Highlanders, Sultans, Cougars, Knights win
- Updated: March 31, 2017
2017 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL
By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (3-31-17) — The Helix Highlanders picked up a 7-5 win over Bonita Vista on Thursday.
JORDAN JACKSON was hit by a pitch in the 2nd inning, then AUSTIN KRETZCHMAR walked. Then ERICK SMELKO tripled to right-center field, scoring Jackson and Kretzchmar to make it 2-1 for the Highlanders in Thursday’s (Mar. 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament contest.
MATTHEW RICHARDSON then singled in Smelko, CONNOR KONISHI singled, sending Richardson to third and scoring Smelko. CARLOS OQUITA walked and BRANDON PETERSON was hit by a pitch, scoring Richardson.
Jackson singled on a line drive to left, scoring Konishi to make it 5-1.
Bonita Vista rallied in the 4th, slicing Helix’s advantage to 6-4.
In the 5th inning, Helix rebounded with 2 more runs to snuff out the Barons’ comeback bid and walk away with thevictory.
Santana’s NOAH NUNEZ makes contact against Cathedral Catholic on Thursday.
SANTANA 3, CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC 2 – When it comes to close calls, just dial up the Santana Sultans. They’ll take you to the wire.
Case in point was Thursday’s (Mar. 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament game at Cathedral Catholic. The Sultans squeezed this one out 3-2.
Santana has been involved in 1-run games in seven of 11 starts.
“This tournament is one of the most competitive tournaments I’ve ever been in,” said Sultans coach RIGO LEDEZMA.
The Sultans rode the powerful complete game pitching of COLTON CALVERT, who scattered 7 hits and did not allow an earned run while walking 2 and striking out 6.
To boot, Calvert drew a bases-loaded walk in the 5th inning, which gave the Sultans a 2-1 lead over the Dons and tied the game.
The Sultans got the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning when NOAH NUNEZ hit a hard single to center field scoring TRISTAN SALINAS, who reached to started the inning on a hit-by-pitch.
STEELE CANYON 5, PATRICK HENRY 3 – Steele Canyon used its one-two pitching punch of TYLER LUBAN and NOAH NADEAU to jump on top of visiting Patrick Henry 3-0 in the first two innings of Thursday’s (Mar. 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament.
Nadeau pitched five innings and allowed only 2 hits and no runs as he posted his first win.
Steele Canyon opened the scoring in the 1st inning as BILLY TELLOUS hammered his first varsity homer with a man aboard, staking the Cougars to the early lead.
JOSH ESQUIBEL doubled in AARON TAYLOR who got on base with a walk, then stole second base. Then Tellous put a capper on the inning with a 2-run homer.
Henry fought back to tie the contest 3-3.
Steele Canyon regained the lead in the 4th inning as DANNY YANEZ doubled and advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a single up the middle by BRANDON NAVARRO.
The Cougars landed an insurance run in the 6th inning as ANTHONY MATA doubled and RICHARD PEDRIN ran for him. MATTHEW BRINKMEIER walked and Pedrin scored on a base hit to center field by Taylor.
“Nadeau came in and pitched 5 shutout innings,” said Cougars assistant coach MARK BRUDER. “He did a good job. And our outfield made some really defensive plays. We’ve kinda of been under performing, but today they really stepped up. We’re young and inexperienced, but we’re learning.”
FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 11, HORIZON 6 – Foothills Christian banged out 13 hits, including three apiece by JALANI BROWN and BAILEY LINK in Thursday’s (Mar. 30) knockout of Horizon in a Crusader Baseball Classic game.
The Knights barged in front of the Panthers 6-0 after four innings. They turned the game into a rout with 3 runs in the 7th inning.
JUSTIN EICHER and TRISTIN BARLING each swatted doubles, while JOSH GATES, BAILEY LEWIS and CHRIS STALLARD hammered triples.
ST. AUGUSTINE 3, GROSSMONT 2– After falling behind Saints 1-0 in the 6th inning, Grossmont fought back with a pair of runs in the top of the 7th of Thursday’s (Mar. 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament.
JAYDEN LOMBARDO homered to tie it on a line drive to left, and JOE WILLIAMS grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring MATTHEW KEAGY, who was pinch running for KRYSTIAN TEDOKON.
That made it 2-1 Hillers, but Grossmont could not maintain the advantage as St. Augustine’s Brook White singled on a line drive to center in the 7th, scoring Fisher Pyatt and Angelo Peraza to win it 3-2.
SERRA 8, MOUNT MIGUEL 3 – It was a long afternoon for Mount Miguel as the Matadors succumbed to the Serra Conquistadors in Thursday’s (Mar. 30) round of the Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament.
Serra broke a 2-1 score in the 4th inning with 4 runs against the Matadors.
The Matadors were not lacking in offense as ANGELO ZERTUCHE was 3-for-4 and ANDREW MONTIJO was 3-for-4.
Montijo got 2 RBI on a home run to left field in the 5th inning, scoring Zertuche to give the Matadors 2 runs, bringing the score to 6-3 Serra.
The Conquistadors scored 2 more runs in the top of the 7th for the final score, 8-3.
EASTLAKE 18, GRANITE HILLS 1 – Eagles coach JAMES DAVIS logged a lot of mileage, going out to the mound in Thursday’s (Mar. 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament game.
He used six pitchers in an attempt to thwart No. 1 ranked Eastlake, but it was not to be.
The knockout blow against Granite Hills was a 14 run 3rd inning by Eastlake.
All together, the Titans hammered 6 long balls, two by Bryan Reyes and Brian Leonhardt were grand slams.
Granite Hills countered with a solo home run by GARRETT CURRAN in the 7th inning, long after the cause was decided.
SCRIPPS RANCH 3, EL CAPITAN 2 – El Capitan struck first with 2 runs in the 3rd inning of Thursday’s (Mar. 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament action.
The Vaqueros made that advantage stand up until the bottom of the 7th, when the Falcons scored three times to finish one run ahead of El Capitan.
AUSTIN BELL was 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for El Capitan, while TYLER LINDSAY was 2-for-4 with one RBI.
STEVIE MONTEJANO was 1-for-3 with a run scored.
El Capitan in the 3rd inning saw Montejano double and Bell double behind him, scoring Montejano. Lindsay hit a single to score Bell.
Losing pitcher Lindsay have up 3 hits and 3 earned runs on 11 pitches.
BAILEY ROBERSON pitched six innings, striking out 2, allowing 8 hits and one earned run.
POINT LOMA 2, VALHALLA 0 – Two senior right-handers dominated Thursday’s (Mar 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament game at Eric Turgeon Field.
Valhalla’s CASEY O’SULLIVAN, the hard luck loser, and Point Loma’s ANDREW JOHNSON matched pitch for pitch in a game that the Pointers won 2-0.
O’Sullivan allowed three hits and one unearned run in 6 innings, striking out 7.
Point Loma plated a run in the 1st on a single, passed ball, dropped 3rd strike and a fielder’s choice. The final run by the Pointers came in the 7th off reliever COLE HOWARD on a single and an error.
KYLE CASPER and LEWIS DIRKES paced the Norsemen’s 6-hit attack collecting a pair of hits each.
“If we’d have played like we could have, we’d have a couple more victories under our belts,” said Norsemen coach RYAN WHEELER. “The boost is there to keep us consistent.”
MONTGOMERY 5, CHRISTIAN 0 – Ranked No. 10 in the county, Christian suddenly stumbled at the hands of Montgomery in Thursday’s (Mar. 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament.
The Patriots couldn’t get off the floor as they settled for just 6 hits, while pitcher JOE MARKOWICZ checked the Aztecs on 6 hits as he pitched a complete game in a losing effort.
This is a biting loss for Christian which began the afternoon with a Top 10 ranking.
MADISON 7, WEST HILLS 6 – The bats are starting to awaken, but timely base hits were few after West Hills stranded 10 base runners in falling to Madison, 7-6, in Thursday’s (Mar. 30) Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament game at West Hills.
The come-from-behind decision allowed the Warhawks (6-4) to sweep the Wolf Pack (4-6) this season.
Kevin Abel of Madison celebrates after his steal of home during the Warhawks’ win over the Wolf Pack. / Photo by Kaydee Keator
West Hills would rally to grab a short-lived lead.
In the 1st, JASON VILLASANA, who recently inherited the starting spot at third base, delivered a two-out base hit to bring home CHRIS “LARRY” SCHROEDER, who led-off with a walk, then stole second base.
The Pack then moved in front with three runs in the 3rd when the first three batters reached base.
The key hit was a surprising triple from SAM HUGHES with a triple to left-center, bringing home NOAH QUINTANA (double) and Villasana to tie the contest.
Seconds later, DYLAN CRAFT saw another ground ball up the middle get booted, yet received an RBI since the runner was moving with one out and would’ve easily scored.
In the 4th, Madison’s James Shimashita tied the game with a sacrifice fly, but his run-scoring triple in the 7th proved to be an important run as West Hills answered with two runs in the 7th only to fall one short.
Villasana reached on an outfield error, scoring on another Hughes blast to the fence, this time for a double to trim the deficit to 7-5. Two outs later, Hughes came home on a double by late-inning substitute RYAN TRAVOLI.
The batting order turned to Schroeder at the top of the order, but Madison relief pitcher JACOB MAYERS survived for his third save despite a solid line drive which went directly to the defender in center field.
West Hills second baseman BRADEN SANFORD, one of the county’s leading hitter, had posted only singles all seasons until touching Madison for a pair of doubles. Meanwhile, Hughes finished with three RBI.
The Pack open Grossmont Valley League action on Tuesday, starting a two-game, home-and-home series at Monte Vista. First pitch is at 3:30 p.m.
Bill Dickens Grossmont/City/Metro Tournament Championship schedule:
Music Event – Wolf Pack head coach MICKEY DEUTSCHMAN announced that East County-based 80s band SilverMine will highlight the ballclub’s first public fundraiser of the season… The event will include a silent auction, and will be held at Full Circle Saloon (formerly Second Wind), located at the intersection of Magnolia Ave. at Prospect St., on the northeast corner of Gillespie Field… The event is slated for Sunday (Apr. 23), from 4 to 7 p.m. The band is fronted by lead singer Ev Travoli (Ryan’s mother).
Thur., Mar. 30, 2017 Bill Dickens/City/Metro Tournament CONQUISTADORS 8, MATADORS 3 Serra (6-4) 011 400 2 – 8 9 0 Mount Miguel (3-6) 001 020 0 – 3 8 2 Samuelson, Carlson (2), Garcia (7) and Tomp. Montijo, Solis (6) and Beauzec. WP-Carlson. LP-Montijo. AZTECS 5, PATRIOTS 0 Christian (8-2) 000 000 0 – 0 6 2 Montgomery (8-2) 101 102 x – 5 7 0 Markowicz and Josephson. JoCerda, Cortez (7) and JuCerda. WP-JoCerda. LP-Markowicz. COUGARS 5, PATRIOTS 3 Patrick Henry (3-6) 003 000 0 – 3 5 1 Steele Canyon (5-4) 300 101 x – 5 8 0 Doole, Carroll (6) and Enquist. Luban, Nadau (3) and Arias. WP-Luban (1-1). LP-Doole. HR-Billy Tellous (SC-1) 1st, one on. POINTERS 2, NORSEMEN 0 Point Loma (5-4-1) 100 000 1 – 2 5 0 Valhalla (2-8) 000 000 0 – 0 6 1 Johnson and Bacon. CO’Sullivan, Howard (7) and Heider. WP-Johnson. LP-CO’Sullivan (0-3). WARHAWKS 7, WOLF PACK 6 Madison (6-4) 300 111 1 - 7 10 7 9 West Hills (4-6) 103 000 2 - 6 9 2 10 Shimashita, Schilling (1), Mayers (5) and Rainaldi, Tafolla (4). Quintana, Maat (7) and Wittmeier, Villasana (5). WP-Schilling (1-0). LP-Quintana (4-2). Save-Mayers (3). TITANS 18, EAGLES 1 Granite Hills (7-3) 0 0 0 000 1 - 1 4 0 Eastlake (10-1) 30(14) 010 x - 18 13 0 Hazelhurst, King (2), Brooks (3), McGrew (4), Omahen (5), Cummings (5) and Fenn. Leonhardt, Nunez (5) and Reyes. WP-Leonhardt. LP-Hazelhurst (3-2). SAINTS 3, FOOTHILLERS 2 Grossmont (4-6) 000 000 2 – 2 6 0 St. Augustine (6-6) 000 001 2 – 3 5 1 Hulett, Lombardo (7) and Tedokon. Stewart, Staker (6) and Fontes. WP-Staker. LP-Hulett. HR-Lombardo (Gro-1) 7th, solo. HIGHLANDERS 7, BARONS 5 Helix (7-4) 050 020 0 – 7 10 2 Bonita Vista (5-6) 100 310 0 – 5 11 2 Chase, Konishi (5) and Johnson. Cazares, Anderson (2), Nankil (3), Vega (5), Verdugo (7) and Hernandez. FALCONS 3, VAQUEROS 2 El Capitan (2-8) 002 000 0 – 2 9 1 Scripps Ranch (9-2) 000 000 3 - 3 8 1 Lindsay, Roberson (6) and catcher N/A. Scripps Ranch batteries N/A. WP-N/A. LP-Roberson. SULTANS 3, DONS 2 Santana (5-6) 001 010 1 – 3 7 3 Cathedral (8-3) 000 100 0 – 2 7 1 Calvert and Allen-Fox. Owen, Ghumman (5), Nastrini (6), Rons (7) and Polinsky. WP-Calvert. LP-Ghumman. Crusader Baseball Classic KNIGHTS 11, PANTHERS 6 Foothills Christian (8-2) 420 020 3 - 11 13 2 Horizon (4-6) 011 031 0 - 6 10 3 Gates, Lewis (5), Link (6) and Wurts. Chapman, Dowdy (3) and Simpson. WP-Gates (3-0). LP-Chapman.
