4 – This Grossmont Valley League game has been postponed tentatively to Saturday (May 21) at 8 a.m. It was not played as scheduled on Thursday (May 19) as no umpires showed up.
Thur., May 19, 2016 Grossmont Hills League HIGHLANDERS 3, EAGLES 0 Granite Hills ab r h bi Helix ab r h bi Ross cf 3 0 0 0 Smelko lf 3 0 1 0 Hazelhurst rf 3 0 0 0 Stronach p 3 2 1 1 Cossio 2b 3 0 0 0 Konishi cf 2 1 0 0 JoVerdon 3b 3 0 1 0 Richardson ss 3 0 2 2 ABrown p 3 0 1 0 Isbell c 3 0 0 0 BSt.Clair lf 3 0 0 0 Padilla dh 2 0 0 0 Fenn c 3 0 0 0 Chase pr 0 0 0 0 JaVerdon 1b 1 0 0 0 Brogan 1b 3 0 0 0 Omahen ss 1 0 0 0 Kretzschmar 3b 3 0 0 0 Peterson 2b 2 0 1 0 TOTALS 23 0 2 0 TOTALS 24 3 5 3 Granite Hills (19-11, 10-5) 000 000 0 – 0 2 1 Helix (18-10, 10-5) 100 002 x – 3 5 1 GWRBI-Richardson (4). E-JoVerdon, Peterson. DP-GH 1. LOB-GH 4, Hel 5. 2B-ABrown, Richardson 2. HR-Stronach (5) 6th, solo. S-Omahen. PITCHING SUMMARY Granite Hills ip h r er bb so ABrown L(4-3) 6.0 5 3 3 0 3 Helix Stronach W(5-2) 7.0 2 0 0 0 5 HBP-by Stronach (ABrown 2). FOOTHILLERS 6, NORSEMEN 3 Grossmont ab r h bi Valhalla ab r h bi Pineda 2b 4 1 0 0 Dirkes ss 4 1 2 0 Ouellette ss 2 0 2 1 Howard rf-p 3 1 2 0 Lopez 3b 4 2 3 1 Henderson p-2b 2 1 1 1 Farris rf 4 1 3 2 Mosier cf 2 0 0 1 Buchanan pr 0 1 0 0 CSt.Clair 1b 4 0 1 0 Garcia 1b 3 0 0 0 RO’Sullivan 3b 3 0 1 1 Hulett lf 3 0 0 1 Heider c 2 0 0 0 Lombardo dh-p 4 0 0 1 CBrown ph 1 0 0 0 Tedokon c 3 1 1 0 Dunnam lf-rf 3 0 1 0 Van Every cf 2 0 0 0 CO’Sullivan 2b-lf 2 0 0 0 TOTALS 31 6 9 6 TOTALS 26 3 8 3 Grossmont (20-10, 10-5) 210 020 1 – 6 9 0 Valhalla (3-26, 2-13) 201 000 0 – 3 8 2 GWRBI-Farris (2). E-Dirkes, CO’Sullivan. LOB-Gro 7, Val 8. 2B-Lopez 2, CSt.Clair. 3B-Dirkes. SB-Pineda, Lopez. S-Van Every, Mosier. SF-Hulett, Mosier, Henderson. PITCHING SUMMARY Grossmont ip h r er bb so Romero W(5-2) 6.1 8 3 2 3 8 Lombardo Sv(1) 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 Valhalla Henderson L(1-8) 6.0 8 5 3 3 0 Howard 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 HBP-by Romero (Henderson), by Henderson (Garcia). WP-Henderson. PB-Heider 3, Tedokon. COUGARS 12, VAQUEROS 7 El Capitan ab r h bi Steele Canyon ab r h bi Olhauser cf 3 2 1 1 Tuck cf 4 1 3 1 Carlino 2b 3 2 2 1 Brinkmeier lf 3 1 1 2 Moorman c 2 1 1 3 Esquibel dh 3 1 3 2 Medford rf 4 0 1 1 Row 1b 3 0 1 1 McClanahan lf 4 1 1 0 Alcarez 2b 3 1 1 0 Duncan p 2 0 1 0 Logan 3b 3 2 1 0 Colson p 0 0 0 0 Arias c 4 2 2 0 Roberson p 0 0 0 0 Fiedler ss 4 2 3 2 Frantz p 0 0 0 0 Smith rf 3 2 1 2 Dones ph 0 0 0 0 Dunne dh 4 0 2 1 Larwa ss 0 0 0 0 Lindsay 1b 3 0 1 0 Shenefield ph 1 0 0 0 Wannamaker 3b 4 1 0 0 TOTALS 30 7 10 7 TOTALS 30 12 16 10 El Capitan (15-13, 8-7) 400 300 0 – 7 10 1 Steele Canyon (12-17-1, 5-10) 060 150 x – 12 16 2 GWRBI-Fiedler (1). E-Carlino, Nadeau, Fiedler. DP-EC 1. LOB-EC 8, SC 5. 2B-Esquibel, Medford, Dunne. 3B-Tuck, Olhauser. HR-Moorman (3) 1st, two on. SB-Olhauser, Carlino, Tuck 3, Brinkmeier, Esquibel, Arias, Smith. SF-Brinkmeier. PITCHING SUMMARY El Capitan ip h r er bb so Duncan L(1-4) 2.0 7 6 6 1 2 Colson 2.0 6 6 6 1 2 Roberson 1.0 2 0 0 2 0 Frantz 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 Steele Canyon Fitch 1.2 5 4 4 2 0 Nadeau 2.1 4 3 1 1 1 Luban W(2-3) 3.0 1 0 0 3 2 HBP-Duncan (Esquibel). WP-Duncan. PB-Moorman. Central League Christian ab r h bi Serra ab r h bi Stowers cf-p 5 2 2 1 Moran cf-p 4 2 2 1 Wehsener 1b 4 0 1 1 Samuelson ss-p 4 3 3 1 Hoguiesson rf 2 2 1 2 Tomp c 4 0 0 0 Keltner rf 1 0 0 0 SScalapski p-cf 3 0 2 1 Ledgerwood 3b 3 1 1 1 Liong lf 3 0 0 0 Cazares dh 3 0 2 1 Reece 3b-p 3 0 1 0 Mazza pr 0 1 0 0 Agosto 1b 3 0 1 0 Josephson c 0 0 0 0 DScalapski 2b 3 0 0 0 Gershow 2b 2 0 1 0 Cowardin rf 2 1 1 0 Contreras lf 1 1 0 1 Carlson 3b 0 0 0 0 Hester lf 1 0 0 0 Sipchen cf 0 0 0 0 Gentry p 0 0 0 0 NJarvis ph 0 0 0 0 Beck ss 2 1 0 0 Bessone p-lf 2 1 0 1 TOTALS 26 9 8 8 TOTALS 29 6 10 3 Christian (17-10, 9-3) 230 010 3 – 9 8 0 Serra (13-13, 4-8) 003 020 1 – 6 10 1 GWRBI-Cazares (1). E-Cowardin. LOB-Chr 9, Ser 5. 2B-Stowers, Cazares. 3B-Hoguiesson, Samuelson. SB-Stowers, Hoguiesson, Contreras, Moran, Samuelson. S-Gershow. SF-Bessone. PITCHING SUMMARY Christian ip h r er bb so Bessone W(2-0) 4.1 9 5 5 1 1 Gentry 1.2 0 0 0 1 1 Stowers Sv(4) 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 Serra SScalapski L 0.2 3 2 2 2 2 Samuelson 2.1 3 3 3 1 2 Moran 3.1 1 4 2 2 6 Reece 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 Fitcher 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 HBP-by Moran (Wehsener, Hoguiesson 2, Beck). WP-SScalapski. Ocean League KNIGHTS 15, WARRIORS 6 Army-Navy ab r h bi Foothills Christian ab r h bi Crumbaker cf 4 0 0 0 Sims lf 4 3 2 2 Tosches 2b 3 1 1 0 Profeta cf 4 2 3 2 Howes ss 3 2 2 0 Von Der Lieth 2b 3 1 0 1 Smith c 2 2 1 2 Guccione 2b 0 0 0 0 Garvey 1b-p 4 1 2 3 Eicher dh 4 1 1 2 Sutherland 3b 4 0 2 1 Smallwood 3b-c 4 1 2 3 Medina rf 4 0 1 0 Link c-3b 4 1 1 0 Ali p-3b 3 0 0 0 BBrown 1b 3 2 1 1 Davis lf 3 0 1 0 Stallard ss 3 2 3 2 JBrown ss 1 0 0 0 Carey rf 4 2 2 0 TOTALS 30 6 10 6 TOTALS 34 15 15 13 Army Navy (3-15, 0-6) 003 010 2 – 6 10 3 Foothills Christian (10-14, 5-1) 114 060 x – 15 15 3 GWRBI-Profeta (4). E-Stallard, Carey, Smallwood, Sutherland, Howes, Davis. DP-A-N 1. LOB-A-N 7, FC 4. 2B-Profeta, BBrown, Garvey. 3B-Sims, Eicher, Stallard, Smith. SB-Sims, JBrown. SF-Smith. PITCHING SUMMARY ARMY-NAVY ip h r er bb so Ali L 4.0 13 14 13 1 0 Garvey 2.0 2 1 1 0 1 Foothills Christian Lewis W(4-7) 5.2 8 4 3 1 7 Barling 1.1 2 2 2 0 0 HBP-by Lewis (Howes), by Barling (Smith).
