ROUNDUP: Hillers fall in semi; Eagles over Henry; Pats in Vegas

East County Sports staff report

CARMEL HIGHLANDS (4-21-2019) – Grossmont High made a mentionable highlight in its Falcon Fiesta championship semifinals loss to eventual champion Mater Dei Catholic.

Meanwhile, local powers Granite Hills and Patrick Henry squared off in a tournament consolation matchup.

MATER DEI CATHOLIC 10, GROSSMONT 5: At Torrey Pines, in this Final Four foray at the Falcon Fiesta, the Foothillers equaled the most runs scored against Mater Dei Catholic by a CIF San Diego Section ballclub all season, yet still fell to the Crusaders.

Only Carlsbad had tallied five runs against MDC. Later in the afternoon championship affair, tournament host Torrey Pines eclipsed the mark with six runs, but the Crusaders took the crown, 7-6, as Torrey Pines has never captured its own tournament except for the debut event in 1999.

Grossmont received an early break when Mater Dei elected not to start standout pitcher Lexi Sosa and save her for the title game. But after the Hillers scored four times in the first, then another run in the second, MDC made the call to the bullpen.

Sosa finished with 5.2 innings of 3-hit ball, striking out nine. Sosa also entered in relief in the title game, throwing 2.2 innings of no-hit ball, gaining the win on a walk-off fielder’s choice that results in a play at the plate to topple Torrey Pines.

Kiyra Moody tapped the ball to the pitcher, who fired home. However, Alena Ramirez beat the throw to the plate.

In the semis, Grossmont’s Samaria Roope belted her sixth homer of the season. After the first three Hillers reached base in the 1st, Roope drilled a grand slam for a 4-0 lead right out of the gate.

However, the Crusaders countered with four bombs, including a pair of Jayle Hanson.  Gisele “Gigi” Gonzalez and Sosa had the others.

Grossmont (13-11) saw Rainee “Raindog” Foster and Aly Allmann each garner two base hits.

GRANITE HILLS 9, PATRICK HENRY 3: At Mission Hills HS in San Marcos, it was a battle of second-place clubs in Falcon Fiesta consolation action. And the defending tournament champion Eagles didn’t need to do much to win.

Patriots pitchers issued 10 walks — we’re talking about one of the area’s better teams — allowing Granite Hills to, literally, waltz to a victory.

Tied at 3-all, the Eagles tallied five times in the 3rd to pull ahead.

Consecutive bases-loaded walks to Sydney Huse, Julia Tysling and Baily Wallace gave each batter an easy RBI. It also put the defense to sleep, as the next ball was booted, allowing two additional runs to score.

Meanwhile, Eagles pitcher Staci Chambers also reached double figures, but in strikeouts with13. Her lone mistake was a solo home run to freshman shortstop Kaiah Altmeyer, tying the game at 1-all in the 1st.

For Granite Hills (17-7), Haley Johnson registered two of the team’s threes; the other was by Tysling, who had two RBI.

For Patrick Henry (13-4), Jessica DeWitt and Altmeyer posted two hits each, but the ballclub dropped its second straight following a 13-2 start.

Chambers did not homer (she had eight), but others did around the county, as a pair of sophomores — Cydney Sanders of San Marcos and Paige Dimler of Rancho Buena Vista — now lead the CIFSDS with nine homers each.

ESCONDIDO 5, WEST HILLS 2: At Escondido, a pair of traditional powers which are struggling this season were destined for extra innings before the Cougars’ Elisa Haas bombed a 3-run, walk-off homer in final-round play at the Falcon Fiesta.

Haas, who earlier placed a sacrifice bunt, surprised the Wolf Pack by swinging on a 1-0 pitch, sending the ball the center field fence. One of the three runs was unearned.

West Hills tallied twice in the 1st. An error extended the inning, then Lily Youngdale drilled a 2-run double.

Afterward, Cougars pitcher Melody White closed with 6.1 innings of shutout ball in throwing a 5-hitter. She struck out three batters, with both runs coming unearned.

Escondido got even in the 4th Following a lead walk to White, the next batter, Mackenzie Lefebvre, drilled a 2-run homer to left field.

West Hills (6-14), Shannon Kim and Youngdale had two hits each, with Dakotta Mershon gaining the other Wolf Pack hit plus a walk.

For Escondido (7-11), Juliana Alvarez had a 2-hit morning.

OTAY RANCH 4, STEELE CANYON 1: At Rancho San Diego, the Cougars were selected to host a pair of Falcon Fiesta consolation contests, but couldn’t take advantage of the home cookin’ by falling to the Mustangs.

Staked to an early 4-0 lead, Otay Ranch pitcher Gisselle Garcia struck out nine Cougars in tossing a 1-hitter.

The lone hit by Steele Canyon was a fourth-inning single by third baseman Bianca Morales, who advanced to third base by an error in the outfield, then came home on a ground out to the right side by catcher Amanda Whipple.

For Steele Canyon (10-13), Whipple also threw out a Mustangs base runner attempting to steal second base to end the 3rd.

For Otay Ranch (8-12), Naliah Garcia and Jaeden Inguito each recorded two of the Mustangs’ 10 hits.

SD-HIGH TECH 11, HELIX 1: At Steele Canyon, the other consolation contest at this site saw the Highlanders score in the 1st, but the Storm closed with eight unanswered runs to win in a time-limit shortened, 5-inning ballgame.

Winning pitcher Chelsea Runyon yielded just five hits, striking out four Highlanders.

Helix struck quickly, as shortstop Avery Perez leadoff with a bunt single, later coming home on a basehit by designated player Erin Brown. Both Scotties registered two hits, while Amber Young had the remaining hit for Helix (11-9).

For SD-High Tech (9-9), Cielo Cruz posted a big day with a home run and 5 RBI.  The second baseman’s homer was a 2-run shot in the 4th for a 4-1 lead.

Patriots finish Vegas trip with split

Christina High participated in the Las Vegas Spring Jamboree, splitting a pair of contests on Saturday (Apr. 20). The Patriots dropped at 8 a.m. contest to Las Vegas’ Sierra Vista, 7-1, but then solidly defeated Pahrump Valley (Nev.), 9-1.

An extremely early wake-up call did not help when the hometown Mountain Lions (12-9)– a large school (Nevada Class 4A) program — got five runs in the 1st. Christian’s run saw Kate Manes double home Harmony Blizard in the 4th.

“It was amazing to be able to help my team in the ways I did,” Manes said. “It felt great to be able to trust my team to make the plays needed to succeed. All the teams we faced did very well and their pitching was good.

“In the first game, there was little-to-no pressure on me because I knew that if I messed up I had a great team behind me.

Game 2 saw the Patriots score nine unanswered runs to trash the Trojans (10-9), as Manes fired a 1-hitter to collect the victory.

Among the batters, Blizard hit 2-for-2 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored, Mallory Steele went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

“I am very proud of everyone,” Steele said. “It felt good to win finally. I am so proud of how my team carries themselves. Everyone contributed this week. The top of the lineup got the job done.”

Manes also collected two RBI in the finale.

“In the final game of the tournament everyone contributed to the win in some way,” Manes said. “Even strikeouts led to runs scoring. I’m so incredibly proud of the way I played this tournament and my team.

At the end of the day, there were very high-pressure situations for everyone but the leaders on the team stepped up this weekend and made the team feel confident in who they are as a player.”

In addition, the ballgame’s lone extra-base hit was a double by Rachel Stephens.

The Patriots’ Audrey Shebloski, a senior, had one hit, a run and a walk in the final two games combined.

“The Patriots made some progress this week,” Shebloski said. “As u know this has been a tough year for us, but winning two games this week was definitely a step in the right direction. 

“The top of our lineup has done well but the addition of Cali Rookey has really helped. She lengthens our lineup and she has made an immediate impact in our team. She also improves our infield defense and helps the team overall.

“The freshmen did well this week with Kate getting some clutch hits including the game-winner against Calexico and pitching the whole game in the 9-1 win today against Pahrump Valley. Our team is still very young but we improved in every aspect and are heading in the right direction.

“Kate has grown so much this year hitting and pitching wise. She is only going to keep getting better in the years coming.”