2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL
East County Sports staff report
ESCONDIDO (5-18-2019) – Mount Miguel High senior
pitcher Cameron Beauzec fired a 2-hitter, leading the
Matadors to the CIF Division V winner’s bracket final
after blanking host Orange Glen, 2-0, on Friday (May
17).
The Mount Miguel pitching staff continued an
incredible scoreless streak.
The shutout was the Matadors’ third straight in the
postseason, and fifth in their last six outings. The
staff has yielded just one run over the last 43.1
innings, including the last 31.1 frames.
“Oh, my! That’s a “hole” lot of zeros!”
Beauzec struck out five Patriots
batters, limiting them to a single to start the game,
then another base hit in the third.
The only time Beauzec was in trouble came in the
sixth when he walked two batters, However, the
Matadors defense bailed him out with their second
double play of the contest.
Shortstop Austin Ortiz turned the twin-
killing to end the sixth. Earlier in the third, right
fielder Thomas Ringer caught a fly ball and fired to
second base to catch an Orange Glen baserunner
napping for another inning-ending double play.
“Our defense was on point today,” said second baseman JoJo Castillo.
“If we keep this intensity throughout playoffs, we’ll shock the county.”
The Mount Miguel runs nearly book-ended the ballgame,
coming in the first and sixth.
In sharp contrast to their opponents, the Matadors
needed just two batters to dent the scoreboard.
The quick lead saw Ortiz start with a lead single,
who was balked to second base. Beauzac followed with
an RBI double, lining the ball to center field.
In the sixth, Trevor Darby opened with a line double.
He went to third base on Nico Camacho single, then
was allowed to score when the Orange Glen second base
turned a traditional double play rather than firing the ball home.
“We set the tone by scoring first and our defense was
phenomenal and that’s what won us this game,” Darby said.
The insurance run proved important until the Matadors’
defense turned their own double lay in the home-half
of the frame.
More defense occurred in the seventh, as Ortiz sent a
potential run-scoring double to left-center field,
but Patriots defender Jacob Merrick fired a laser to
the plate to cut down a baserunner.
Beauzec then registered a pair of strikeouts in the
seventh, including the game-ending whiff.
“The defense today was amazing,” Beauzec said.
“Absolutely helped me out on the mound.
I felt way more confident in throwing over
the plate and not the black letting my defense perform behind me.
“We hit the ball really well and only had two runs to show for, but that’s all we needed.
“When Trevor hit that double into left-center, it really kind of sparked us more because we needed to see something like that late in the game.
“Such a fun atmosphere to be in, and I’m so happy we all are in this together.”
Mount Miguel (14-17) advances to Tuesday’s winners
bracket final, meeting the victor in Saturday’s ga
between Pacific Ridge and CB-High Tech.
“The game was phenomenal and played extremely well,” Matador senior Erik Kelly said.
“The pitching was just what we needed and the defense was on fire.
“Shout-out to Nico (Camacho) for throwing 3 out (trying to steal).
“We are playing the best right now we ever have and this is not
going to stop until we come home with that ring!”
Camacho also had a hit in the contest.
“We didn’t have many hits to show for how we actually hit
because we put the ball in play every at-bat and we would
hit it hard but the wind would kill it,” Camacho said.
“But our defense and Cam’s pitching held us in there
and our team wants it more than anyone and we know we can do it.”
DIVISION IV
MT. CARMEL 5, WEST HILLS 0: At Rancho Peñasquitos,
among the CIF San Diego Section schools that meet
East County baseball programs the most, the Sundevils
rank near the top. On Friday (May 17), they ran their
all-time playoff record to 15-10 (14-10 against GUHSD clubs)
after pitcher Anthony Gniady fired a 6-hit shutout at
the visiting Wolf Pack in a second-round contest.
Gniady, a junior, had five
strikeouts against just a single walk.
The Sundevils tallied all of their runs in the fifth
inning to snap the scoreless pitchers’ duel.
Leadoff batter and third baseman Taka Horton knocked
in the tie-breaking run, then shortstop Ty Webster and
first baseman Mateo O’Sullivan followed with 2-run
singles. One of the runs was unearned.
Among the five Wolf Pack hits, one came from pinch-
hitter Tommy McCormick. Meanwhile, Kole Klingerman
added his seventh hit in three playoff outings; his
postseason average is a hefty .583.
The other knocks were by Gavin Kondyra, Devin
Bevilacqua and Parker Craft.
Mt. Carmel (14-15 overall) moves to Tuesday’s bracket
final, waiting for the winner of Saturday’s game,
when West Hills (12-14) will play on the road against
the winner between Sweetwater and Tri-City Christian.
DIVISION V
CALVARY CHRISTIAN 11, MOUNTAIN EMPIRE 6: At
Sweetwater Lane County Park in Spring Valley, if it’s
true that you’re “1-2-3 three strikes, you’re out,”
then the RedHawks can accept their elimination from
the CIF Division V playoffs by falling to the Royal
Knights for the third time this season.
Mountain Empire tallied four times in the 1st inning,
but then it was all Calvary, which answered with five
runs in the 5th to assume the lead, then six more
markers an inning later to seal the deal.
However, only two of the runs were earned against
hard-luck losing pitcher Jacobe Noland, who saw seven
errors ruin his complete-game 3-hitter.
The Royal Knights also downed the RedHawks twice
during the regular season to claim the Citrus League
title.
In the first, four consecutive Hawks — Sean Hodge,
Angel Jimenez, Michael Thing and Alexander Schachner
— registered RBI.
However, Thing was the lone player to drive in a run
with a base hit. Hodge was hit by a pitch with the
bases loaded, while the others saw runners at third
base scoring on fielding errors with less than two
outs.
Calvary Christian (17-4 overall) received a game-
high two RBI by No. 9 batter Aaron Sanchez, while
Isaac Hernandez belted a solo home run. The Royal
Knights play in Saturday’s challenger bracket final
against Army-Navy, which fell in the winners final to
Morse, 10-1.
Mountain Empire (14-8), which went 20-5 last season,
still finished the year with it’s second-best overall
ledger since 2011.
Mount Miguel senior Cameron Beauzec
