Grossmont, Steele Canyon, explode to secure outright league crowns

Hillers slam the hammer on El Cap

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (5-16-08) -- Simple as it sounds, it was kind of like the difference was between right and wrong.

When it came to crunch time, the visiting Grossmont Foothillers did everything right and the El Capitan Vaqueros seemed to do every thing wrong.

That was the tone in Thursday’s (May 15) Grossmont North League championship game between the No. 2 ranked Foothillers and the No. 5 ranked Vaqueros.

Grossmont (24-6, 10-2 GNL) parlayed a leadoff double by JOSH SIMMS and three infield groundouts into a 1-0 lead in the opening frame.

El Capitan (21-8-1, 8-3-1 GNL) countered with a leadoff walk and stolen base by TANNER RUST to place the potential tying run at second base with nobody out. Rust made it to third but that’s all.

The Foothillers scored five runs in the 2nd inning and never looked back, cruising to a surprisingly easy 14-1 blowout to claim its third straight GNL pennant.

“If you would have said before the game that we would score 14 runs on these guys, I would have said they’d score 12 on us,” said Grossmont coach ROB PHILLIPS. “Actually, I thought it was going to be a slugfest. But what it came down to is we were able to execute bunts, steal bases and get the hits in key situations.”

On the other side of the coin, El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY pointed out that his Vaqueros were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Six Vaqueros errors helped the Hillers score eight unearned runs.

“It’s too bad we played like we did because this might have been the biggest crowd we’ve ever had here,” Vickery said. “Grossmont made it clear right from the start that they came here to crush us. My kids, well, I think they might have been suffering from stage fright.”

Even more aggravating to El Capitan was the Foothillers dealt the Vaqueros their only loss in 12 home games.

“It probably wasn’t a really good time to look bad,” Vickery said. “It’s so disappointing because we had everything lined up the way we wanted it going into the game. The bottom line is Grossmont was way better than us in this game.”

The Vaqueros provided the flint to spark Grossmont’s pivotal 5-run 2nd inning.

BRYAN HAAR led off with a double and CASH McCLELLAN followed with a walk. ROBERT REYES attempted to advance the runners with a sacrifice bunt. His effort was sound but the Vaqueros committed a throwing error, allowing Haar to score and Reyes to reach base.

One out later BRENNAN GEARY executed a suicide squeeze, giving Grossmont a 3-0 advantage.

From there the Foothillers just kept peppering away at El Capitan starter, KEVIN MORTON.

Simms singled up the middle to make it 4-0. KYLE SECCIANI hammered a long drive off the bank in center-field to plate two more runs.

The beneficiary of Grossmont’s offensive eruption was junior southpaw LEVI STEVENS.

“I was throwing well but the defense was making all the plays,” said Stevens, who rationed the Vaqueros to two hits and one unearned run while striking out eight during a six inning stint.

The Vaqueros seemed to be unusually cautious at the plate, as Stevens walked five. Perhaps it was more that they were mystified by his sharp-breaking curveball.

“I think they thought I was going to throw a lot of balls,” added Stevens, who improved his record to 7-3. “And I recognized that and just threw the ball by ‘em.”

Grossmont knocked out 13 hits, including three by seldom-used senior BRENNAN GEARY. He and center-fielder Secciani drove in three runs apiece for the Foothillers, who are all but guaranteed the No. 1 seed in next week’s San Diego CIF Division II playoffs.

Despite losing for only the second time in 12 games, the Vaqueros also believe they should receive the top-seeded position in Division III of the playoffs.

VALHALLA 7, GRANITE HILLS 4 – RYAN O’SULLIVAN isn’t afraid to say it.

“I consider myself a big game pitcher, I thrive on situations like this.”

The Valhalla senior right-hander was referring to Thursday’s (May 15) regular season finale against archrival Granite Hills. Both teams needed a victory to have any chance of capturing a Grossmont South League co-championship should Steele Canyon falter in its finale at Mount Miguel.

Projected as a primary pro prospect in next month’s free agent draft, O’Sullivan was throwing beebees. Scouts on the scene said O’Sullivan topped out at 94 mph, reaching that velocity at least three times.

“I have to say this was one of the better games I’ve pitched this season,” O’Sullivan said. “Not just because I had good velo. I had a decent curveball and my changeup was effective since I’ve changed my grip about a week ago.”

As well as O’Sullivan pitched during his 6-inning stint, he left the mound trailing 2-1. The Eagles were in control behind the pitching of junior TRAVIS HOPPER at that point.

Knowing that he was through with pitching for the day, O’Sullivan found another means to knock out the Eagles. He turned to the longball – for the second time in the game.

In the opening frame with two outs O’Sullivan hit a gargantuan shot over the 25-foot “Green Monster” beyond the centerfield fence, giving the Norsemen a 1-0 lead.

In the decisive 7th inning O’Sullivan keyed a 6-run outburst with his East County-leading 13th homer – a grand slam to right-center field.

After getting tipped in the foot by a foul ball, Valhalla High catcher John Aguirre-Ruiz dances a bit of a gig to try to shake off the pain. (Photo by Mark Gonzales)

“The one I hit in the 1st inning is probably the farthest ball that I’ve ever hit in high school. It was still on the way up when it left the ballpark.”

In the 7th inning Valhalla (21-9, 11-4 GSL) set the stage for their home run king. With one out PETER THOMAS singled and TYLER KEATON ran for him. Pinch-hitter BRYCE MOSIER followed with a base hit. TREVOR FRANK kept the hit parade going against Hopper as he singled in Keaton to tie the game at 2-2.

AUSTEN SUHAY drew a walk to load the bases against reliever CHRISTIAN LEWIS. MATT GONZALES coaxed a second walk off Lewis to score Mosier with the go-ahead run. That brought up O’Sullivan.

Lewis jumped ahead in the count on the first pitch.

“I swung out of my mind, came out of my shoes trying to hit it a thousand miles,” O’Sullivan admitted.

Nice try but no contact. Two pitches later, O’Sullivan connected to break the game open.

“This guy had a little more giddy-up on his fastball than Hopper, but again it came down to getting a good swing on it,” he said.

Not only did O’Sullivan get rewarded with his 8th win in 10 decisions, he raised his batting average to .417 and RBI count to 34.

“Ryan had a great day at the plate today,” said Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. “I'm happy that he was able to conclude his senior year regular season with this type of a game."

Granite Hills’ late-season offensive slide continued as the five hitters in the bottom half of the batting order were collectively 1-for-14. Nevertheless, the Eagles made a game of it.

Singles by BRIAN HUMPHRIES, DYLAN GARCIA and KENNY BELZER tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the 1st.

The Eagles forged in front on a double by Garcia and an error by the Norsemen in the 3rd inning.

Even after Valhalla’s 6-run burst in the top of the 7th, Granite Hills staged a rally against Valhalla reliever JAKE BOEKAMP. Humphries and JARED RAPOZA collected back-to-back one-out knocks. Humphries scored on a double by Belzer. Another Valhalla error handed the Eagles (21-8, 10-5 GSL) a second run, but the rally stalled there.

"The guys kept battling today and didn't give up,” said Wilson. “It was a good game to be a part of. I'm very proud of the guys for not giving in when it seemed that Hopper had our number today. They kept taking their hacks and were able to make some adjustments late in the game."

WEST HILLS 7, EL CAJON VALLEY 0 – No doubt playoff hopeful West Hills was treading lightly when the Wolf Pack closed the Grossmont North League season Thursday (May 15) at El Cajon Valley.

After all, the Wolf Pack – burned earlier in the year by four forfeit losses due to a paperwork snafu – was headlined when El Cajon Valley won its first league game in 11 years on May 3. The Braves snapped a state-record 129-game league losing streak at West Hills’ expense.

It is unlikely that the Pack was disturbed by helping El Cajon Valley make history. West Hills, which took a 4-0 lead in the 3rd inning in the finale, is more focused on landing a berth in the San Diego CIF Division II playoffs. Whether the post-season gates open for West Hills will be determined on Saturday (May 17).

“It was a good way to end the regular season, now we have to wait and see what our fate is in the playoffs,” said Wolf Pack coach CHRIS BAUM.

ROBBY ROBLES and RYAN HALL combined to spin a 6-hit shutout against the Braves, who were blanked for only the third time in 29 games. Robles worked six frames and was rewarded with his 8th win.

RYNE BARKLEY, who – along with teammate DAVID BRISTOL – has accepted a scholarship to Cal State San Marcos, clubbed a 3-run homer to give the Wolf Pack a 4-0 lead in the 3rd inning. It was Barkley’s first varsity homer.

Barkley picked up a fourth RBI in the 7th inning when he drew a bases-loaded walk.

UCSD-bound ERIC McKNIGHT followed with a 2-run single.

“It was a great day for the seniors – we had them all in at the end of the game,” said Baum. “It’s been a rollercoaster season for our guys but I’m proud of them.”

El Cajon Valley , under the leadership of first-year coach MIKE RUPP, finished 9-20. The Braves, as Rupp is proud to point out, ended their nightmarish league losing streak and won the Division A championship of the Lions Tournament.

The light-hitting Highlanders ripped off 14 hits as they produced their second-highest scoring total at the Monarchs’ expense. Only once – in a 10-4 win over Beaumont , Colo. – has Helix (9-18, 4-11 GSL) scores more.

BRONSON RUNIONS enjoyed a career day to spearhead the Helix onslaught. The Scotties leadoff man went 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI. He also scored twice.

Runions provided the spark when he opened the game with a double and then rode home on JEFF ROSENTHAL’s two-base hit. One out later, CHASE GLENN singled in Rosenthal.

Helix made it 4-0 when Runions singled with the bases loaded in the 4th.

BENNY GUERRERO added three hits to the Highlanders’ offensive stock and ANTHONY DIAZ doubled in a pair in the 6th inning.

Pitchers MIKE ANDRADE and MIKE LOPEZ held the Monarchs to five hits and did not allow an earned run. Andrade toiled the first six frames to notch his 5th win in 10 decisions.

Monte Vista (9-19, 4-11 GSL) avoided the shutout on SPENCER REED’s RBI single in the 6th.

© East County Sports.com
CORONADO (5-15-08) -- To some, it was simply a non-league game to give both pitching staffs some work in preparation for the upcoming playoffs. For others, Wednesday's (May 14) ballgame was a possible preview of the SDCIF Division IV championship game.

If it was the latter, give the advantage to the Christian Patriots.

The Patriots utilized mammoth home runs by seniors EDDIE YOUNG and ADAM NASH to derail the division's top-ranked Coronado Islanders, 8-6, at Dedeaux Field on the Silver Strand.

Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL entered the contest believing the disparity between the ballclubs was minimal, despite Coronado being ranked as high as No. 9 in the section by some.

"Even with this win, Coronado still is No. 1 in Division IV," noted the veteran Patriots coach. "But we're No. 2 right behind them."

The Islanders have topped the Div. IV charts all season, but with Christian playing in the difficult Eastern League, the Patriots progress has been more difficult to detect. However, they displayed their growth by calmly rallying from a 4-0 deficit with clutch hitting and strong efforts from the bullpen.

The biggest impact may have come from Nash, who gained his first start all season at catcher after MICHAEL GRUBER was lost indefinitely following a concussion suffered in the team's previous outing against Mira Mesa.

"Our buddy, Gruber, got a little messed up," Nash recalled. "He got drilled by a fastball, high and tight, and the ball went all the way out to shortstop."

Gruber was back in the Patriots' dugout following the beaning, but sat out for precautionary reasons. The Christian coaching staff noted that he's going to be fine and should be ready for postseason play, which makes the taunting he received from teammates even more amusing.

"It was pretty funny," added Nash. "Grub was down a few seconds -- I think he went to sleep for a few seconds."

What wasn't funny -- potentially -- was Nash being thrown behind the plate as the emergency replacement catcher.

"It's been a while," he noted. "I think I caught a winter league game, otherwise, it's been a while when I was a sophomore."

By successfully dealing with five different pitchers, Nash didn't lose much with his bat, thundering a game-tying, solo homer in the 4th inning, The blast cleared the 14-foot fence in left-center field, as the ball landed in the condominium complex to the right of the 438-foot marker -- the deepest point of the cozy, harborfront ballpark.

"I guess I had a good approach," said Nash, who will attend Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. "The guy threw me a fastball and I took it to left-center."

Meanwhile, Young's sixth homer of the season went just as far, only into the wind and clearing the fence in right. His 2-run shot, coupled with a 2-run double, gave the UC Riverside bound shortstop 4 RBI for the contest.

"I'm seeing the ball well and hitting the ball well," said Young, who raised his season batting average to .451.

Young started a streak of six straight Patriots runs with his homer, with SHAUN DAY later adding a sacrifice fly to bring home BRYAN MITCHELL in the 3rd. Nash's homer tied the game in the 4th, then NIKO KANAKARIS came through with a clutch, two-out single to score Mitchell and Eichhorst for the lead in the 5th.

Coronado finally answered back on a sacrifice fly, but Young countered with a drive that landed fair by inches along the left-field line, scoring pinch-runner MICHAEL FERREIRA and BRADLEY JOHNSTON for an 8-5 lead in the 6th.

"Coronado's still going to get the 1-seed," conceded Young. "But we should get the 2-seed and I hope we see them at Tony Gwynn Stadium for the rematch."

Meanwhile, four Patriots relievers combined to allow just one earned run over the final 5 2/3 innings. JOHN GEE (6-4), the first pitcher out of the bullpen, gained the victory, while BRAD ROBERTSON collected his third save.

Robertson saw the first two batters reach after hitting the leadoff batter with a pitch, followed by a walk to place the tying runs aboard in the 7th. However, he escaped with an infield fly popup, a strikeout of top Coronado reliever Steve Conrad and finished the job by fielding a tapper back to mound.

Eichhorst overcame an unearned run in the 6th by picking off former Christian High student MASON MILLS without a throw. Mills, standing on first base following a single, took off for second base on first movement by Eichhorst, who simply stepped off the rubber, ran toward Mason and tagged him out to end an Islanders scoring threat.

Young and Kanakaris each batted 2-for-4, while the bottom third of the Patriots batting order scored half of the team's runs.

Coronado (21-8), the champions of the Western League, saw Jake McMahon collect two hits, while Blake Malkemas slugged a 2-run triple in the 2nd to double the team's early lead to 4-0.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (5-14-08) — It’s boiled down to this, the final day of the season on Thursday (May 15) with neither of the Grossmont Conference leagues quite ready for the archives.

In the Grossmont South League, Steele Canyon has locked up at least a share of the circuit crown by virtue of Tuesday’s (May 13) 8-1 drilling of three-time defending champion Granite Hills in Rancho San Diego. The Cougars need to knock off upset-minded Mount Miguel at home to take the GSL title outright. A Mount Miguel victory would drop the Cougars into a co-championship with the winner of the Valhalla-at-Granite Hills finale on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in the Grossmont North, it will be winner-take-all when El Capitan hosts Grossmont on Thursday (May 15) in Lakeside. The Foothillers hold a half-game lead over the Vaqueros thanks to an 8-2 victory over El Cajon Valley. El Capitan was fortunate to escape a knockout blow from Santana on Tuesday in a game that ended in a 5-5 tie in the 11th inning due to darkness.

“We were fortunate that we did not lose that game,” El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY said. “But even if we had, it still all comes down to the Grossmont game on Thursday.”

STEELE CANYON 8, GRANITE HILLS 1 – Picked for a third place finish, the No. 8 ranked Steele Canyon Cougars have gone beyond what the so-called experts thought them capable of doing.

Ten wins in their last 11 games, including four victories in six games against perennial contenders Granite Hills and Valhalla has placed the Cougars at the head of the class.

Granite Hills received a double dose of Bellatti Magic in Tuesday’s (May 13) Grossmont South League contest. While junior ANDREW BELLATTI was dominating the No. 2 ranked Eagles from the mound, his senior brother MARK BELLATTI blasted his 10th and 11th home runs to extend his East County-best hitting streak to 20 games.

Probably one of the toughest decisions ahead for rookie coach TODD SNYDER is which of his Cougars should be awarded the GSL Player of the Year honor.

No doubt that will be a tough call, one that Snyder plans to delay for as long as he can. Obviously, he’d like to make them co-players, but in this day and age such is not permitted by the SDCIF guidelines.

At the moment Snyder hopes to instill the importance of the regular season finale against Mount Miguel.

“The exciting part about where we are now is we want to win games to help ourselves, whereas in the past all we could do is provide upset games, like spoilers,” said Andrew Bellatti. “It’s unexplainable how big this win over Granite Hills was for us.”

Two costly Granite Hills errors helped Steele Canyon take a 4-0 first inning lead. DONNIE FRANK pitched in with an RBI double and JESSE JENNER produced the first of a pair of two-run singles in the game.

Giving Andrew Bellatti a four-run cushion is almost certain to lead to a defeat. That was the case on Tuesday as Bellatti maintained control throughout.

“This is a totally unique year for us,” he said. “We’ve never been ranked before and, as you know, we’ve never won a league title before. We’re going to celebrate this tonight and probably into tomorrow.”

Steele Canyon athletic directory GARY STATHAS made a pre-game offer to the team whereby a victory would lead him to buy them burritos for lunch on Wednesday. Nobody would confirm it but word has it that Stathas was seen at the local ATM early Wednesday morning.

“People have counted us out the past couple of years and now we’ve proved that we can hang, that we can play with these guys,” Mark Bellatti said. “I knew we had a good shot to win this thing going in, but beating these guys (Granite Hills)… we’ve always had a hard time beating them. Clinching this thing against them is sweet.”

The wounded Eagles avoided the shutout in the 6th inning when they generated three of their five hits.

JARED RAPOZA began a belated rally with a one-out single and scampered to second on a wild pitch. KENNY BELZER, who was 2-for-3 on the afternoon, scored Rapoza with a booming double to left center.

“We have to focus our attention on beating Valhalla ,” said Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS of Thursday’s looming showdown.

EL CAPITAN 5, SANTANA 5, tie (11 inn., darkness) – For the host Santana Sultans, it was the epitome of a season of frustration. The Sultans (18-11-1, 8-2-1 GNL) were 90 feet away from knocking off No. 5 ranked El Capitan in Tuesday’s (May 13) Grossmont North League encounter.

For the Vaqueros, it was a game of survival when darkness brought a halt to the proceedings in the 11th inning with Santana runners at the corners and nobody out.

With the game tied at 5-5, Santana was closing in on an upset when the Sultans’ CHAD HAMILTON slid into third base and caught a cleat on the bag, causing a severe injury to his ankle.

Santana skipper JERRY HENSON, standing in the third base coaching box said, “I heard it pop, and called 911 right away. By the time the medical personnel put Chad in the ambulance and took him to Grossmont Hospital (where he was to undergo surgery on Wednesday morning) it was dark so the umpires called the game.”

Nonetheless, Henson accepted the frustration as if he were immune.

Hamilton, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the 11th, singled up the middle. KYLE ROMERO hit a swinging bunt out in front of the plate. Vaqueros catcher TANNER RUST made a barehanded grab on the ball and threw to first. The ball got away but was picked up by the second baseman KYLE MILLS who was backing up the play. On the throw to third in an attempt to get Hamilton who was making a belated slide, El Capitan third baseman KORBIN KRUGER tripped over the runner. Kruger made no tag and the Sultans were primed for the victory.

But with Hamilton in agony, the game seemed to lose its intensity.

“It shows you how, when someone on your team gets hurt, your focus swings from the game to the well-being of the young man,” Henson said. “Suddenly the game becomes not so important.”

Not known for its power-hitting, Santana took a 3-2 edge on back-to-back home runs by KYLE HAYES and MATT CHARLEBOIS in the 2nd inning.

El Capitan counter-punched in the 3rd inning when KEVIN MORTON (4-for-5) ripped a one-out double to left field. Santana walked MILES REAGAN intentionally but paid the price when senior designated hitter CANNON NIKZAD doubled both runners home, giving El Capitan a 4-3 edge.

The lead exchanged hands again in the 5th as Santana put together singles by CHRIS RABICHAUD, RYAN STUTZ and BRANDYN BELL to tie the game at 4-4.

El Capitan surrendered the lead when Hayes was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Determined to avoid the upset, El Capitan started a two-out rally when Rust walked on a 3-2 pitch. Morton lofted a flyball to right field that was lost in the sun, allowing Rust to come all the way around to score the tying run. Morton received a double and an RBI as Rust beat the relay to the plate.

“We both had ample opportunities to win this game,” said El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY. “We didn’t have too many quality at-bats with runners in scoring position. Almost every inning somebody had runners in scoring position.”

The Vaqueros wasted 5 2/3 innings of shutout relief by MARCO MARISCAL.

“We got great pitching from Mariscal, I was very, very proud of the way he threw today. He gave us the opportunity to win a ballgame,” said Vickery.

Frank exhibited his usual pinpoint control, striking out seven and walking none.

The junior right-hander continues to boast the section’s top strikeouts-to-walks ratio with 71 whiffs to only 3 walks over 64 2/3 innings.

"Trevor pitched great today,” said Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. “He attacked the hitters and finished this one off strong."

Frank received all the offensive support he needed when RYAN O’SULLIVAN slugged his 11th home run of the season in the 1st inning. O’Sullivan’s homer left him tied with Steele Canyon ’s MARK BELLATTI for the East County lead.

“Scoring runs hasn’t been one of our strengths, but I thought we hit pretty well today,” said O’Sullivan. “We did a good job of putting the ball in play.”

Making contact hasn’t been a problem for O’Sullivan, who carries a .407 batting average, including 29 RBI.

The No. 10 ranked Norsemen (20-9, 10-4 GSL) set the stage for O’Sullivan’s clutch home run when WILL COOMBS doubled and MATT GONZALES was hit by a pitch.

“I’d be kidding you if I didn’t say I was looking ahead to a bigger game to come,” said O’Sullivan, who will be the starting pitcher at Granite Hills on Thursday (May 15). “I like to think of myself as a competitor who loves the big games. I thrive on challenges and this last one will certainly be that.”

O’Sullivan played a key role as he followed a single by Matt Gonzales with a base hit in the 5th inning. DANNY HAWKSLEY followed suit with a third consecutive single to make it 4-0.

Helix (8-18, 3-11 GSL) finally got off the deck in the 6th inning.

MARCOS SALINAS and BRONSON RUNIONS banged back-to-back singles. Salinas sped to third on Runions’ hit and when the throw went to third, Runions went to second.

But Frank maintained his poise, serving up three straight groundball outs.

JEFF ROSENTHAL picked up an RBI with a groundout in the process as did ANTHONY DIAZ for the Highlanders.

BLAZE McENTEE was the hardluck loser for Helix, allowing only four earned runs while striking out six during a six-inning stint.

GROSSMONT 8, EL CAJON VALLEY 2 – With their attention obviously focused on Thursday’s (May 15) Grossmont North League season-ending showdown at El Capitan, the Foothillers found the going a bit tougher than they might have expected, considering they had clobbered El Cajon Valley 12-1 and 15-3 in previous meetings.

Fortunately for the Foothillers they had unsung right-hander AARON GRIFFIN at the controls. The 6-foot-5 Griffin held the Braves (9-19, 1-10 GNL) in check over seven innings. He gave up only four hits and no earned runs while catapulting his season record to 9-1.

No. 2 ranked Grossmont (23-6, 9-2 GNL) broke a scoreless tie in the 4th inning on a single by CHARLIE PIRO and BRYAN HAAR’s 8th home run of the season.

“It was tough to concentrate because we were more focused on the El Capitan game,” Haar admitted. “In games like this you try to find ways to prepare for bigger things ahead.”

The Braves were not concerned about Grossmont’s future. Denied a hit for 4 2/3 innings by Griffin , the Braves broke the spell when JOSE VARGAS doubled to left. A Grossmont error put runners at the corners. DAVID SANCHEZ then singled up the middle to pull El Cajon Valley to within 2-1.

The game turned into an error-fest for the next inning, leaving the Foothillers clinging to a 3-2 advantage entering the bottom of the 6th.

El Cajon Valley starter EFREN PADILLA struck out the first two Hillers in the 6th, keeping the Braves’ hopes for an upset alive.

LEVI STEVENS drew a walk and CASH McCLELLAN hit the jackpot when he homered over the right-field wall, giving Grossmont a 5-2 spread.

McClellan’s shot seemed to awaken the Hillers. Back-to-back doubles by BRENNAN GEARY and JOSH SIMMS made it 6-2.

KYLE SECCIANI and DEREK BAUM completed the 5-run 6th inning with RBI singles.

Only one team has been able to manhandle the 6-foot-6 Acosta in 12 appearances this season, and that would be Monte Vista. In a 16-5 Matadors Grossmont South League loss to the Monarchs on April 24, Acosta surrendered 13 runs in two innings.

Believing that Mount Miguel (11-16, 4-10 GSL) was facing a must-win situation on Tuesday (May 13), Matadors coach BYRON GRIGSBY gave Acosta a chance to avenge the earlier beating. And Acosta came through, allowing only two earned runs while striking out 10 in a complete game effort.

The roadblock between winning and losing for Acosta and the Matadors was Monte Vista senior ANTHONY MARCON. The senior right-hander, who had been a magnet for bad luck, pitched a 3-hit shutout to earn his second win in 10 decisions.

“Obviously this one felt great,” said Marcon, who was supported by an error-free Monte Vista defense. “I like to think that I’m a better pitcher than my record shows.”

Marcon pitched a 2-hitter and lost to Eastlake , and logged a complete game, giving up one unearned run in a loss to Mater Dei. He’s had other frustrating outings but wanted to focus on his latest effort.

“Actually, there wasn’t anything special about this one,” Marcon said. “I threw fastballs all day and only two curveballs. They couldn’t keep up with my two-seamer and four-seamer. I tried to keep the ball away from them and when they did hit it, my defense was behind me to make the play.”

Ironically, Acosta accounted for two of the Matadors’ three hits.

“I don’t know what it was about him, but we were able to beat him twice,” Marcon said of Acosta. “It’s kinda like our whole season. We always seem to play up against a top pitcher.”

The Monarchs (9-18, 4-10) took the lead without benefit of a hit in the 3rd inning thanks to two Mount Miguel errors and TRISTON BRAYMAN’s sacrifice bunt.

In the 5th inning Mount Miguel ’s defense betrayed Acosta again, as MICHAEL HODGES reached base on an error. Bunt singles by ADAM TIMANUS and Brayman loaded the bases. The Matadors forced Hodges at the plate on ERIC GENTRY’s ground ball for the first out. The Matadors then muffed a double play attempt, allowing Timanus to score.

CODY MORRIS capped the inning with an RBI single.

ERIC LaBOUBE put the exclamation point on the victory with a booming home run over the 410 sign in centerfield in the 6th inning.

“I’ve hit a lot of home runs before but this was my first one this year – I’m really psyched,” said LaBoube. “It felt good hitting it off Ruddy (Acosta). He’s a really good pitcher – he struck me out twice and made me look stupid so I was glad to hit it off him. I knew it was gone when I hit it – it was probably the farthest ball I’ve ever hit. I hit it up high in the air, Ruddy supplied all the power.”

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 27, CV-CALVARY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 1 – For a short-handed team that mustered only two hits 24 hours earlier, the Knights went wild against Chula Vista Calvary Christian Academy in a non-league contest on Tuesday (May 13) to close the regular season.

Foothills Christian, which finished the rocky campaign 12-14, scored in all seven innings against the Royal Knights, pounding out 26 hits in the process.

JOE CANTER, IAN MURPHY and BRANDON JAROSIN produced four hits apiece in the lop-sided victory. Canter collected two doubles and four RBI, setting Foothills Christian records in both categories with 14 two-base hits and 32 runs driven in.

Murphy and Jarosin scored four runs each, as did TRAVIS GEORGE, who was 3-for-6 with two RBI. Jarosin and George also had a pair of doubles apiece.

LANDON MILLARD was 2-for-4 with three RBI, while RYAN SMITH was 2-for-4 with four runs scored and four RBI.

“It was a great end to a fun season,” said Knights coach JAMES McHUGH. “Our boys battled so many obstacles the past week and a half that we really needed to finish with a bang.”

Foothills’ literal hitting parade included two hits and three RBI from seldom-used NESTER PLASCENCIA.

“I think the greatest thing about this game and the last few really was Nester Plascencia,” McHugh said. “You have to understand that Nester is the type of guy that would come to practice, his hat would be backwards, crooked, something. We'd throw batting practice and he'd miss 48 of the 50 pitches you throw him. But Nester stuck with it. We had a lot of guys drop out along the way and he stayed even though he saw the bench more than anyone, and in the end he was able to get a good deal of playing time over these past few games.”

“MATT DELMORE is our other senior that we will say good bye to. Matty ended his career today having played more games (56) than anyone in a FCHS uniform.”

Delmore leaves with four school records, including hit by pitch (16).

McHugh believes Foothills Christian deserves a shot in the SDCIF Division IV playoffs.

“It's going to be hard for us to make a case with our league record (2-10) but we do have more wins than many D-4 schools,” he said. “I just wonder if some of the bigger schools will get in at 4-18 or so, maybe they will give us a chance., Who knows, but if not we're pleased with how we finished and that is important.”

© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (5-13-08) — Foothills Christian was fortunate to field enough players to meet Monday’s (May 12) obligation of a non-league game at Maranatha Christian.

It should be noted that this was an unplanned “new look” for the Knights. Four starters were missing from the lineup for a variety of reasons and a fifth, JOE CANTER, was playing on a sore knee.

“Considering what we were able to put on the field today I was really pleased with our guys,” said Knights coach JAMES McHUGH.

Foothills Christian could well have forfeited this game due to lack of numbers. One player was lost to the team for grade matters, two others had to attend a mandatory SDCIF class, and a fourth was on a required field trip. That left Foothills Christian coach JAMES McHUGH with only eight able-bodied Knights.

“BRIAN DELMORE (freshman brother of senior MATT DELMORE) actually came out today to fill in as our 9th guy,” said McHugh.

Yet, this makeshift crew did not roll over. In fact, thanks to the complete game pitching of IAN MURPHY – normally the starting catcher – Foothills Christian kept the pressure on Maranatha Christian before succumbing 2-0.

“We had guys in some really odd spots today,” said McHugh.

Nonetheless, the Knights were competitive.

Murphy limited the Eagles to five hits and one earned run. The junior right-hander walked none and struck out nine.

“Ian Murphy was great on the mound for us today,” said McHugh. “He put the ball on the ground and that was what we needed. We had two guys in the outfield that have not seen a lot of playing time this year, and the younger Delmore in center and he hasn't played since he was 12 so we needed to keep the ball out of the air. The grass at Maranatha plays really slow so if you can get ground balls you can go a long way with that, and that is what Ian did today.”

“LANDON MILLARD started at first base today, a bit out of the ordinary for our normal right fielder. But without our starting left fielder, center fielder, third baseman and second baseman, and with our starting catcher on the mound and our starting first baseman behind the plate, guys had to play all over.”

The Knights got a hit on a leadoff single by BRANDON JAROSIN in the bottom of the 1st inning. Ironically, the game would end on their second hit of the day, this one by NESTER PLASCENCIA.

“Brandon had a great game for us at short. He has been a real bright spot for us this season,” said McHugh. “As a freshman he has been a great leader and more than that he is a guy with great character.”

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the 7th inning, Foothills Christian (11-14) staged a mild rally. Murphy walked and Matt Delmore was beaned in the helmet. One out later, Millard walked to load the bases. STEPHEN TARDIFF then struck out in an 8-pitch at-bat.

Then Plascencia came to the plate.

“Throughout the whole inning I was in the 3rd base coach’s box and I was just thinking ‘hit him, please walk him, something, just anything, a break would be nice,’” McHugh recalled. “It didn't matter who was up I was really just praying for miracles that inning. I normally never hope for a walk, never by any means hope that my player gets hit, but after this week I would have taken anything.”

Plascencia hit the ball toward second and it boinked off the foot of Millard who was running from first, for the game-ending out.

“It was really the way things have gone for us lately,” McHugh said. “I told Nester and Landon not to feel bad. It was really just a slow roller to second if it had not hit him, but the way things are going that was almost a perfect ending to our game. I have to admit I've never been more pleased with a loss.”

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (5-11-08) — The late Alfred Hitchcock, the master of motion picture mystery, would love this script – the final chapter in the Grossmont Conference pennant races. Talk about suspense . . . Doesn’t get much closer than the Grossmont South and Grossmont North league races. If you’re looking for a sure winner, pick another league. These circuits are bound to end up in co- or even tri-championships.

EL CAPITAN 7, EL CAJON VALLEY 0 – Senior pitcher MILES REAGAN returned to the mound after suffering a shoulder contusion during practice a month ago.

About a dozen professional baseball scouts were on hand for Reagan’s return to the mound in Saturday’s (May 10) GNL engagement against visiting El Cajon Valley. The 6-foot-2, 197-pound right-hander, who was plagued by wildness prior to his minor malady, turned in a sparkling performance against the Braves as the Vaqueros claimed a 7-0 GNL victory.

“I felt decent,” said Reagan, who blanked the Braves (9-18, 1-9 GNL) for his second win while striking out nine and walking none during a four-inning stint. “I threw a bullpen on Thursday (May 8) so I felt that I was ready to go.”

El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY, who’s Vaqueros (21-7, 8-2 GNL) are now tied with Grossmont for the GNL lead, realized he was taking a risk by putting Reagan on the firing line when his club is scrambling for a championship. After all, Reagan had walked 18 batters in 13 1/3 innings prior to Saturday’s return.

“That was the best he’s looked all year,” Vickery said. “He was throwing free and easy with a lot of late movement.”

Reagan threw only 59 pitches to complete his 4-inning outing. He is regarded as a prime prospect in next month’s pro draft.

“The scouts said he was around 87-88 (mph) all day,” Vickery said. “His stock definitely went back up. He’s back on the radar after today.”

Reagan has been clocked on the radar gun as high as 94 mph in the past. But coming off an injury he obviously did not want to cut loose.

“The scouts already know I can throw hard, so I would think I wouldn’t have to prove that every time out,” Reagan said. “So today I stayed primarily with the fastball and just pounded the zone. I knew they couldn’t hit it.”

Reagan rated it his best outing of the year thus far.

While the scouts came to see Reagan pitch, the fact that he’s a .500 hitter on the season is hard to overlook. He hammered a solo home run to give the Vaqueros a 5-0 lead in the 3rd inning. It was his 4th home run 72 at-bats.

The Vaqueros provided Reagan with an early cushion, scoring four runs in the opening inning. TANNER RUST led off with a double to left and eventually scored on ANDY HALE’s sacrifice fly. MARCO MARISCAL drove in a second run with a 2-base blow, and KORBIN KRUGER clubbed a 2-1 pitch over the left-centerfield fence for his 5th home run of the season and a 4-0 El Capitan lead.

ANDREW RIGGINS blanked the Braves on one hit over the final three innings to earn his second save.

Boekamp responded with a career day. Entering the game with a 1-11 average, Boekamp blasted two doubles, a pair of singles, scored three runs, stole a base and drove in a pair to help the Norsemen win for only the second time in the last four games.

“I hit pretty well in the winter league, but then I just went into a big slump at the start of the regular season,” Boekamp said. “I’m so glad that they let me hit today. I finally got some balls to drop in.”

Considering that Boekamp got more hits in Saturday’s rout of Mount Miguel then he had in the previous 27 games was clearly rewarding.

“You know, I just haven’t been lucky,” he said. “It’s not like I haven’t worked hard. I’ve hit some balls hard that have been caught, but it seemed like I lost my batting eye when I came out of winter league and just couldn’t get anything going.”

Boekamp was center stage when Valhalla (19-9, 9-4 GSL) jumped on the Matadors for four 1st inning runs. When sophomore WILL COOMBS popped the cap in the 1st frame with a double, Boekamp brought him home with the first of his two doubles.

Two Mount Miguel errors, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by ANTHONY GONZALES gave Valhalla a 4-0 edge after one inning.

The Norsemen, who had scored as many as 12 runs only once in their past 25 starts, produced another four-inning scoring burst in the 3rd. Once again Boekamp was at the forefront with a lead single. RYAN O’SULLIVAN followed with an RBI double in that inning, as did JOSH AUSTEL. Anthony Gonzales chipped in with a run-scoring single, and TYLER KEATON added a scoring fly ball.

But Boekamp wasn’t through, as he doubled and scored on AUSTEN SUHAY’s sacrifice fly in the 4th inning. For good measure Boekamp slashed an RBI single in the 5th inning.

“I’m happy for Jake, to have a big game as a senior in our final regular season game on our field,” said Wilson.

For O’Sullivan, who is rated one of the top three local high school picks in the June draft, it was also a big day. He blanked the Matadors on one hit while striking out 11 over six innings.

“He wasn’t messing around out there,” said Wilson. “He went right after them. He had a good bite to his curve ball and his velocity topped out at 93 mph.”

Coombs, the Valhalla leadoff hitter, was 3-for-3.

Mount Miguel avoided the shutout by pushing across two runs in the 7th inning against Valhalla reliever BEN GROSS.

Singles by LUCAS GOLDEN and JAMES TREBUS, coupled with a walk to RUDDY ACOSTA, loaded the bases with nobody out. TONY ALVAREZ singled to score Golden. The Matadors picked up a second tally, which came on a double-play groundout and snuffed out the rally.

STEELE CANYON 9, MONTE VISTA 1 – Anybody expecting the Steele Canyon Cougars to crumble down the stretch better think again. Coach TODD SNYDER’s club is on a roll with nine wins in 10 starts and a 5-game winning streak.

Host Monte Vista (8-18, 3-10 GSL), fresh off toppling No. 2 ranked Granite Hills two days earlier, watched the Cougars take a 7-0 lead after three innings to foil any upset plans the Monarchs might have had.

“This is definitely a huge win for us,” Snyder said. “All too often in previous games, we’ve taken a lead then allowed teams to hang around. That didn’t happen today.”

Of late the Cougars (16-9, 10-3 GSL) have become the masters of infield hits. NOLAN MURRAY laid down a bunt single with one out in the 1st inning and then JORDAN HINDI beat out an infield single. Murray stole third and then Hindi stole second. After ANDREW BELLATTI walked to load the bases, Murray scored on a wild pitch. Hindi then coasted home on a sacrifice fly by DANNY MacINTYRE.

It was the perfect example of small ball, of which the Cougars have become so capable.

Steele Canyon doubled its advantage in the 2nd inning, using a little more muscle this time. JESSE JENNER doubled down the right field line and MARLON PORTER singled to put runners at the corners.

The Monarchs handed the Cougars a run with a wild pitch and MARK BELLATTI’s sacrifice fly capped the inning.

“The really good thing about this game is we put the pressure on and kept it on,” Snyder said. “And we didn’t let them get back into the game.”

No coach in the SDCIF knows more about close games than Snyder, who’s Cougars have been involved in 15 games decided by two runs or fewer.

Steele Canyon broke the game open in the 3rd on a run-scoring single by MacIntyre and a 2-run double by Porter.

An inning later Mark Bellatti blasted his 9th home run of the season to make it 8-0.

“They jumped on top of us so fast we were never in the game,” said Monte Vista coach BRANDON ROGERS.

ALEX CEBALLOS, STEVEN SLADEK and NATHAN O’TOOLE scattered seven hits while striking out six for Steele Canyon. Ceballos worked the first four innings to earn the win.

“Alex felt his control wasn’t there,” Snyder said. “But he stayed out there and battled.”

He received a bucketful of help from his defense, which was exemplified in the 3rd inning when he retired the Monarchs on only five pitches.

“Our defense has been incredible,” Snyder said.

In the aforementioned 3rd frame MICHAEL CASTRO made a circus catch in centerfield. Third baseman MacIntyre took a hit away, and second baseman Murray made a diving stop.

“Any or all of those balls could have been hits,” Snyder noted.

Monte Vista dodged the shutout when ERIC GENTRY slugged a solo home run in the 6th inning off of Sladek. In his last eight games Gentry has collected 13 hits in 26 at-bats.

Centerfielder SPENCER REED, who – like Gentry – was 2-for-3 against the Cougars, is batting at a .643 clip (9-for-14) over his last five games. In his last 12 games Reed has generated 21 hits in 38 at-bats for a .553 average.

The victory enabled the Eagles to remain tied for first place with Steele Canyon in the Grossmont South League with two games left in the regular season.

Granite Hills clearly has the toughest road ahead, as not only does coach JAMES DAVIS’ club need a victory over the Cougars on Tuesday (May 13) in Rancho San Diego, but they must also beat Valhalla in Thursday’s (May 15) regular season finale at home. A Granite Hills sweep would give the Eagles their 4th straight GSL championship.

“We’ve been punched in the mouth a few times lately,” Davis said of his Eagles, who have won only four of their last seven. “But we’re trying to get back up off the canvas.”

Lewis lent a helping hand as he posted his 3rd complete game in five starts.

“He was right around the strike zone all day,” Davis said. “He seems to get stronger as the game progresses.”

The only hits for Helix (8-17, 3-10 GSL), which was shutout for just the 3rd time, were a double by JEFF ROSENTHAL in the 3rd inning and a single by VINCE CRISE in the 4th.

Although able to complete a three-game sweep of Helix, Granite Hills was hardly an offensive juggernaut.

TYLER PONCIANO’s double to right-center field gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. DANIEL VINTON doubled the Eagles’ pleasure in that frame with a single.

In the 3rd inning KENNY BELZER’s single made it 3-0.

The 4th inning was a combination of Granite Hills playing small ball and a Helix error that stretched the Eagles advantage to 5-0.

JARED HUNT capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the 5th.

WEST HILLS 8, SANTANA 3 – With a little help from its crosstown rival on Saturday (May 10), the Wolf Pack of West Hills snapped a 3-game losing streak to solidify its chance for a San Diego CIF Division II playoff berth.

“Winning today should put us in the playoffs,” West Hills coach CHRIS BAUM said.

The Wolf Pack (12-15, 5-6 GNL) overcame a 2-0 deficit to subdue the Sultans. West Hills won the season series 2-1.

A 5-run 5th inning vaulted the Pack into a 6-2 lead. It was a strange inning as three runs scored on wild pitches. Pinch-hitter KYLE HOOPER contributed an RBI single as did RYNE BARKLEY.

Seldom-used senior reliever RYAN HALL pitched two innings in relief to pick up his first varsity win.

“This was special for our seniors – guys like Hall, because it was our last home regular season game against our biggest rival,” Baum said. “You gotta give Hall credit. He hasn’t pitched that much but he came up big for us this week. He gave us an inning against El Cap earlier this week and then came through again here today.”

Although down six runs entering the final frame, the Sultans (18-11, 4-7 GNL), made it clear they weren’t going to go down easily.

After ANTHONY MORENO got hit by a pitch, CODY SMITH and RYAN STUTZ followed with singles to cut the deficit to five runs with two runners on and nobody out.

Baum elected to bring in ROBBY ROBLES at that point. It turned out to be a wise move as Robles stuffed the Sultans 1-2-3 with a groundout and two strikeouts.

“I think this win is going to rejuvenate us,” Baum said. “I shook up the lineup – gave us a different look in the middle.”

One of those making a notable contribution was right-fielder BRENNAN TAYLOR, who was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Santana took an early lead with two outs in the 2nd inning as BRANDYN BELL doubled and scored on DALLAS SEIDEL’s single. A dropped fly ball set the stage for KYLE ROMERO’s RBI single to make it 2-0 in the 4th.

“We had a two-run lead with the bases loaded in the 4th, then we lined into a double play,” said Santana coach JERRY HENSON. “That just killed us.”

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 18-8, GUAJOME PARK ACADEMY 13-19 – Although Foothills Christian coach JAMES McHUGH won’t admit it, he was hoping his Knights would gain five wins during this week’s 6-game schedule. But due to a truckload of adversity, the FC coach had to be pleased with a 3-3 split.

In the opening game of Saturday’s (May 10) twinbill at Gaujome Park Academy , ZACH CUMMINGS was 4-for-5 with one RBI. MATT DELMORE drove in four runs with three hits, and BRANDON JAROSIN was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI as the Knights grounded the North County Frogs Citrus West League action.

In the nightcap the Knights, who have seen their already-thin pitching staff shaved to bare bones for a variety of reasons, could not keep the Gaujome Park Frogs from jumping all over their depleted staff.

McHugh, who has a low-key demeanor, was bubbling over with emotional contempt for the men in blue.

“We had two players ejected for what the CIF Green Book calls “malicious and deliberate intent” in our six games this week,” McHugh said. “I feel our kids have been absolutely robbed this week. They put in a hard week of 6 games and their reward is two of their teammates get ejected on irresponsible calls.”

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (5-10-08) — Even though the Patriots of Christian High finished a notch below the .500 mark in the Eastern League this spring, coach MIKE MITCHELL deemed the venture a success.

The Patriots (17-10, 5-7 EL) concluded their league tour on Friday (May 9), falling to visiting Mira Mesa 4-3. The Marauders (17-8, 8-2 EL) needed the win to maintain their share of a tie with St. Augustine (16-11, 8-2 EL) and Patrick Henry (18-8, 8-2 EL) with two games remaining. The league title could result in a three-way split.

Christian can take some solace in that it defeated the Saints in two of three meetings, including a 12-8 nod in the City Conference Tournament. The Patriots, however, were swept 2-0 by the Marauders and Patrick Henry.

“We are definitely a tougher team for playing in the Eastern League this season than if we had stayed in the Central (League),” Mitchell said. “Our goal is to get ready for the (San Diego CIF Division IV) playoffs. Playing against this caliber of competition was a plus.”

Christian pitchers JOHN GEE and BRAD ROBERTSON combined to spin a 4-hitter at Mira Mesa, which did all of its scoring after two were out and the bases empty in the 3rd inning.

“We gave them three walks that inning and all three guys scored,” Mitchell moaned. Winning pitcher Allen Townsend ripped an RBI double, which at the time, tied the game 1-1. Darrell Erese snapped that tie with a bases-loaded triple.

The Patriots had taken an early edge in the opening frame. EDDIE YOUNG singled to right field, moved up 90 feet on BRYAN MITCHELL’s sacrifice bunt, stole third and scored on TAYLOR EICHHORST’s single.

A two-run rally in the 6th inning enabled the Patriots to shave the deficit to a single marker. Mitchell was hit by a pitch and Eichhorst followed with a single. SHAUN DAY picked up the RBI with a base hit and a wild pick throw by Mira Mesa reliever Clark Labitan handed Christian a second run. Labitan quelled the uprising after that, posting back-to-back strikeouts.

Labitan earned the save when he ended the contest by picking the potential tying run off first base.

One stop remains on Christian’s regular season schedule prior to the playoffs. That will be a non-league contest at Coronado (21-7) on Wednesday (May 14) against the Islanders who are closing in on winning the Western League championship.

“That is going to be a playoff tune-up game for us,” Mitchell said. “We’ll probably throw five pitchers. But win or lose, there is no doubt in my mind that Coronado should be the No. 1 seed in Division IV. I think we should be No. 2.”

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 22, WEST SHORES 8 (5 inn.) – The baseball trail followed by Foothills Christian this season has provided some interesting sights and dimensions.

After taking a 2.5 hour drive deep into the Anza-Borrego Desert Friday (May 10), the Knights arrived at desolate Desert Shores Community Park – 3 miles north of Salton City.

It was hardly “The Field of Dreams.” Nightmares, maybe.

“The first thing I noticed was that the mound seemed a bit far from home plate,” Knights coach JAMES McHUGH said. “The field is surrounded by bushes which we were advised not to go into ‘unless you want to get bit by something.’ In the outfield there are several large sprinkler heads and there a number that have the caps broken off so they are just huge plastic holes with sprinklers in them. The infield is dirt for about 65 feet, then the grass starts. The bases are actually about 20 feet in the grass which makes the field look really disproportionate."

“After we had gone through our first 4 batters the base umpire stopped the game to talk to the home plate umpire because he judged that the mound was in fact about 4.5 feet further than it was supposed to be. I really thought he was going to tell them to build a new mound or call the game, which would have been more than frustrating.”

After much debate about the inadequacies of the West Shores field, the Knights got down to business and buried the Wildcats in the non-league encounter.

ZACH CUMMINGS led the victory charge for the Knights (10-12), driving in 4 runs with 2 hits and a sacrifice fly. BRANDON JAROSIN and IAN MURPHY had 3 hits apiece and accounted for 10 runs between them. JOE CANTER was 2-for-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI. MATT DELMORE and HENRY LUSCHEI also scored 3 runs each for Foothills Christian. Murphy raised his average to .492 on the season. Canter expanded his season records in RBI and doubles.

Foothills put this game away with a 10-run second inning that pushed the score to 16-8.

“I really thought I had seen it all before we went out to West Shores,” McHugh said. “When we went to Warner Springs for our first ever CIF basketball game, I thought, 'Wow, this is really out in the middle of nowhere.' That thought was erased very easily when we later ventured to Vincent Memorial in Calexico for a girls soccer league game. Vincent later joined our baseball league along with Calipatria. Until today, I thought Calipatria was the worst field I had seen. Borrego still had my vote for the worst drive, but West Shores really took the cake on that one as well.”

Monarchs upset No. 2 Granite Hills
to give Cougars share of GSL lead

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (5-08-08) — With less than a week left in the regular season, the Grossmont Conference baseball races are tighter than ever. Upstart Steele Canyon has created a tie in the Grossmont South with Granite Hills – the No. 2-ranked team in the San Diego CIF at 9-3 with three games remaining in the regular season. Eighth-ranked Valhalla is only one game behind the co-leaders. It is equally as cozy in the Grossmont North where No. 3-ranked Grossmont is clinging to a one-half game edge over No. 6 El Capitan.

MONTE VISTA 5, GRANITE HILLS 3 – First-year coach BRANDON ROGERS and his Monarchs are starting to enjoy playing the spoiler’s role. After staggering through 13 losses in 15 games in the middle of the season, Monte Vista seems to have found its footing.

The visiting Monarchs scored a major knockout on Thursday (May 8) when they upended front-running Granite Hills as the Eagles were hoping to close in on their 4th straight GSL championship.

Center stage for the Monarchs was ADAM TIMANUS. The versatile junior supplied the key stroke in a 4-run 3rd inning that gave the Spring Valley bunch a 4-1 lead it would not lose.

“We went into the game knowing that we had nothing to lose and all the pressure was on them,” said Timanus. “We have a positive attitude and want to be a factor the rest of the season.”

Freshman left-hander NICK SABO baffled the Eagles (20-6, 9-3 GSL) for 6 1/3 innings as he collected his first varsity victory. Sabo scattered seven hits while stymieing the usually heavy hitting Eagles before departing in the 7th inning.

Enter Timanus, who started the game at shortstop. Dubbed the “Monte Vista closer,” Timanus has not had many chances to perform that role, but was definitely under fire in the final frame at Granite Hills.

After Sabo surrendered a walk to DANIEL VINTON and a pinch hit single to TYLER JOWORSKI, it appeared that a Granite Hills comeback was in the making.

Rogers and pitching coach RYAN JAMISON debated allowing Sabo to begin the 7th inning. With the tying run now on base, they were definitely second-guessing themselves.

“With BRIAN HUMPHRIES coming up we liked the lefty-lefty match-up,” Rogers said. “Besides, Sabo had held Humphries (0-for-4) in check all day.”

Humphries popped up for the first out. After that Rogers called on Timanus to finish the job. JARED RAPOZA blooped a single into left-center to load the bases.

“I threw a pitch at his (Rapoza’s) knees and he still hit it well,” Timanus said. “The ball hung in the air long enough to make their runners have to be conservative. I sort of looked at that as a reprieve.”

DYLAN GARCIA, who tripled and scored in the 6th inning, stepped in with the bags full. Timanus was up to the challenge.

“I was able to jam him with a fastball on the inner half,” Timanus said. “He hit a flare to our shortstop (TRISTON BRAYMAN).”

Not only did Brayman make the catch, he also tagged second base to complete a game-ending double play.

It was Timanus’ third save in as many chances. But his value to the Monarchs was more than just pitching.

After MICHAEL HODGES reached base on one of Granite Hills’ three errors, Timanus followed with a drive over the left-field foul pole, giving Monte Vista a 2-1 lead in the 3rd inning.

“It was a fastball, middle-in – just like I like ‘em,” Timanus said of his second home run of the season that helped lead to TRAVIS HOPPER’s first loss in eight decisions.

Once again the Eagles lent a helping hand to keep the productive 3rd frame alive for the Monarchs. Brayman reached base on an error and eventually scored on a double by SPENCER REED. A groundout by ERIC LaBOUBE cashed in Reed to make it 4-1.

Reed and Timanus were both 2-for-4 against the Eagles ace. In his last 11 games Reed is batting at a .542 clip (19-of-35).

“Reed had a slow start,” said Rogers. “Based on what we saw in winter league, we expected him to be our big hitter. And now he’s finally hitting the way we knew he could.”

Not to be overlooked was the work of the youthful Sabo.

“He pitched like a veteran,” Rogers said. “He topped out at 83 (mph) and had a lot of movement on his ball. The main thing is he stayed away from the big inning and he’s only going to get better.”

Indeed the Eagles offensive showing was a bit subpar.

Sophomore JARED HUNT was 2-for-2 with a double and slashed a solo home run.

HELIX 3, MOUNT MIGUEL 2 – The long laundry list of bad beats and ugly losses took a hiatus from the Helix Highlanders, which finally pieced together a triumph Thursday (May 8), even if it was among the ugly variety.

Collecting just a pair of singles all afternoon, the Scotties still managed to post three runs on the scoreboard to counter a solid pitching effort by Mount Miguel's JAMES TREBUS, avenging an earlier shutout loss by nipping the Matadors in Grossmont South League action.

The difference came on defense. Helix turned three double plays to hand starting pitcher MIKE ANDRADE a victory, while Mount Miguel committed four errors, including two on the play which pushed across the game-deciding run in the 5th inning.

"I was just trying to get the ball on the ground and go the other way," said Helix shortstop BENNY GUERRERO. "It took a bad hop on the first baseman, then the second baseman threw it away when I tried to beat it out."

Guerrero was safe on the fielding error. And when the throw skipped toward the Helix dugout, THOMAS BRYAN, who walked and stole second base, walked home with the go-ahead run to complete a comeback from a 2-0 deficit.

"Trebus throws hard, hits his spots and keep it on the outer half," added Guerrero. "We tried to adjust to it -- it's all we could do."

While the Matadors failed to convert plays on defense, Helix overcame its mistakes by getting out of several threats by Mount Miguel.

"Yesterday (Wednesday), we were working out and taking fungoes all day, just turning double plays all day," Guerrero noted. "It paid off."

Andrade was tagged for a pair of 1st-inning runs when RICKY SOLORZANO drove home LUCAS GOLDEN and RUDDY ACOSTA with a clutch, two-out single to right field with the bases loaded. But the junior right-hander then tossed 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball, striking out four Matadors batters.

"I went out there with the mentality to compete -- and I had a great defense behind me," noted Andrade. "Trebus is a great pitcher, but baseball is a game of little things. The three double plays were clutch, doing a good job of staying down on the ball and doing what they had to do."

"It feels way better to get a win."

Helix got even on a pair of walks, a double-steal which might have been a failed hit-and-run attempt -- the Scotties were not saying -- followed by a pair of run-scoring ground balls by CHASE GLENN and Andrade.

"It's just one of those things," said Matadors coach BYRON GRIGSBY. "We just need to re-focus and take care of things which are costing us ballgames."

Despite the setback, the Matadors might actually possess the tools needed to make a run in the SDCIF Division III playoffs.

"Trebus did everything we wanted him to do -- he threw strikes and kept us in the game. And with Ruddy Acosta also pitching well -- he shutout Helix the last time we played them -- those two are tough. It's a deadly 1-2 punch, especially since the teams we’ll see haven't seen them pitch."

EL CAPITAN 13, WEST HILLS 2 – TANNER RUST went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI to key a 10-run 4th inning as the visiting Vaqueros steamrollered the Wolf Pack in Thursday’s (May 8) Grossmont North League action in Santee.

“We’re peaking at the right time,” Rust said of the Vaqueros, who have won eight of their last nine. “This is the time of the season where you have to kick it in gear and we hope to keep it going through the playoffs.”

Steady senior designated hitter CANNON NIKZAD drove in three runs with a pair of singles for the Vaqueros.

“Nikzad has done such a great job at coming up with hits with runners on base, it almost spoils us when he doesn’t deliver,” said Vaqueros coach STEVE VICKERY. “It’s not fair to him but we’ve gotten to where we just assume that he’s going to get the big hit. But one thing is certain about him, he always gives a quality at-bat.”

Nikzad is batting .385 (10-for-26) with runners in scoring position.

“I always stay after practice and try to get in as many swings as possible,” said Nikzad. “I have to credit (assistant) coaches RALPH NASIF and MARK NOBLE for helping me a lot.”

“People think that I’m a dead pull hitter,” Nikzad added. “But I know that I can take the ball to all fields. I’ve really worked on that all year.”

Nikzad snapped a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the 3rd inning at West Hills. He plated two additional runs with a base hit in El Capitan ’s big 4th inning.

“Both of my hits today were to the opposite field,” Nikzad noted.

Vaqueros senior MARCO MARISCAL needed only 68 pitches to spin a complete game 7-hitter for his 5th win in seven decisions.

“Marco really elevated his game today,” Vickery said. “That’s the second straight start where he had a rocky beginning but a smooth finish.”

Rust, the Vaqueros junior catcher, concurred.

“Marco left some balls up in the first couple of innings,” Rust said. “But then he brought his pitches down. When he stays at knee level he’s unhittable. He really does have good stuff and gives us another threat on the hill.”

West Hills (11-15, 4-6 GNL) took the early lead when ERIC McKNIGHT doubled and DAVID BRISTOL hammered a 1-2 hanging curve ball over the right-field fence in the 2nd inning.

Even after a pair of Wolf Pack errors gave the Vaqueros three unearned runs in the top of the 3rd, West Hills scrambled back in the bottom of the inning. It was the pivotal inning of the game for West Hills, which had one runner picked off and another thrown out at the plate.

It had to be frustrating for the Pack when WILL CRUMPLER singled but was then picked off by Mariscal. CHRIS ALLEN then reached base on a bunt single. TONY SPEARS followed with a double and Allen tried to score from first on the drive to centerfield.

Once again the Vaqueros were up to the challenge. Freshman centerfielder TYRONE WIGGINS made a strong relay to shortstop KEVIN MORTON, who wheeled and fired a strike to Rust at the plate. Allen was a dead duck.

“We had him by a good two feet,” said Rust. “He didn’t have a chance. I had the ball in my glove, waiting to put the tag down.”

After that West Hills had only one more hit in the game.

“No doubt, that play took the wind out of their sails,” Vickery said. “This was definitely our day.”

The victory gave El Capitan a 2-1 series edge over the Wolf Pack. The playoff-hopeful Pack has suddenly lost three in a row.

“There’s a reason why Grossmont and El Capitan are ranked in the Top 6,” said West Hills coach CHRIS BAUM. “We hit the ball really well – just made some base-running errors. Good teams will capitalize on those errors.”

Baum did find some positives in the lop-sided loss.

“Even though the kids were down they were still battling,” he said. “MATT BERENDT made a really nice, just a great diving catch in right field. And (KYLE) HOOPER and ( TYLER ) ZICKEL turned a nice double play in the 6th inning.”

GROSSMONT 5, SANTANA 1 – The Foothillers (22-6, 8-2 GNL) continued their quest for a third straight Grossmont North League pennant Thursday (May 8) in Santee.

Southpaw LEVI STEVENS turned in one of his top pitching performances of the season, stopping the Sultans with a 4-hitter while striking out 10. It was Stevens’ third complete game in 11 starts.

“That is as good as he’s pitched all season,” said Grossmont coach ROB PHILLIPS. “The key thing is he was able to get his off-speed pitches over for strikes. When he’s able to do that, it makes his fastball more effective.”

Santana coach JERRY HENSON agreed that Stevens was supreme.

“He did a real nice job, kept us off balance,” said Henson. “When he really needed it, he got it over.”

Stevens made only one pitch he’d probably like to have back, and that came in the 1st inning after he’d begun the game with back-to-back strikeouts when RYAN STUTZ lined his third home run of the season to straightaway centerfield.

After that Stevens silenced the Sultans (18-10, 4-6 GNL) the rest of the way for his 6th win against three losses.

Grossmont rang up five runs on four hits against BRANDYN BELL in the first three innings. KYLE SECCIANI doubled and CHARLIE PIRO and BRYAN HAAR walked to load the bases with two outs. Bell then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Secciani to score. CASH “Money” McCLELLAN then singled to right to score Piro.

A dropped fly ball with two outs in the 2nd inning set up Secciani’s RBI single to make it 3-1.

An inning later Haar drew a one-out walk and rode home on ROBERT REYES’ second home run of the season to finish the scoring.

Bell, along with relief help from MIKE MANRING and KYLE HAYES, blanked the Foothillers on two hits over the final four frames.

Late Piro homer lifts Hillers' Griffin to 8-1

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (5-7-08) -- The Grossmont Foothillers moved a step closer to a third consecutive Grossmont North League crown by eliminating another opponent from the contenders list.

Fueled by a 2-run, tie-breaking home run by CHARLIE PIRO, the Hillers rode the arm of pitcher AARON GRIFFIN to put away visiting West Hills, 3-1, at Joe Gizoni Field,

Tuesday's (May 6) contest was a complete contrast to the SDCIF playoffs game played between the teams here in 2006, when Grossmont out-slugged the Wolf Pack en route to an 18-13 first-round decision.

This go-round, pitching was the key as West Hills starter GABRIEL ZEHNER matched Griffin in yielding just a single run through five innings, but got beat on a pitch which was nowhere near the strike zone.

"It was probably somewhere near my chin," admitted Piro, who hit his 8th homer of the season to move within two of the East County lead. "He kind of left a fastball up – a two-seamer – up near my face."

Grossmont centerfielder KYLE SECCIANI opened the inning with a drive down the left-field line, getting a double despite a diving effort by Wolf Pack outfielder CHRIS ALLEN. Zehner then gained a 1-2 count on Piro.

"At that point (with two strikes), I'm just trying to battle and drive a man in from second base," noted Piro, who lofted the ball over the barrier just to the left of the batter's eye in centerfield, driving in all three Grossmont runs on the afternoon.

Griffin then set West Hills down in order in the 7th, closing out the victory with the final of his four strikeouts without a walk, running his season ledger to 8-1.

"The best thing about it, we eliminated them from contention to win the Grossmont North," added Piro, who will attend Chapman University in the fall. "So it's now just us and El Capitan , who we play next week, but we have to worry about Santana first."

The only mistake by Griffin came in the 4th, when Wolf Pack slugger ERIC McKNIGHT belted his fifth homer of the season.

"McKnight's killed us for three years, especially in our ballpark," said Grossmont coach ROB PHILLIPS of McKnight, who homered at Grossmont last season, too. "Beating anyone in our league, including El Cajon (Valley), is not an easy thing to do, but Griffin did a great job and kept his pitch count down."

The Foothillers opened the scoring when West Hills barely missed turning a double play.

Third baseman CONOR MEREDITH opened the 3rd with a double, moved to third on a ground ball to the right side by JOSH SIMMS, then Secciani walked. Piro followed with a grounder to third base, but Piro hustled down the line to avoid the round-the-horn double play.

Otherwise, only one other West Hills baserunner reached second base as Griffin overcame nagging pain in his foot.

"My foot was bugging me today, so I really couldn't push off," explained Griffin. "So I just tried to hit my spots and let them get themselves out."

"And with our lineup, anyone can come up big and hit a home run for us -- our entire lineup can hit the ball hard."

Secciani reached base on all three of his plate appearances with his double and a pair of walks. Otherwise, no player on either ballclub collected more than one hit.

STEELE CANYON 7, HELIX 6 (8 inn.) – Don’t count the Steele Canyon Cougars out of the Grossmont South League pennant chase.

In just its sixth varsity season, Steele Canyon (14-9, 8-3 GSL) has a legitimate shot at snagging a league title this season. The Cougars have four games remaining in the regular season, including home games against their major competitors for the loop laurels – Valhalla (Thursday, May 8) and Granite Hills (Tuesday, May 13).

“We have all we can ask for – holding our destiny in our own hands,” said Cougars’ first-year head coach TODD SNYDER. “We have one last shot at those we need to beat to win this thing.”

Not that Snyder is discounting the Cougars’ clashes against second division rivals Monte Vista and Mount Miguel , which are also part of the final regular season run.

“We all know what we need to do,” said Steele Canyon left-fielder JORDAN HINDI, who was 3-for-5 with two RBI in the Cougars’ victory over Helix on Tuesday (May 6) in Rancho San Diego. “ Steele Canyon is not used to being in the running at this time of the year. We have a past of not doing that well, but this year we’re going to change that up. We need to run the table.”

In a game where the visiting Highlanders (7-16, 2-9 GSL) could have spoiled Steele Canyon ’s stretch run, DANNY MacINTYRE came up with a key blow – a game-winning single in the bottom of the 8th.

The Highlanders opened the door for the Cougars by allowing NOLAN MURRAY to reach base on an error in the bottom of the 8th. Murray then stole second. One out later Helix elected to walk ANDREW BELLATTI. That set the stage for MacIntyre’s game-winning hit.

Not unlike any other hitter, MacIntyre could look at the Highlanders’ decision to walk the hitter ahead of him in two ways. He could consider it an insult, or look at it as respect.

“That’s the game of baseball,” MacIntye said modestly. “Andrew has a good stick and they really don’t know that much about me.”

Now they do.

MacIntyre whacked a line drive into left-center field, allowing Murray to score easily.

“The pitch I hit was a fastball over the inside half of the plate,” MacIntyre said. “I just worked on staying through and trying to come around on it.”

It was MacIntyre’s second run-scoring hit of the day.

“I think we have more heart than we had last year,” he said. “And we’ve got a lot of kids who want to win it (GSL). I think our coach has done a great job of motivating us and keeping us in it.”

ANTHONY NAVARRSKI pitched two flawless innings of relief to earn his third win of the season.

For Helix, which has lost eight of its last nine, it had to be a moral victory. The Highlanders had the Cougars caged a good part of the day.

CHASE GLENN was 3-for-4 with an RBI and fell just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle.

ANTHONY DIAZ was 2-for-3 with three RBI, including a 2-run homer in the 5th.

But the Highlanders could not overcome four errors and eight walks.

“I think the game came down to they made all the plays and we didn’t,” said Helix coach COLE HOLLAND. “We made four errors and they didn’t have any. We have two guys – Diaz and Glenn – who are swinging the bats well. We need to get more than these two guys going.”

GRANITE HILLS 4, MOUNT MIGUEL 2 – Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS was duly impressed by Mount Miguel sophomore pitcher RUDDY ACOSTA in Tuesday’s (May 6) Grossmont South League contest in El Cajon.

“He’s legit – I’m glad we don’t have to face him again,” Davis said of the 6-foot-6, 160-pound Matadors right-hander.

Despite Acosta’s stellar pitching, the No. 2 ranked Eagles escaped with their seventh win in nine starts.

“We battled against a really good pitcher – one who has a bright future ahead of him,” Davis said. “He probably throws in the high 80s to 90s and has a hammer breaking ball. He’s easily one of the top pitching prospects in the county.”

Acosta (4-5), 3.43 ERA surrendered three earned runs and nine hits to Granite Hills while striking out nine and walking none.

“It wasn’t like we were knocking him around the ballpark,” Davis said. “We were fortunate in that we were able to group our hits at least in one inning to win the game.”

The Eagles (20-5, 9-2 GSL), who are clinging to a one-game lead over Valhalla and Steele Canyon, erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring all four runs in the 5th inning.

Ironically, it was Eagles pitcher DEAN MILLER who ignited the rally. Although the junior right-hander’s primary function was to shut down Mount Miguel, he slashed a one-out double to set the Granite Hills offense in motion.

BRIAN HUMPHRIES followed with a single to put runners at the corners. JARED RAPOZA and DYLAN GARCIA followed with back-to-back singles, giving Granite Hills a 2-1 lead. JOSH QUERIONES contributed a single to plate a third run.

The Eagles then attempted a double steal and the Matadors threw the ball away to make it 4-1.

Miller (7-2) was overpowering on the mound for the Eagles, limiting the Matadors to three hits and one earned run while striking out nine in a complete game effort.

Seeking their fourth consecutive GSL pennant, the Eagles need wins over Monte Vista, Helix, Steele Canyon and Valhalla. So the race is hardly over.

SANTANA 3, EL CAJON VALLEY 1 – Fresh off snapping its state-record losing streak of 129 games on Saturday (May 3), host El Cajon Valley came close to making it two straight Grossmont North League victories in Tuesday’s (May 6) joust against visiting Santana.

Although Braves pitcher ADRIAN PADILLA scattered eight hits in a complete game effort, the El Cajon Valley hitters could not solve the dealings of Santana’s JAMES NEEDY.

“It was a close ballgame,” said Santana coach JERRY HENSON. “ El Cajon Valley is a very respectable ballclub. All of us who have played them have learned that they can play ball. They are not just pushovers.”

Needy was a double-edged thorn in the Braves’ side. After CHRIS RABICHAUD and BRANDYN BELL began the game with back-to-back singles, Needy laced a double to give Santana a 1-0 lead.

The Sultans (18-9, 4-5 GNL) doubled their advantage in the 3rd inning without benefit of a hit. A key throwing error by the Braves set up Bell ’s sacrifice fly.

In the 4th inning Needy led off with a single, advanced to second on KYLE HAYES’ groundout and rode home on KYLE ROMERO’s single to left.

Padilla silenced the Sultans the rest of the way.

“Adrian Padilla pitched an awesome game,” said El Cajon Valley coach MIKE RUPP of his hardluck senior right-hander, who lost for the ninth time in 10 decisions.

El Cajon Valley (9-17, 1-8 GNL) finally broke through against Needy in the 7th inning.

With one out, GAVINO PINAL and JOSE VARGAS hit back-to-back singles. Determined to secure a shutout, Needy blew a third strike past CAMERON LAUDERMILK for the second out. He could not follow suit against ADRIAN TORRES, who lined a single down the left field line to break the spell.

Needy was able to get the final out for his first complete game.

“Needy threw an outstanding ballgame,” said Henson of the junior right-hander who scattered six hits, walked one and struck out seven.

VALHALLA 9, MONTE VISTA 3 – Senior RYAN O’SULLIVAN, who is regarded as a blue-chip pitching prospect in next month’s professional baseball draft, used his bat to help direct the visiting Norsemen past the Monarchs in Tuesday’s (May 6) Grossmont South League action in Spring Valley.

O’Sullivan was 3-for-4, including his East County-leading 10th home run as he drove in three runs to help keep No. 8 ranked Valhalla (18-8, 8-3) tied for second place with Steele Canyon in the GSL. His latest batting spree hoisted his season average to .389 (28-for-72).

Four Valhalla pitcher shared the pitching chores with freshman starter FRANCISCO TELLEZ toiling four innings to log his 5th win in seven decisions.

TREVOR CAHOON, BEN GROSS and JAKE BOEKAMP pitched an inning apiece to finish the job.

"We received great pitching from Tellez, Cahoon, Gross and Boekamp today,” said Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. “They all came in throwing strikes and went right after the hitters."

Valhalla, which travels to Steele Canyon on Thursday (May 8) for a key GSL battle, had to overcome a 2-1 deficit to pull out its fifth win in six starts.

The game was still up for grabs until the Norsemen scored four runs in the 7th inning to lock up the win over Monte Vista (7-17, 2-9 GSL).

VISTA-CALVARY CHRISTIAN 7, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 2 – During a hectic final week for the Knights of Foothills Christian, coach JAMES McHUGH had to feel for Tuesday’s (May 6) pitcher BRANDON JAROSIN, who deserved a better fate in this non-league battle at Barona Stars Field.

Jarosin allowed only six hits and one earned run in a complete game effort, yet was stung with a resounding loss by the visiting Eagles.

“We really wasted a great outing by Brandon Jarosin today,” said McHugh. “ Brandon probably had the second best performance that a pitcher has had on our team this season.”

After a scoreless 1st inning Calvary Christian (14-6) capitalized on three Foothills Christian errors to score four unearned runs. By the time the Knights (9-11) found the scoreboard it was 7-0 in the 6th inning.

In the 6th Foothills loaded the bases with nobody out. Two outs later IAN MURPHY doubled down the right field line to drive in two runs. Murphy was robbed of a third RBI when his ball rolled into the batting cage in the right-field corner and was ruled a ground rule double.

“We’re still looking to win 15 and that goal is still in reach,” McHugh said.

© East County Sports.com
CALEXICO (5-06-08) — The Foothills Christian Knights will play approximately one-fourth of their season schedule this week. One thing is certain – six games over six days will tax the already thin Foothills pitching staff.

The Knights (9-10) got off to a solid start as they defeated host Vincent Memorial, 10-8, in a non-league game Monday (May 5) in the Imperial Valley.

Foothills Christian coach JAMES McHUGH labeled Monday’s outing "The Cinco de Mayo Experiment."

“Because of our amount of games, pitching is obviously our biggest obstacle this week,” said McHugh, who utilized six pitchers to hold off Vincent Memorial. To make matters worse, the Knights are operating without one of their top pitchers because of grade issues.

“Basically I need innings out of guys that don't pitch, rather guys that have never pitched,” McHugh said. “Vincent Memorial and West Shores are two of the weaker teams we will face this week so I decided that we need to get through those two games without using a starting pitcher.”

RYAN SMITH got the start at Vincent Memorial and worked one inning. Catcher IAN MURPHY picked up the slack by gunning down two would-be base stealers in the inning.

Yet, two innings into the game the Scots had the Knights pinned down 4-0.

Murphy remained a stalwart behind the dish, as he cut down a third Scot attempting to steal in the 2nd frame.

Foothills pounded out 19 hits – trying the school record – to pull this one out.

HENRY LUSCHEI led the attack with four hits and one RBI. ZACH CUMMINGS, BRANDON JAROSIN, MATT DELMORE and JOE CANTER added three hits apiece. Jarosin, Delmore and Smith drove in 2 runs apiece.

In the 7th, Luschei came on and got the save, allowing just an infield single which 3rd baseman Smith made an amazing play on but was just late on the throw.

SHINING KNIGHTS: Luschei reached 22 RBI for the season which ties him with MITCHELL WYGANT (San Diego Christian College) for the Foothills record. . . Canter's 9th double of the season is Foothills all-time best.

© East County Sports.com
TIERRASANTA (5-03-08) — Christian High coach MIKE MITCHELL was a lonely man as he stood in the third base coaching box during the Patriots 5-0 loss to host Serra in Friday’s (May 2) Eastern League encounter.

Only four Christian runners reached base against Serra’s Garrett Geisbush, who limited the Patriots (17-8, 5-5 EL) to two hits. The other Pats reaching base did so thanks to Conquistadors errors as the Serra southpaw struck out nine.

“Their pitcher must have thrown 90 percent curveballs,” Mitchell said of the 6-2 Geisbush. “We hit only three balls out of the infield.”

At one stretch, Geisbush retired 12 batters in a row. According to Mitchell, the Serra hurler worked 11 no-ball, 2-strike outs and five 1-2 counts.

“The guy was sharp with his control – had only five 3-ball counts and no walks,” Mitchell noted.

Serra (19-7, 5-5 EL) scored the only run it would need in the 1st inning as Helix transfer AREN DODD-WADDINGTON tripled into the left field gap and eventually scored on an error.

The Qs broke the game open with four runs in the 4th inning. Christian played a major role in supplying four walks and three errors, while the Qs chipped in just two hits.

BRAD ROBERTSON allowed only three hits and five runs (2 earned) as he was tagged with his first loss in seven decisions. MICHAEL POTEET held Serra hitless over the final 2 2/3 innings.

Christian’s best scoring chance came in the opening frame. EDDIE YOUNG led off with a double and stole third base. A screwy umpire ruling threw a wrench into the budding rally, which ended with the Patriots leaving two runners in scoring position.

El Capitan, Granite Hills,
gain one-game league leads

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (5-02-08) — The Grossmont Conference baseball pennant races are as close as predicted. Only one game separates the front-runners in both the Grossmont South and Grossmont North leagues with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

In the Grossmont North, No. 7-ranked El Capitan (19-6, 6-1 GNL) will be challenged to protect a one-game edge over No. 4 Grossmont (19-6, 5-2 GNL) when the two clubs collide Saturday (May 3) at the Foothillers’ Joe Gizoni Field at 11 a.m.

The Grossmont South circuit has the weekend off. So when activity resumes on Tuesday (May 6), No. 2-ranked Granite Hills (19-5, 8-2 GSL) hosts dangerous Mount Miguel while Valhalla and Steele Canyon – tied for second and one game back of the Eagles – attempt to avoid upsets to the second-division clubs.

EL CAPITAN 10, GROSSMONT 7 – Grossmont High coach ROB PHILLIPS was fuming after his Foothillers hammered five home runs and out-hit host El Capitan 13-11 yet still managed to come up short in Thursday’s (May 1) Grossmont North League faceoff in Lakeside.

“They didn’t beat us. We beat ourselves,” said Phillips. “This just means we put ourselves in a must-win situation on Saturday. As poorly as we played in this game I still like our chances in the rematch.”

Somehow El Capitan dodged the Foothillers’ home run parade to come out on top. The Vaqueros comeback began in the bottom of the 3rd after Grossmont’s JOSH SIMMS put the Hillers in front with a 2-run homer in the top of the inning.

KORBIN KRUGER’s single to left tied the game. MARCO MARISCAL’s sinking line drive to right field fell to plate two more runs for the Vaqueros before freshman TYRONE WIGGINS exploited a crack in the Grossmont defense with a 2-run single to left.

But Grossmont continued to break out the heavy metal in the 4th, as BRYAN HAAR slugged a 3-2 fastball over the right-center field fence and across Ashwood Street to cut El Capitan ’s lead in half.

The Hillers used more conventional means to shave the deficit to two in the 5th inning but could have easily gone ahead with more alert base running.

The way El Capitan STEVE VICKERY saw it, the Hillers had a full house with 3 singles and 2 walks, yet drew only one run. He credited the Vaqueros defenders for nailing two Foothillers on the basepaths to fold the budding rally.

At that point El Cap went back to work on offense. Buoyed by that turn of events, the Vaqueros pushed across four runs in the bottom of the 5th. It might not have been such a big inning had not Grossmont contributed a couple of costly errors.

“We were terrible on defense,” said Phillips. “The way we played defense it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to hit enough to make up for it against a quality team, and we proved that.”

Grossmont’s home run derby continued in the 6th as CASH McCLELLAN smashed a solo homer and Simms followed with his second circuit clout of the day.

DEREK BAUM added a solo homer in the 7th but by then the Foothillers were dead in the water.

TYRONE WIGGINS, El Capitan’s freshman centerfielder who bats 9th, drove in four runs with a single and a double for the Vaqueros, who posted their 7th straight win and 10th in 11 starts.

“It was a great win for us,” said Vickery. “We gave up too many home runs (5), but we had several clutch hits. We kept up the offensive pressure for six innings and that’s something we haven’t done against Grossmont in the last couple of years. It puts us in a pretty good position and we’re looking forward to the second round at their place.”

The top third of the Grossmont order – Simms, KYLE SECCIANI and CHARLIE PIRO – were a composite 8-for-12 with three runs and three RBI.

“I’m ecstatic by the way we came back against a good pitcher (KYLE MORTON),” said Phillips. “I hope that serves as a springboard for Saturday’s game.”

GRANITE HILLS 7, VALHALLA 1 – Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS was pleased that the visiting Eagles were able to rough up Valhalla ace RYAN O’SULLIVAN in the manner that they did during Thursday’s (May 1) Grossmont South League matchup.

“That was a pretty good pitcher we battled against out there today,” Davis said of the senior right-hander. “The scouts had him 92-93 mph on the guns, I’m told. And I’m not surprised because from where I was sitting it was obvious he was throwing hard and had good stuff.”

So how did O’Sullivan and the Norsemen lose?

“He got a few pitches up,” Davis said of O’Sullivan. “And, as a credit to our hitters, we were a bit more active today than we’ve been. We had some ‘seeing eye’ hits, but I have to admit that O’Sullivan was tougher than lucky.”

Granite Hills had O’Sullivan and the No. 12 ranked Norsemen on the rocks when they scored four runs in the opening frame. BRIAN HUMPHRIES provided the spark for Granite Hills (19-5, 8-2 GSL) with a line single to left.

O’Sullivan then hit JARED RAPOZA, and DYLAN GARCIA followed with a base hit up the middle to make it 1-0.

That should have been the extent of the damage against O’Sullivan but the Norsemen were porous on defense, and it proved costly.

O’Sullivan struck out the Eagles JOSH QUERIONES but the ball got by the catcher, allowing Garcia to score and Queriones to reach base. JARED HUNT kept the pressure on with a base hit to right, scoring Garcia.

DANIEL VINTON, who has been on the DL for nearly a month, made a sterling comeback as he drilled an RBI single, giving the Eagles a 4-0 lead.

Valhalla ’s defense continued to crumble behind O’Sullivan in the second inning. Rapoza slashed a two-out single then stole second and third and eventually scored on a throwing error by the catcher.

Ironically, O’Sullivan, who surrendered all seven Granite Hills runs – four of them unearned – was impressive as he walked none and struck out eight.

“I know that the statistics don’t say that, but O’Sullivan pitched pretty well,” Davis said. “But we have to give credit to our kids because they were aggressive. And the big thing is, we only left two guys on base. In the past two or three weeks we were on some sort of record pace for stranding runners on base.”

Not to be overlooked in the pivotal Granite Hills victory was the pitching of TRAVIS HOPPER. The junior right-hander – who is more finesse than fire – scattered nine hits en route to his 6th complete game in eight starts.

“What can I say – it was typical Hopper,” Davis said.

Valhalla head coach MIKE WILSON, who was Hopper’s pitching coach a year ago at Granite Hills, is undoubtedly secretly proud of his former student’s 7-0 record.

Now, looking at it from a Valhalla perspective, Wilson said “We hit the ball well today, but we're not going to win ballgames leaving 10 guys on base and making 5 errors. We played a better game than the score showed today."

STEELE CANYON 8, MOUNT MIGUEL 6 (9 inn.) – This game was as important as it was sloppily played. Neither the visiting Cougars nor host Mount Miguel did a whole lot that could be considered championship play in Thursday’s (May 1) Grossmont South League action in Spring Valley.

Of the 14 runs between the two teams only 6 were earned.

“We were definitely lucky to win this game,” said Steele Canyon coach TODD SNYDER. “I don’t know what it is about our kids, but we didn’t play like we were excited about being there. And that’s been typical of our club.”

“If we go against a Granite Hills or Valhalla , our kids are fired up. But then when we go against a Mount Miguel or Monte Vista, our kids are typically not as excited, and that attitude has hurt us all year. Teams like Mount Miguel we cannot afford to overlook.”

The Cougars (13-9, 7-3 GSL), who are bona fide pennant contenders in the GSL, broke out of the doldrums for two runs in the 9th inning to pull out a key victory.

ANDREW BELLATTI drew a leadoff walk. One out later the Cougars put together consecutive singles by ANTHONY NAVARRSKI, DONNIE FRANK and JESSE JENNER to break a 6-6 tie.

Andrew Bellatti, who surrendered three runs in the 8th inning – two of which were unearned – struck out two of the four batters he faced in the bottom of the 9th to secure his 4th win in seven decisions.

Steele Canyon starter DANNY MacINTYRE pitched six overpowering innings for the Cougars, allowing just one hit and one unearned run. He walked four and struck out five.

But when Snyder made a pitching change, the bullpen and defense collapsed simultaneously.

“We’re fortunate to still be in the position to win the South,” said Snyder.

JAMES TREBUS struck out 11 batters but was hammered for six runs and six hits in eight innings.

“We have to play better defense if we want to go where we want to be,” said Mount Miguel coach BYRON GRIGSBY. “We had some costly errors.”

WEST HILLS 3, EL CAJON VALLEY 0 — Although the Wolf Pack can still envision at least a share of the Grossmont North flag in its future, West Hills realizes it is two games back of first place El Capitan with five games remaining in the regular season.

Some might call Thursday’s (May 1) GNL bout at El Cajon Valley as a sign the Pack might be looking ahead too soon.

What West Hills (11-12, 4-3 GNL) did against the Braves (8-16, 0-7) could hardly be labeled as dominating. But that is of no concern to Pack skipper CHRIS BAUM. It’s about winning and remaining in contention.

ROBBY ROBLES, a non-flashy yet steady junior right-hander, blanked the Braves on five singles over six innings to collect his 7th win in 10 decisions. DAVID BRISTOL spun a hitless 7th to finish the job.

West Hills scored the only run it would need in the 1st inning. CHRIS ALLEN walked, notching the first of his four stolen bases, and coasted home on TONY SPEARS’ single.

Once again it was Allen who sparked the Pack in the 3rd inning as he singled, swiped second and darted to the dish on ERIC McKNIGHT’s double.

The Pack pecked away for another run in the 5th as WILL CRUMPLER and Allen singled to put runners on the corners. Crumpler scored the final run of the game on Spears’ fly ball.

Sure it’s a cliché, but if it wasn’t for bad luck El Cajon Valley pitcher ADRIAN PADILLA would have none. The courageous senior right-hander suffered his 8th loss in nine decisions while striking out six in six innings.

“We hit the ball really hard, just right at people,” said Wolf Pack coach CHRIS BAUM. “Adrian Padilla did a nice job keeping us off balance.”

“As a baseball fan it’s really nice to see what (Braves coach) MIKE (RUPP) has done with that team. They’re competitive, they won’t go down quietly.”

Nobody in the Braves lineup collected more than one hit.

“We battled the whole game, we just didn’t hit today,” said Rupp. “Their pitcher(s) did a real good job keeping us off balance. (Wolf Pack pitching coach) JASON BENDORF does a good job with their pitchers.”

MONTE VISTA 5, HELIX 4 — Monte Vista’s SPENCER REED has been a stealth challenger for the Grossmont South League batting crown most of this season.

In fact, the Monarchs’ senior center fielder has batted .536 (15 for 28) over the past nine games, hitting safely in eight of them.

Batting at a .423 (30-for-71) clip overall, Reed saved his biggest blow of the season for Thursday’s (May 1) come-from-behind victory over the Highlanders in La Mesa.

After ADAM TIMANUS and ERIC GENTRY singled, Reed cleared the bases with his first home run of the season to erase a 4-2 deficit in the 6th inning.

That was all the offensive support ERIC LaBOUBE would need as he shut down the Highlanders (7-15, 2-8 GSL) on five hits and one earned run in spinning his second straight complete game.

A 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior, LaBoube improved his pitching mark to 4-5, which isn’t bad considering Monte Vista’s overall mark is 7-16. The Monarchs share the GSL basement with Helix.

Gentry also contributed three hits to Monte Vista’s 12-hit attack. He and TRISTON BRAYMAN helped the Monarchs chip away at a 4-0 Helix advantage with RBI singles in 4th inning.

Helix took the early lead on a double by CHASE GLENN and a single by VINCE CRISE in the 2nd inning.

A pair of Monte Vista errors opened the door for 3 unearned runs and a 4-0 lead for the Highlanders in the 3rd inning. MIKE ANDRADE ‘s two-run singles was the key blow.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 11, MIDWAY BAPTIST 4 – The Knights took a 6-0 lead after three innings on Thursday (May 1) and continued on for a somewhat monumental victory as they snapped an 18-game Citrus West League losing streak at Midway Baptist.

Make that an on-the-field losing streak as the Knights technically had a forfeit win over Guajome Park to end last season. Foothills’ last win on the diamond came two seasons ago when the Knights jolted Julian 17-3 on May 16, 2006.

HENRY LUSCHEI anchored an 18-hit attack for Foothills Christian at Midway Baptist as he went 3-for-5 with a double and 4 RBI.

TRAVIS GEORGE continued to wield a hot bat as he whacked a pair of doubles in a 3-for-4 effort that included three runs scored for the Knights (8-10, 1-7 CWL).

JOE CANTER and BRANDON JAROSIN were each 3-for-5 with two runs scored for Foothills Christian, which posted its third win in the last four starts.

Joining the hit parade were IAN MURPHY and ZACH CUMMINGS, who pitched in with two hits apiece for the Knights.

George and Luschei combined to limit the Patriots (4-8, 1-8 CWL) to seven hits and two earned runs. George, who worked the first 4 1/3 innings to pick up the win, helped Foothills Christian avenge an earlier 5-4 loss to Midway Baptist.

“This was a big win for us today,” said Knights coach JAMES McHUGH. “We set a goal of 15 wins by the end of the season and it’s more than reachable, but this was one we had to have to make that possible.”