ROUNDUP: Teams out to prove experts wrong
- Updated: April 5, 2017
Santana's Noah Nunez at the plate on Tuesday.
2017 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL
By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-4-17) — Most coaches will say that polls don’t carry much weight to them or their teams, especially at this point in the season.
However, there’s been some heated discussions about the shuffling of the rankings among the teams. Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL can’t figure out how the Patriots were left out of some polls and were barely mentioned in others.
Mitchell noted that his ballclub (11-2) defeated Montgomery in the Bill Dickens/City/Metro tournament last Saturday yet wound up No. 13 in the county rankings, behind No. 8 ranked Montgomery (9-3).
“I don’t know exactly who votes in these polls, but they sure miss the boat sometimes, like they’ve done in the latest ones,” Mitchell stated. “I don’t know if it’s a case of favorites or what, but my kids were furious about how it turned out this week.”
In a rare night game at Francis Parker High, Christian High was able to keep its focus in Tuesday’s (Apr. 4) non-league encounter, outlasting Francis Parker, 5-1, on Tuesday.
And that’s not all that easy as only a few teams have braved the sunset.
“Everybody complains about the lights, but we caught 10 fly balls out of a possible 11, which I think is pretty good,” said Patriots coach MIKE MITCHELL.
While Christian cut down Parker, the Patriots plan to travel to Valencia to take on Saugus High on Friday at 3:30.
“It’s kind of a bonding deal so our kids can enjoy Six Flags Magic Mountain,” said Mitchell.
Junior BRADLEY JEREMIAH pitched a complete-game one-hitter to improve his season mark to 3-0.
Not bad for a team that deserves local ranking.
WEST HILLS 6, MONTE VISTA 1 – West Hills was trying to spring an early upset and prove its preseason record was worthy of championship contention.
West Hills’ bottom third of the lineup accounted for both an early lead, then the breakaway runs, including a 4-run outburst in the 6th inning, leading to Tuesday’s (Apr. 4) upset over host Monte Vista.
Wolf Pack pitcher NOAH QUINTANA tossed a complete game for the victory.
He held Monte Vista, which was averaging more than five runs per contest entering the ballgame, to a mere five base hits. He struck out seven, running his record to 5-2.
Meanwhile, Monte Vista also found Wolf Pack bats unstoppable after they equaled a season-high with 11 hits. Quintana led the parade with three hits, but the bottom half of the order registered seven of the remaining eight safeties.
TREVOR COMMERFORD marked his return to the starting line-up by having a hand in all three scoring rallies.
In the 3rd, Commerford reached on a lead-off error, opening the scoring on a basehit to right field by BRADEN SANFORD.
An inning later, designated hitter JASON VILLASANA led off with a single, advancing on consecutive sacrifices by RYAN TRAVOLI (bunt; safe on error) and Commerford on a fly ball to right for the RBI and a 2-0 lead.
Villasana led off the sixth with a single, scoring on a one-out Commerford double, who scored to make it 4-0 on a pinch-hit basehit by GAVIN KONDRYA.
CHRIS “LARRY” SCHROEDER made it three consecutive basehits, then Sanford reached on a fielder’s choice.
Quintana’s third hit scored Schroeder, but Quintana then intentionally wondered toward second base to draw a throw. Caught in a rundown, home plate was left unoccupied to allow Braden free entry to score.
Monte Vista recorded its lone run on a two-out ANDREW GONZALES single in the 6th.
HELIX 2, EL CAPITAN 0 – Helix coach COLE HOLLAND is puzzled that his Highlanders (8-4) were ranked No. 4 in the preseason Grossmont Hills League predictions out of five teams, and have peaked in the Top 10 rankings but have been unable to stay there.
“It’s hard to believe that we’re not ranked higher with a pitching staff like ours,” noted Holland, who was speaking of a staff that includes JORDAN JACKSON (5-0), ERICK SMELKO (2-0), veteran CONNOR KONISHI (1-1) and KEATON CHASE (1-1).
This is a team that has struggled at the plate but has the pitching to go all the way to the finals, so rankings don’t mean a whole lot to Holland’s crew.
“We don’t mind being the underdog at this point in the year,” he said facetiously.
Helix knocked off El Capitan 2-0 in the GHL opener. It was the second straight 2-0 victory for the Highlanders.
Jackson pitched 6 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts, and Chase came on to close and earn the save for Helix.
HUNTER ISBELL slammed a home run for Helix in the 4th inning with a man aboard.
SANTANA 4, GROSSMONT 0 – Santana took a giant step to move up in the Grossmont Hills League race in the circuit opener by knocking off Grossmont 4-0.
The same two teams will meet again today and it will be time for the Foothillers to step up or be shut down again?
The Sultans made the most of 5 hits and powerful pitching by senior NOAH NUNEZ, who shut down the Foothillers in a key GHL game.
The Sultans got RBI from seniors EMORY ALLEN-FOX and BROCK ELLIS during a four-run fifth inning.
KALEB TEDOKON, a sophomore, had three hits for Grossmont (4-7, 0-1 GHL).
STEELE CANYON 10, MOUNT MIGUEL 0 – Steele Canyon proved that it is ready to challenge for the Grossmont Valley League pennant as the Cougars mauled the Matadors 10-0 behind the pitching of TREVOR NEWBERRY, who made his first start and had complete-game finish for Steele Canyon.
There were a lot of firsts for the Cougars on Tuesday (Apr. 4).
One of the biggest blows was a 2-run home run by DANNY YANEZ.
The freshman slugger hit the first pitch in the final frame for his initial longball of his varsity career. It was a big all-around game for Yanez, who finished the day 2-for-3 with 3 RBI.
YUSUF SMITH was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI to join the Cougars romp over the Matadors. He slugged a triple to deep left center to plate 2 runs.
GRANITE HILLS 3, SCRIPPS RANCH 1 – In a battle of two Top 10 ranked teams, the Granite HiIls Eagles – behind the pitching of TREVOR HAZELHURST (4-3) and JOSH VERDON (save) – shut down Scripps Ranch by allowing only 5 hits and no earned runs in Tuesday’s (Apr. 4) non-league encounter at Scripps Ranch.
The Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the 6th inning as Hazelhurst singled, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a double by DARIEN COSSIO.
In the 7th inning, the Eagles tacked on another run as BRADY JOSLYN singled for the second time in the game. He moved up a base on a single by TREVOR OMAHEN and scored on a base hit by JAKE CUMMINGS.
VALHALLA 21, EL CAJON VALLEY 1 – The Valhalla Norsemen opened Grossmont Valley League play Tuesday (Apr. 4) in a big way by defeating the El Cajon Valley Braves 21-1 at Eric Turgeon Field.
El Cajon Valley scored in the top of the 1st.
JESUS FAVELA walked and advanced to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt by SEBASTIAN SANCHEZ. Favela would score on a single by HECTOR CARREON.
The Norsemen would take the lead for good in the bottom half of the 1st.
JAKE BARBA was hit by a pitch. LEWIS DIRKES singled on a bunt sending Barba to second. A walk to RILEY O’SULLIVAN loaded the bases. KYLE CASPER was hit by a pitch to tie the game and CASEY O’SULLIVAN walked to plate another run. Two RBI groundouts finished the inning with the score 4-1 in Valhalla’s favor.
The Norsemen broke the game wide open as they scored 15 in the 5th as they sent 21 hitters to the plate.
Four Norsemen had a multi-hit game, Dirkes, COLE HOWARD, JONAH ST. CLAIR and CAMERON ZAMUDIO. Casper knocked in 5 while Howard had 4 RBI.
TANNER SMITH was the winning pitcher, throwing 4 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and striking out 5.
The two teams will play again Wednesday (Apr. 5) at El Cajon Valley at 4 pm.
FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 22, ORANGE GLEN 8 – Foothills Christian is tabbed to challenge Orange Glen for the Ocean League championship, although Tuesday’s (Apr. 4) contest was a makeup game for the Crusader Baseball Classic.
Two Knights, JALANI BROWN and BRADLEY BROWN, each had 4 RBI, while TREVOR SMALLWOOD and JUSTIN EICHER had 3 hits apiece.
The Knights had six hitters with multiple hits, and according to coach DAVE LEWIS, “Pretty much everybody had a hit.”
Jalani Brown stole a base, BAILEY LINK stole 3, Eicher stole 2, TREVOR SMALLWOOD stole 2 and CHRIS STALLARD also stole a base.
Doubles were registered by Jalani Brown, JOSH GATES, Eicher and BAILEY LEWIS.
Tue., Apr. 4, 2017 Grossmont Hills League HIGHLANDERS 2, VAQUEROS 0 El Capitan ab r h bi Helix ab r h bi Montejano 3b 3 0 1 0 Smelko cf 2 0 1 0 Bell c 3 0 0 0 Richarson ss 3 0 0 0 Lindsay ss 3 0 0 0 Konishi lf 3 0 1 0 Shenefield 1b 3 0 1 0 Qquita 1b 3 1 1 0 Zamora rf 3 0 0 0 Isbell c 3 1 1 2 Olivieri dh 2 0 0 0 Padilla dh 2 0 0 0 Molitor lf 2 0 0 0 Kretzchmar 3b2 0 1 0 Head cf 1 0 0 0 Zamora 2b 2 0 0 0 Cunningham cf 1 0 1 0 Peterson rf 2 0 0 0 Markle 2b 2 0 0 0_________________________ TOTALS 23 0 3 0 TOTALS 22 2 5 2 El Capitan (2-9, 0-1) 000 000 0 – 0 3 0 Helix (8-4, 1-0) 000 200 x – 2 5 0 GWRBI-Isbell. E-None. DP-EC 1. Hel 2. LOB-EC 2, Hel 3. 2B-Montejano, Smelko. HR-Isbell (1) 4th, one on. PITCHING SUMMARY El Capitan ip h r er bb so Peyton 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 Roberson L 5.0 4 2 2 0 5 Helix Jackson W(5-0) 6.0 3 0 0 0 7 Chase Sv(1) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 SULTANS 4, FOOTHILLERS 0 Santana ab r h bi Grossmont ab r h bi Salinas cf 4 0 0 0 Giganti ss 4 0 1 0 Rasmusson ss 3 1 0 0 Ford cf 4 0 0 0 Nunez p 3 0 1 0 Tedokon c 4 0 3 0 Alesi 1b 3 0 1 0 Lombardo dh-3b-p3 0 0 0 Calvert rf 3 0 2 0 Giovengo 3b 3 0 1 0 Simmons dh 3 0 0 0 Odom rf 3 0 1 0 Taylor dh 0 1 0 0 JGarcia 1b 3 0 1 0 Tolhurst 2b 3 1 0 0 Hulett lf 3 0 0 0 Allen-Fox c 3 1 1 1 Russell 2b 2 0 0 0 Ellis lf 2 0 0 1 Romero p 0 0 0 0 Oedewaldt 0 0 0 0 _______ TOTALS 27 4 5 2 TOTALS 29 0 8 0 Santana (6-6, 1-0) 000 040 0 – 4 5 0 Grossmont (4-7, 0-1) 000 000 0 – 0 8 2 GWRBI-Tolhurst. E-Giovengo, Romero. DP-None. LOB-Sant 6, Gro 9. 2B-Ford. SB-Odom. Sac-Ellis. PITCHING SUMMARY Santana ip h r er bb so Nunez W 7.0 8 0 0 1 2 Grossmont Romero L 4.1 2 3 0 2 3 Lombardo 2.2 3 1 0 1 3 Grossmont Valley League COUGARS 10, MATADORS 0 Steele Canyon ab r h bi Mount Miguel ab r h bi Taylor dh 1 3 0 0 Ortiz ss 3 0 0 0 Nadeau ph 1 0 0 0 Preciado lf-p3 0 1 0 Smith rf 3 1 2 3 Kelly rf 0 0 0 0 McCarthy rf 1 0 0 0 Montijo c 3 0 0 0 Esquibel lf 5 0 1 0 White 1b 2 0 1 0 Arias c 2 1 1 0 Nunez dh 2 0 0 0 Canales c 1 0 1 1 Harris dh-lf 1 0 0 0 Tellous 1b 2 0 0 0 Beauzec 3b 3 0 0 0 Dickey 1b 1 0 0 0 Mendoza rf-p 2 0 0 0 Yanez 2b 3 1 2 3 Solis ph 1 0 0 0 Matta ss 2 1 0 0 Camacho 2b 1 0 0 0 Kratz ph 1 0 0 0 Zertuche ph 0 0 0 0 Navarro 3b 2 0 0 0 Conwright cf 3 0 0 0 Pedrin ph 0 0 0 0 Beas lf 0 0 0 0 Brinkmeier cf3 3 1 1 _____ TOTALS n 27 10 7 8 TOTALS 24 0 2 0 Steele Canyon (6-4, 1-0) 240 201 1 – 10 7 1 Mount Miguel (3-7, 0-1) 000 000 0 - 0 2 0 GWRBI-Yanez. E-Navarro, Montijo 2, Camacho. LOB-SC 8, MM 6. 3B-YSmith. HR-Yanez 7th, solo. SB-Taylor, Brinkmeier, Preciado. PITCHING SUMMARY Steele Canyon ip h r er bb so Newberry W(1-0) 7.0 2 0 0 3 7 Mount Miguel Darby L 2.0 2 6 5 7 2 Preciado 4.0 4 3 3 3 2 Mendoza 1.0 1 1 1 2 0 WP-Darby 2. PB-Canales. WOLF PACK 6, MONARCHS 1 West Hills ab r h bi Monte Vista ab r h bi Schroeder cf 3 0 2 1 Gutierrez lf 4 0 1 0 Sanford 2b 4 1 1 1 Camacho 3b 3 0 0 0 Quintana p 4 0 3 1 DGarcia ss 2 1 0 0 DCraft lf 3 0 0 0 Sandoval c 3 0 0 0 Gagliano rf 4 0 0 0 Gonzales 2b 3 0 1 1 Villasana dh 4 1 2 0 Sanchez 1b 3 0 1 0 Thrailkill pr 0 1 0 0 Plazola cf 3 0 1 0 Travoli ss 4 0 1 0 Alvarez rf 2 0 0 0 Commerford 3b 3 2 1 1 Gulley dh-p 3 0 1 0 Hughes 1b 2 0 0 0 Harlow pr 0 0 0 0 Wittmeier c 0 0 0 0 Pedrero 1b 1 1 1 1_________________________ TOTALS 32 6 11 5 TOTALS 26 1 5 1 West Hills (5-6, 1-0) 001 104 0 - 6 11 1 Monte Vista (7-5, 0-1) 000 001 0 - 1 5 2 GWRBI-Quintana. E-Commerford, Camacho, Sandoval. DP-WH 1. MV 1. LOB-WH 6, MV 6. 2B-Villasana, Plazola, Sanchez. SB-Sanford. SF-Commerford. PITCHING SUMMARY West Hills ip h r er bb so Quintana W(5-2) 7.0 5 1 1 1 5 Monte Vista Schweizer L 6.0 11 6 5 2 3 Gulley 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 HBP-by Quintana (DGarcia). BK-Schweizer. NORSEMEN 21, BRAVES 1 El Cajon Valley ab r h bi Valhalla ab r h bi Favela ss 2 1 0 0 Barba lf 2 2 1 1 Sanchez p-ss 2 0 0 0 Dirkes ss 5 3 2 1 Carreon c 3 0 1 1 RO’Sullivan 1b 3 2 1 0 Moreno 3b 2 0 0 0 Casper cf 2 3 1 5 Michel cf 3 0 1 0 CO’Sullivan dh 3 1 1 2 Verdugo lf 2 0 0 0 Howard rf 5 3 3 4 Bove 1b 1 0 0 0 JSt.Clair 3b 4 3 2 2 Huerta rf 2 0 0 0 TSmith p 1 0 0 0 Romero 2b 2 0 0 0 Dempsey p 2 2 1 1 Zamudio 2b 4 3 2 2 CSt.Clair 3b 0 0 0 0 Thornton rf 0 0 0 0 Wilkinson 1b 0 0 0 0 Dunnam pr 0 0 0 0 TOTALS 19 1 2 1 TOTALS 31 21 15 19 El Cajon Valley (2-5, 0-1) 100 0 0 0 0 - 1 2 5 Valhalla (3-8, 1-0) 402 0(15)0 x - 21 15 0 GWRBI-Dirkes. E-Sanchez, Moreno, Verdugo, Bove 2. DP-None. LOB-ECV 4, Val-8. 2B-Dirkes. 3B-Casper. SB-Barba, Zamudio. Sac-TSmith, Sanchez. SF-Barba. PITCHING SUMMARY El Cajon Valley ip h r er bb so Sanchez L 4.0 9 14 12 5 2 Favela 1.0 6 7 3 1 2 Valhalla TSmith W 4.0 2 1 1 1 5 Dempsey 2.0 0 0 0 2 4 HBP-Casper, Barba 2, Dempsey, JSt.Clair. Non-League EAGLES 3, FALCONS 1 Granite Hills (8-4) 010 001 1 – 3 8 1 Scripps Ranch (9-3) 010 000 0 – 1 5 0 Hazelhurst, Verdon (6) and Fenn. Meyer, Ruddick (7) and Coimbra. PATRIOTS 5, LANCERS 1 Christian (11-2) 201 002 0 – 5 8 2 Francis Parker (4-3) 000 100 0 – 1 1 2 Jeremiah and Josephson, Ohlon (5). Risse, Stewart (5) and Compagna. WP-Jeremiah (3-0). LP-Risse. Crusader Baseball Classic KNIGHTS 22, PATRIOTS 8 Orange Glen (2-10) 150 020 0 – 8 8 7 Foothills Christian (9-2) 763 600 x – 22 16 1 Magallanes, Cisneros (4) and N/A. Eicher, Stallard (2), Smallwood (7) and Lewis, Nickell (3).
