No-Hitter

Monte Vista’s Paul O' Connor tossed a no-hitter against Kearny on Saturday. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

El Capitan catcher Chuck Moorman throws down to first base after this Point Loma batter is punched out on strikes. The Vaqueros waltzed to a 14-2 win, as Moorman drove in 5 runs, including a 3-run HR. (Photo by Mark Gabriels) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (5-1-11) — Sophomore PAUL O’CONNOR has made a lot of noise swinging the bat for the Monte Vista Monarchs this season. Where he hasn’t received as much recognition is for his pitching, which reached a pinnacle in the first game of Saturday’s (Apr. 30) doubleheader against visiting Kearny (9-14).

The 6-foot, 170-pound right-hander fired a no-hitter and struck out 11 as the Monarchs mauled the Komets, 11-0.

Monte Vista (17-6) completed the sweep by taking the nightcap 7-2. The Monarchs have won 12 of their last 14 decisions heading into next week’s showdown with El Capitan on May 4th and 6th.

Monarchs coach CHAD WILLIAMS’ plan was to have O’Connor pitch the first five innings.

“Usually I never go 7 innings,” O’Connor noted, “but I was throwing strikes and getting ahead in the count. I felt good.”

He also knew he was throwing a no-hitter.

“I didn’t want to come out, and coach knew it. I was in a zone. I think I had a perfect game until the 4th or 5th inning, then we made an error,” said O’Connor, who needed 81 pitches to complete the gem. “After that I just wanted to get out of the inning.”

The only other Komets to reach base did so on a pair of walks.

“I still knew I had a no-hitter going and I really wanted to get it,” O’Connor said. “And then there were those walks – I hate walking people.”

The second free pass came in the 7th inning.

“I knew I was running out of gas about then, but I didn’t want to give in,” he added. “Then I got a ground ball and the guys turned it into a double play to end the game. I was pretty happy about then.”

Although O’Connor would be considered the No. 3 starter in the Monte Vista starting rotation behind NICK SABO and LUIS LEBRON, it’s hard to argue with his 4-1 record.

“For a guy that doesn’t pitch that much O’Connor has really done well,” said Williams.

Monte Vista took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning of the opener on a double by JUSTIN AQUINIGOC. The key blow in that frame was a 3-run double by JOHN BALAJADIA.

The Monarchs then broke the game open with nine runs in the 5th. They sent 14 batters to the plate, parlaying six hits, two walks, two hit batters, an error and two wild pitches en route to turning the game into a blowout.

Balajadia was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI in the opener. JOEY GONSALVES was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI to lead the supporting cast.

The second game began much like the first in that Monte Vista jumped on top in the opening frame. This time the Monarchs took a 4-0 lead.

O’Connor supplied the spark with a leadoff single and stole second. He scored on a double by John Balajadia. Sabo followed with an RBI single and eventually scored on a balk. Lebron capped the opening rally with a run scoring single.

That would be all the runs the Monarchs would need to execute the sweep.

Lebron pitched three hitless innings and struck out four to begin the game for Monte Vista. He was also 2-for-3 with two RBI.

The pitching decision, however, went to John Balajadia, who allowed only one earned run and two hits in three innings to post his first win.

Kearny did not get a hit until the 6th inning of the second game when Albert Mikell singled in the 6th inning off of Balajadia.

Gino Rudolph followed with a double to produce the Komets’ only two runs.

EL CAPITAN 13, POINT LOMA 2 – The El Capitan scoring parade continued on Saturday (Apr. 30) with a non-league march over Point Loma at Dana Middle School .

The Vaqueros, who have outscored their last three foes by a composite total of 49-3, jumped on the Pointers for 11 runs in the first three innings.

Catcher CHUCK MOORMAN led the assault on the Pointers (12-10) by driving in five runs with a 2-run double and a 3-run homer.

TROY CONYERS, who allowed only two hits and no earned runs over four innings to earn his 5th win in six decisions, clubbed a 2-run homer in the opening frame. It was the 6th circuit clout for Conyers who also doubled later in the contest.

The No. 4 ranked Vaqueros (18-5) included eight extra base hits in their 14-hit total. SHELDON GABRIELS and SPENCER NIELSEN rapped out three hits apiece for El Capitan , which posted its 4th straight win and 10th in 11 games.

ERIC LOZANO sparked a 5-run 3rd inning with a triple to right-center field.

“It’s always nice to score some runs,” said Vaqueros coach STEVE VICKERY. “We had a lot quality at-bats – like 5 to 6 per inning. It wasn’t that long ago when we wouldn’t get that many quality at-bats in a whole game. We’re playing well now and it’s the right time for it.”

Defensively the Vaqueros turned three double plays.

Next week will be a big one for El Capitan, which hosts Mount Miguel on Monday (May 2) and then begins a two-game series against Monte Vista on Wednesday (May 4).

ESCONDIDO CHARTER 12, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 6 – No further details reported for this non-league game.

The Helix Highlanders celebrate a 1-0 triumph over Steele Canyon at Petco Park. (Photo by Tony Bordine)

© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (4-30-11) — The Helix baseball team boasts one of the top records – 17-5 – in the San Diego CIF, yet the Highlanders are no better than a long shot to capture the Grossmont Hills League championship.

With eight games remaining in the regular season, the No. 7 ranked Highlanders trail front-running No. 8 ranked Grossmont by three games despite having beaten the Foothillers in 2 out of 3 meetings.

How frustrating is that?

However, these teams will meet one more time, on May 9th at Grossmont.

In the meantime, senior stalwart JAKE REED stepped to the forefront to help curb the Highlanders’ downward spiral by spinning a complete-game three-hitter in a 1-0 GHL victory over Steele Canyon Friday (Apr. 29) at Petco Park.

“(Steele Canyon) crushed some balls deep into the outfield but our guys (KACY SMITH) and (RASHAD HARLIN) ran them down,” said Reed, who rolled his record to 6-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.34. “Our defense was running under those balls in the big gap and making the plays.”

Reed finished with seven strikeouts and two walks and clearly would have been in jeopardy had the game been played on a high school diamond rather then the home of the San Diego Padres.

“They smoked some balls,” said Reed. “I said thank God we’re playing at Petco.”

“Playing here is so electric,” said Helix center fielder Smith. “Two or three of the balls that were hit my direction would probably have been home runs on a high school field. But I just kept running, hoping I’d be able to get a glove on them, and I was able to do that.”

Helix right fielder Harlin made a brilliant catch to take a potential double away from Steele Canyon ’s JESSE JENNER in the 6th inning.

“Playing in a big ballpark like this gives you an opportunity to actually chase down a fly ball,” said Harlin, who drove in the only run of the game on a ground ball in the 1st inning. “It’s nice to be in the outfield and not have to worry about getting bad hops. I like playing on a big field.”

That’s why Harlin is considered a prime prospect in the June draft.

Helix catcher DIEGO REYNOSO admitted that the Highlanders’ pitching approach was a lot different playing in a major league stadium than a high school field.

“Because this is a bigger field we went after guys mostly with fastballs,” said Reynoso, whose 1st inning single helped Helix score the only run of the game.

Helix pitching coach BRIAN SCHROEDER noted that 70 percent of Reed’s pitches were fastballs, which is higher than normal.

“Reed has done a good job of cleaning up his mechanics,” Schroeder said. “He has control of the strike zone instead of command in the strike zone. Rather than just knowing it’s going to be a strike, now he knows where it’s going inside the strike zone. That’s been all the difference for him.”

Steele Canyon coach TODD SNYDER was pleased that he was able to insert 17 players into the game at the major league site.

“Because this was such a special deal, my game plan was to play as many players as I could,” said Snyder. “But at the same time I have to ask myself if I only played nine guys, does it change the outcome of the game.”

Singing the national anthem prior to Friday's ballgame at Petco Park is the Helix High choir. (Photo by Tony Bordine) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

The Cougars (11-9, 3-4) had their chances but produced only three hits.

“Going against Jake Reed, who will probably be a Top 5 round draft pick, is going to be tough. We all know that,” Snyder said. “But I like to think if we played on our field or at Helix that we would have had three or four home runs.”

Despite the defeat Snyder found positive vibes.

“Today was a big momentum builder for us,” he said. “It was tough to lose 1-0, but I believe by playing 17 players we built the confidence of our team and left with an emotional high. I hope that carries over to the rest of our season.”

“There’s no way you can explain it – I mean there’s nothing you can put in words to tell people what an amazing experience it was to play here,” Reed said of Petco Park.

GRANITE HILLS 7, VALHALLA 1 – How valuable is junior DANIEL STARWALT to the Granite Hills Eagles?

Hmm?

Just check out Friday’s (Apr. 29) Grossmont Hills League contest won by the Eagles (9-11, 3-4 GHL) at Valhalla . It was a noteworthy win in that it knocked the Norsemen (10-10, 5-2 GHL) out of a share of first place in the league standings.

Starwalt, who has missed the past three weeks with a back malady, returned to active duty as the Granite Hills first baseman with a pair of doubles and a single in four at-bats

“Daniel is one of the best players in the county, so when you don’t have him it makes a big difference in the things you can do,” said Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS. “He adds an overall presence to our team.”

Starwalt doubled in his first at-bat and eventually scored on TRENTON BROOKS’ sacrifice fly in the 2nd inning.

With two outs in the 3rd, CHARLIE ST. CLAIR singled and advanced to second when JOSH ROSE and DOUG BRANNVALL were hit by pitches. That set the stage for Stalwart’s two-run single to left field.

Granite Hills broke the game open with four runs in the 6th inning. Once again Stalwart was in the lead with a double.

“I’ve been around this game a long time,” Davis said. “But this is the happiest I’ve seen a kid be in a long while – and Starwalt is not an emotional guy.”

Starwalt probably doesn’t know how happy Davis was to have him back. When the right-handed pitcher Starwalt is ready to resume work on the mound, even more smiles will appear.

In the meantime all aboard the Granite Hills ship were pleased by the complete game effort of Brannvall, who scattered six hits, allowed one run and struck out seven for his 2nd win in five decisions.

Grossmont's Joe Musgrove (left) safely slides into third base after the baseball bounces past West Hills defender Brian Commerford. (Photo by Tim Soto) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

Jared Oulette of Grossmont turns the corner to score against West Hlls in a 10-2 verdict. (Photo by Tim Soto) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

Not only was it Grossmont’s fifth straight win it was a victory that vaulted the Foothillers into sole possession of first place in the GHL at 6-1. They lead second-place Valhalla by one game and own a three-game bulge over Granite Hills, Helix and Steele Canyon . Eight games remain in the regular season.

Another Grossmont plus for Earley is he was able to celebrate three consecutive complete game winning pitching performances. All three came on the road.

In the latest win over the Wolf Pack (7-12, 1-6 GHL), junior right-hander ERIC ECKLEY (4-1) shut down West Hills on six hits.

“I can’t remember the last time our pitchers have thrown three complete games in the same week,” Earley said. “And it wasn’t a matter of us stretching them out, either. They’ve all been very efficient.” ROBBY NESOVIC and JOE MUSGROVE are also part of the complete-game trio.

“I believe our three starters are as good as any in the county,” the coach added.

West Hills made four errors in the first two innings and the Foothillers were quick to capitalize, taking a 6-0 advantage.

Grossmont got five runs on two RBI in the 1st inning and all the runs were earned. Nesovic began the game with a base hit and scored on a triple by Musgrove. TYLER TIMMER followed with a double to make it 2-0. Then the Wolf Pack began to crumble, serving up walks and hit batters.

Musgrove, who has been on a batting bender of late, was 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.

West Hills avoided a shutout in the 2nd inning when BRANDON BEARD doubled and scored on a single by TY SOTELO.

El Capitan right fielder Curren Facer charges forward to make the catch against Mount Miguel. (Photo by Mark Gabriels) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

Despite a 15-hit onslaught, which featured TREY CONYERS’ 5th home run, El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY had to be equally as pleased by the combined two-hit pitching of KEVIN GINKEL (6-0) and submariner ALEX MARISCAL.

“Ginkel, once again, went out and pounded the strike zone,” Vickery said. “He did a great job of kinda taking care of business on the mound. Offensively we had one quality at-bat after another – going up to the plate with a plan and carrying it through. We are getting better and better at getting quality at-bats.”

Trying not to look ahead to next week’s two-game showdown with GVL-leading Monte Vista beginning on May 5, the Vaqueros will play a non-league game against pitching-rich Point Loma Saturday (Apr. 30) at Dana Middle School on the peninsula.

El Capitan pulled away from Mount Miguel (7-13, 2-3 GVL) by scoring six runs in the 2nd inning. CHUCK MOORMAN’s two-run double was the key blow. Conyers pitched in with a run-scoring double and CUREN FACER chipped in with an RBI triple.

Conyers’ three-run home run in the 4th made it 9-0.

Facer and SHELDON GABRIELS were each 3-for-5 to pace the Vaqueros.

On the base paths, TYRONE WIGGINS and Gabriels each stole a base.

Mount Miguel ’s JUWUN McCRAY stole his 28th base for the Matadors to lead East County .

Freshman JOHNNY WRIGHT cracked an RBI double for Mount Miguel.

Santana's Corey Poe posted seven RBI on Friday, the second-highest total in Sultans history. The record is 9 by former major-leaguer Jimmy Tatum. (Photo by Scott Seidel) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

SANTANA 26, EL CAJON VALLEY 2 (5 inn.) – Even though the visiting Sultans had not played in nine days, it might be difficult to convince the El Cajon Valley Braves of that fact.

Santana (6-12-1) rattled off 27 hits and scored a season-high to claim its first

Grossmont Valley League win in five decisions.

Senior third baseman COREY POE accounted for 11 runs. He was 5-for-6 with two home runs, a double and 7 RBI. The RBI total is second on Santana’s all-time books, trailing only JIMMY TATUM’s nine against the Braves in 1985. Poe also scored four times.

SEAN ROSS was 2-for-4 with 4 RBI for Santana. Six other Sultans enjoyed multiple RBI outings.

JAMES DOHERTY and KYLE GASNER combined to spin a two-hitter at the Braves in a game halted after five innings by mutual agreement of the coaches.

Grossmont first baseman Nick Rochester climbs the ladder to retire a Steele Canyon batter. (Photo by Tim Soto) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

No question the Foothillers were set up for a bushwhacking in Wednesday’s (Apr. 27) showdown at Steele Canyon as the Cougars took a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning.

Buoyed by the complete game pitching of senior JOE MUSGROVE, the Foothillers (15-5, 5-1 GHL) rallied for a 6-3 victory to maintain a share of the league lead with Valhalla.

Musgrove, who had missed a couple of starts due to a sprained finger, showed no ill effects from the malady as he scattered eight hits and blanked the Cougars over the final six innings while striking out nine and walking just one.

“In the 1st inning I left a few balls up and we made some errors and it cost us,” Musgrove said. “I don’t blame my teammates, I put that on me for letting guys get on base.”

After that Musgrove shut out the Cougars (11-8, 3-3 GHL) on four hits.

“I don’t think it was so much that Joe’s finger affected him as much as the layoff (two weeks) did,” said Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY.

Musgrove admitted that his velocity in the first few innings wasn’t what it usually is. But mid-stream he made some changes.

“It was all about my mechanics,” said Musgrove, who posted his 4th win in 7 decisions. “My glove side was not staying in front – not giving me the downward tilt on the ball. I have to stay on top of the ball to be at my best. That wasn’t happening until later in the game.”

Musgrove recognized that Steele Canyon is an aggressive hitting team.

“They’re not afraid to get up on top of the plate,” he said. “So I went more to my 2-seamer and away from my 4-seamer to work them inside.”

That proved to be sound strategy.

Although Musgrove has a scholarship to San Diego State, it’s very likely that he’ll be drafted in the June draft.

“From what I’ve heard it’s a possibility he’ll go in the early rounds,” said Earley.

Musgrove’s teammates came through with some key hits. The Hillers broke through against Steele Canyon pitcher BRAD BOEHMKE in the 4th inning as ALEX CONNOR doubled over the center fielder’s head and scored on a sacrifice fly by JORDAN GERLEK.

Grossmont took the lead in the 6th inning on an RBI single by DEREK RUSTICH and a 2-run single by NICK ROCHESTER. The Foothillers put the game away in the top of the 7th as WILL SOTO walked and scored on Musgrove’s 6th home run of the season.

All of Steele Canyon’s runs came in the opening frame. CLAYTON ROYER lined the first pitch up the middle for a base hit. JESSE JENNER followed with a base hit to right, and Royer scored on a groundout by GARRETT GANDOLFO. After WES JUDISH reached base on an infield single, Boehmke sent a 2-run double down the left-field line.

Boehmke was the hardluck loser, permitting only three earned runs while striking out seven during his six inning stint.

VALHALLA 5, WEST HILLS 4 (9 inn.) – Despite losing five games in a row the Valhalla Norsemen still find themselves in a tie for the Grossmont Hills League lead with the Grossmont Foothillers. It was a nasty skid indeed for the Norsemen, who produced only six runs while surrendering 30.

Some teams might have folded up shop at that point but coach MIKE WILSON pointed out to his Valhalla players that four of those losses came in the Lions Tournament, which have no bearing on the league title.

Thanks to some clutch relief pitching by freshman MITCH COOMBS, the Norsemen were able to knock off the Wolf Pack in Wednesday’s (Apr. 27) contest in Santee.

“We had to get that one,” Wilson said. “We played a little better defense and my core guys started hitting again.

Valhalla (10-9, 5-1 GHL) built up a 4-1 lead after five innings. In the 2nd inning KYLE McBRIDE doubled and scored on a single to center by RYAN PETERSEN.

Valhalla added a second run in the 3rd frame with a two-out rally. BRYCE MOSIER singled to left and advanced two bases on back-to-back balks by CAMERON HOWELL. AUSTIN HENSLEY then singled to right, scoring Mosier.

The Norsemen posted a third singleton in the 4th. KYLE ZIMMERMAN got hit by a pitch and Petersen walked. With two outs RAMSEY ROMANO singled to center to make it 3-0.

West Hills counterpunched with a run in the bottom of the 4th. Singles by BRANDON BYRD and MICHAEL CARLIN led to a run-scoring groundout by BRANDON BEARD.

Valhalla got that run back in the top of the 5th as Hensley hammered his 5th home run of the season over the left field fence.

West Hills (7-11, 1-5 GHL) refused to fold. In the bottom of the 6th Carlin ignited a rally with a single to center and ALEX PARSONS doubled to right. Groundouts by Beard and TY SOTELO scored both runners, and suddenly it was a 1-run game.

West Hills tied it in the bottom of the 7th, forcing extra innings.

D.J. LEWIS doubled to right. That brought Coombs to the Valhalla mound. The ninth-grader hit RYAN NUCKOLS with a pitch. BRIAN COMMERFORD was safe on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases with nobody out. Lewis was cut down at the plate on Byrds’ ground ball to shortstop. Romano fielded the ball and threw to Mosier to force Lewis at the plate.

Carlin then lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Nuckols with the tying run.

“When they had the bases loaded in 7th we were just hoping we could take it into extra innings,” Wilson said. “We made the right plays at the end and we were fortunate because they gave us a little help.”

Valhalla scored the winning run in the 9th. Back-to-back singles by FRANCISCO TELLEZ and Mosier set the stage for the victory. The Pack might have escaped with a double play but an infield error allowed Tellez to score the go-ahead run.

Coombs was awarded with his 2nd win as he did not allow a hit while striking out four over the final three innings.

“It’s nice to see that kind of moxie from a freshman,” Wilson said. “Here was a 15-year old kid that wanted the ball. You have to believe that kid is going to have some kind of future.”

HELIX 8, GRANITE HILLS 0 – Ranked No. 7 in the San Diego CIF, the Helix Highlanders (16-5, 2-4) must view themselves as little more than long-shots to capture the Grossmont Hills League pennant.

“If we plan on getting back into the GHL race we’ll have to do a more consistent job of competing,” Helix coach COLE HOLLAND said.

Few of the Highlanders have done a better job of competing than ROMELLO CARBUCCIA did in Wednesday’s (Apr. 27) GHL victory over visiting Granite Hills. The senior right-hander, who also picked up his 24th RBI of the season, twirled a 3-hit shutout for his 5th win in 6 decisions.

“Romello did a great job on the mound today,” Holland said.

KACY SMITH paced Helix’ 12-hit attack by going 4-for-4 with a double, three runs and an RBI. Smith doubled and scored on a pair of groundouts in the 1st inning.

In the 4th inning RASHAD HARLIN tripled in a run and Carbuccia singled him in to make it 3-0.

Smith was at the forefront again in the 5th with a leadoff single. He advanced to second on MAURO OLIVARRIA’s sacrifice bunt and eventually scored on a base hit by JAKE REED.

Helix broke the game open with four runs in the 6th. Once again Smith had a presence with an RBI single. Olivarria hoisted a sacrifice fly that was dropped in the outfield, allowing two Highlanders to score. DIEGO REYNOSO capped the scoring with an RBI double.

It was another long day for Granite Hills (8-11, 2-4), which has scored only five runs in its last four games – all resulting in losses.

Monte Vista' senior Nick Sabo registered 3 hits for 3 RBI, and tossed a 4-hitter for his sixth victory of the season in stopping Mount Miguel. (Photo by Kim Diaz)

Not only did Sabo post his sixth win in seven decisions, he hurled a complete game 4-hitter. The Long Beach State-bound chucker allowed only two earned runs while striking out six en route to his 4th complete game. He needed only 91 pitches to finish the job on the bump.

Did we mention Sabo’s offensive contributions? Well, check it out. He smacked a two-run single during a 5-run 2nd inning and whacked an RBI double in the 6th.

“This was a must-game to help set us up for El Cap (May 4, 6 and 18),” Monte Vista coach CHAD WILLIAMS said. “And Mount Miguel is no gimmee game. They’ve gotten a lot better.”

Another major ingredient to Monte Vista’s recent surge is senior catcher CARLOS OCHOA. Not only is he a stalwart behind the dish, he’s also known for supplying big hits. He blasted a three-run homer staking the Monarchs to a 6-0 advantage in the 2nd inning.

Equally impressive was Ochoa’s ability to neutralize the Matadors’ (7-12, 2-2 GVL) running game. BRAD MORENO was the only Mount Miguel runner to steal a bag.

“A lot of that is keeping (JUWUN) McCRAY off the bases,” Williams said. “He is their table-setter and we were able to shut him out.”

The Monarchs (15-6, 6-0 GVL), who have won 10 of their last 12, finished with 10 hits.

McCray, Mount Miguel’s starting pitcher, struggled with his control and that helped fuel Monte Vista’s early fire.

CESAR PRECIADO was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI to pace Mount Miguel. CHRIS MAPLES also had two hits and did not allow an earned run in three innings of relief pitching.

EL CAPITAN 23, EL CAJON VALLEY 0 (5 inn.) – No. 4-ranked El Capitan scored 12 runs in the 4th inning and pounded out 25 hits against two El Cajon Valley pitchers in Wednesday’s (Apr. 27) Grossmont Valley League rout.

“In a game like this you still want to improve so you try to find things you can work on,” Vaqueros coach STEVE VICKERY said. “The big thing is we told our guys they needed to hit to the opposite field, and not try to yank everything.”

During the break-away 4th inning Vickery said the Vaqueros smacked 11 opposite field hits.

BRAD MITCHELL, JOHN BUTZ, CODY REILLY and CURREN FACER pounded out three hits apiece to pace the Vaqueros. Two of Facer’s strokes went for doubles.

TYRONE WIGGINS chipped in with his 7th home run – an opposite field poke with one on in the 3rd frame. Wiggins is now tied for the San Diego CIF lead in long balls, which is pretty impressive for a guy batting in the leadoff position most of the time.

Pitchers MICHAEL FLORES and SHANE COLEMAN combined to spin a 1-hitter and strike out 11 Braves in a game that was halted after 5 innings.

Grossmont pitch Robby Nesovic not only tossed a complete-game shutout at Helix, he smacked a 2-run homer for all the runs in a 2-0 GHL triumph. (Photo by Tim Soto) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (4-27-11) — It was not exactly the victory heard around the county, but West Hills’ 4-2 Grossmont Hills League conquest over visiting Granite Hills on Tuesday (Apr. 26) might be the spark second-year Wolf Pack coach JASON FOWLER has been seeking.

“It’s the best game we’ve played since I’ve been the head coach at West Hills,” he said. “This is three games in a row – I told the kids it’s a win streak. I think it’s huge for our kids – gave them a little bit of confidence.”

It was also West Hills’ first league win in five decisions and raised the Wolf Pack’s overall record to 7-10.

“This is the best win in the three years I’ve been here,” said the Pack’s catcher, MICHAEL CARLIN, who provided the game winning RBI.

West Hills took a 3-0 lead in the opening frame. Carlin drove in the first run with a ground out. ALEX PARSONS followed with an RBI single and BRANDON BEARD doubled in the third marker.

That would be enough for starting pitcher BRIAN COMMERFORD and reliever BRANDON DELANEY to finish the job.

“I couldn’t find my curveball or locate my fastball,” Commerford admitted. “But my changeup was there and it kept them off balance. I relied on that pitch a lot.”

Commerford worked into the 6th inning, allowing both Granite Hills’ runs but only four hits. Delaney pitched two shutout innings of relief to earn the save.

“Once I got the 3-0 lead it gave me a lot more confidence,” Commerford said. “I didn’t have to worry about making a mistake on every pitch.”

Carlin finished with two RBI in the game, but his greatest value was in calling pitches.

“He’s a great catcher,” Commerford said. “He knows the pitches I like to throw and I rarely shake him off. We work well together.”

Carlin believes the Wolf Pack cannot be counted out of the GHL pennant race.

“This one was a major confidence builder,” he said. “We don’t get the hype that a Grossmont or a Helix gets but we know we can play the game with the best. We don’t want to just win a couple of games – we want to compete and make a name for ourselves.”

DOUG BRANNVALL accounted for half of Granite Hills’ hits by going 3-for-3 with a double.

“We can’t hit a lick,” said Eagles coach JAMES DAVIS. “We’re just struggling. I’ll bet our senior class is hitting about .200.”

The news for the Eagles (8-10, 2-3 GHL) isn’t getting any better. Ace pitcher DANIEL STARWALT is not likely to make a return to the lineup any time soon.

“His back is still bothering him and we’re not gonna just throw him out there,” said Davis. “We miss him on the mound as much as we miss his with the bat.”

Could the junior standout miss the remainder of the season?

“I hope not but that’s certainly a possibility,” Davis said.

GROSSMONT 2, HELIX 0 – Helix High senior JAKE REED labeled the Foothillers’ Grossmont Hills League victory over the Highlanders Tuesday (Apr. 26) in La Mesa “one for Team Nesovic.”

Reed’s assessment was pretty accurate. Not only did junior ROBBY NESOVIC, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound right-hander blank the Highlanders on four hits – for his 6th win without a loss – he also supplied the only offense in the game.

In the 3rd inning WILL SOTO reached base on an infield hit. Nesovic followed by belting the first pitch by MAURO OLIVARRIA over the left-center field fence for his 5th home run of the season.

“As a hitter I like to jump on the first pitch because I know that guy out there on the hill is trying to get ahead in the count,” Nesovic said. “Olivarria left a fastball up over the plate and I was waiting.”

Realizing that Nesovic is an aggressive hitter, he was asked how one would go about pitching to him.

“If I was the guy pitching to me, I’d work backwards,” Nesovic said.

Hitting of course is not Nesovic’s strongest suit. It’s pitching, and not many in the San Diego Section do it better than he does. Nesovic lowered his season ERA to 1.24 over 39.2 innings. He logged only three strikeouts against the Highlanders but didn’t walk a man.

The game lasted one hour and 35 minutes.

“I love a fast-paced game and it’s my job to help make it happen,” Nesovic noted.

Helix (15-5, 1-4 GHL), which had beaten Grossmont (14-5, 4-1) in two previous encounters, posed only one serious threat against Nesovic. That was in the 6th inning.

KACY SMITH led off with a single and tried to stretch it into a double. He didn’t make it as left fielder ALEX CONNOR fired a strike to second baseman ERIC ECKLEY for the first out in the inning. Reed followed with a single that would have scored Smith had he been safe at second.

DIEGO REYNOSO grounded into a force play with Reed being put out at second.

Grossmont’s only error of the game followed on a ground ball hit by RASHAD HARLIN. Suddenly the Highlanders had the tying runs on base but Nesovic escaped the jam when he got East County RBI leader ROMELLO CARBUCCIA to pop up.

“I was relying mostly on my screwball, two-seamer and my slider for the most part,” Nesovic said. “Helix is an aggressive team so you have to be careful, especially to guys like Reed and Rashad.”

Said Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY, “It was a pretty tight ballgame. It basically came down to one pitch. Olivarria got one up and Robby didn’t miss it.”

Credit the defensive work of Helix catcher Reynoso for helping keep the Highlanders in contention. The senior receiver threw three Foothillers out on the bases.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 14, OCEAN VIEW CHRISTIAN 3 – Foothills Christian seemed to be glad to get back into Citrus West League action Tuesday (Apr. 26) and wasted little time expressing its satisfaction.

The Knights (9-7, 4-1 CWL) put 8 runs on the board in the 1st inning against visiting Ocean View Christian at Barona Diamond. A two-run double by HENRY LUSCHEI and a two-run single by BRANDON JAROSIN were the key blows in the early strike.

TREVOR TINNEY, ZACK TOMLIN and NOAH WOLFE each added an RBI single in the big inning.

Foothills Christian finished with 16 hits. Tinney led the way with a 3-for-4 effort. The Knights stole nine bases, including three apiece by Jarosin and Luschei.

J.R. ATTERBURY, who slugged a 3-run homer in the 3rd, allowed only four hits and no earned runs over five innings as he rolled his record to 4-2.

ZACH CUMMINGS added a triple to Foothills totals and scored on an error.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-26-11) — Steele Canyon High, behind ace pitcher MICHAEL CEDEROTH, squeezed the Grossmont Hills League standings a bit tighter Monday (Apr. 25) by knocking off front-running Valhalla, 10-1.

Now only 1½ games separate the top four teams in the GHL. The Cougars (11-7, 3-2 GHL) moved into third place – one game behind the Norsemen (9-9, 4-1 GHL).

Cederoth limited the Norsemen, who have scored only one run in their last three games, to one hit while striking out nine and walking two during a 5-inning stint.

FRANK CALIFANO finished the pitching chores for Steele Canyon, allowing one run and three hits while striking out three over the final two frames.

“Every time Cederoth pitches you come to expect greatness,” said Steele Canyon coach TODD SNYDER. “He threw well today but I’ve seen him pitch better on several occasions. Even when he has average stuff though, he’s still better than most. He was very determined out there today.”

Cederoth needed 88 pitches to notch his third win against two losses.

“I know Cederoth didn’t have his best stuff, but he made the big pitches when he had to,” said Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. “That’s what makes him the pitcher that he is.”

Steele Canyon, which is regarded as one of the top offensive units in East County, had scored only 10 runs in its previous five games. So this was kind of a breakout game for the Cougars, who rang up four markers in the 2nd inning.

“It was kinda nice to finally get a hit with the bases loaded,” Snyder said.

The biggest impact with the bases loaded was GARRETT GANDOLFO’s grand slam to put the game out of reach in the 6th inning. Ironically that was the only hit in the 5-run frame as Valhalla contributed three walks and a hit batter.

Earlier the Cougars capitalized when the Norsemen booted a potential double play ball in the 2nd inning. Steele Canyon loaded the bases in that frame on a walk to WES JUDISH, a base hit by BRAD BOEHMKE and a walk to ROBBY NELSON. Valhalla then muffed a ground ball hit by KYLE SAGER, allowing two runs to score.

ERNIE FLINT followed with a suicide squeeze bunt that again, the Norsemen had trouble fielding. Not only did Flint beat the throw to first for an RBI, Valhalla threw the ball away. CLAYTON ROYER capped the inning with a sacrifice fly.

Steele Canyon added a run in the 3rd inning on an RBI single by Boehmke.

Valhalla avoided a shutout with a run in the bottom of the 6th. CHRIS WILKEY doubled to center, then with two outs he scored on a single by BRYCE MOSIER.

CHRISTIAN 12, MORSE 2 – For Poteets’ sake, the host Morse Tigers were overwhelmed in Monday’s (Apr. 25) Eastern League contest.

That is, senior MICHAEL POTEET and junior brother CODY POTEET were a combined 7-for-10 with two doubles, a triple, 7 RBI and three runs scored as the Patriots (8-11-1) posted their first league win in five decisions.

While the Poteets accounted for nearly half of Christian’s 16 hits, Michael Poteet turned in five powerful innings of pitching. The right-hander scattered six hits, allowed two runs and struck out 10.

“Morse recently rebuilt its mound and it was rather high,” Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL said. “Once Michael adjusted to it, he was lights out. He had pretty good velocity and struck out at least one batter in every inning.”

Here’s the breakdown on Poteet’s strikeouts: one in the 1st, two in the 2nd, two in the 3rd, three in the 4th and two in the 5th.

Patriots’ relievers MICHAEL KAUFMAN and KYLE HARRIS pitched one hitless inning apiece while striking out two each.

Christian won for the third time in its last four starts. The Patriots pushed across three runs in the opening frame. Leadoff man Cody Poteet, who was 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBI, led off with a double to left center.

SHIN KURODA, who was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI, had a 14-pitch at-bat in the 1st inning. He fouled off eight pitches before drawing a walk. TANNER PERRY then singled to load the bases.

Michael Poteet and JOSH SUFFRIDGE followed with back-to-back singles, staking Christian to a 2-0 lead. Harris then brought in a third run with a sacrifice fly.

Christian expanded its lead in the 2nd inning on run-scoring singles by Kuroda and Michael Poteet.

Christian’s scoring merry-go-round continued in the 3rd when Cody Poteet blasted a 3-run double.

The Patriots staged their final rally with two outs in the 5th inning, scoring four times. Kuroda singled in one run, Michael Poteet brought in two more with his East County-leading 6th triple of the season, and the other run scored on a wild pitch.

“This is one of our better games at hitting with runners in scoring position,” said Mitchell. “When we hit like this it takes a lot of pressure off our pitchers.”

So did committing only one error.

61st annual Lions Tournament

The Monte Vista Monarchs finished in second place in their division of the Lions Tournament, the school's best finish since winning it all in 1996. (Photo by Andrew Smith)

Monte Vista vs. La Jolla Country Day PHOTOS (Slideshow by Kim Diaz) Improbable Monte Vista run ends in silver at Lions By Andrew Smith © Special to East County Sports.com SAN DIEGO (4-22-11) — Of all the East County teams entered in the 61st annual Lions Baseball Tournament probably one of the most least likely squads to reach the championship round would be the Monte Vista Monarchs. Fortunately, the Monarchs (14-6) don’t believe in odds or what people might think. After Monte Vista won its morning battle against El Camino 1-0 in a semifinal game at Chula Vista behind a one-hitter from NICK SABO, the only thing standing in the Monarchs way to a Lions Tournament Division 5A championship was La Jolla Country Day on Thursday (Apr. 21) afternoon at San Diego Mesa College. Not many arms were left for the 5th game in four days for the Monarchs. After a blunderous 2nd inning that gave the Torres a 7-1 lead, the Monarchs never could recover from what resulted in a 7-5 loss. Monte Vista’s PAUL O’CONNOR led the game off with a single. Sabo followed suit with a single. With runners on the corners and two outs, JUSTIN AQUINIGOC claimed an early 1-0 lead by knocking a solid single to center. The Torreys matched that marker in the bottom of the 1st frame, but the 6-spot LJCD hung in the 2nd inning eventually proved to be too much. After the first two Torreys batters singled, the latter on an excellently placed sacrifice bunt attempt, Rueben Pena advanced the runners one bag with a sacrifice of his own. Three straight singles ensued and after a suicide squeeze attempt failed for the Torreys, they gained an additional two runs when a mix-up at 3rd base caused an errant throw. Those two runs would turn out to be the winning runs. “Our catcher said he didn’t see the other guy that was there and didn’t hear any of us screaming that there was two runners, so by the time he threw it there were so many guys around, our third baseman never saw it,” explained Monte Vista coach CHAD WILLIAMS. “There was just a lot of miscommunication and confusion on the play.” Williams knew his team was in for an uphill battle after that. “We were just lucky enough to jump out to an opportunistic lead,” Torreys head coach John Edman explained. Williams saw it differently. “We just made too many mistakes in that one inning,” he said, “and when you’re playing a really good ball club in a championship game you have to play flawless to win. Give them all the credit in the world for capitalizing on that.” Not the type to lay down, the Monarchs came right back with two runs in the 3rd as JOHN BALAJADIA roped a double to ignite things. “I knew we had a big deficit to come back from, but it was my job to set the table,” he stated. Sabo and CARLOS OCHOA would then follow with doubles as the lead was trimmed to 4. A pair of walks to GORDY JUAREZ and RICHIE BALAJADIA started the Monarchs half of the fourth and after a fielder’s choice, an error and a RBI single by O’Connor, the Torreys’ lead was shaved to two. What was missed in all that action was the obvious balks by the Torreys’ starting pitcher that both umpires clearly missed. As an outsider looking in there was at least a half-a-dozen balks not called and when the umpire was questioned he stated, “I’ve only not seen him pause three times.” So he clearly had seen him balk 3 times, but never called one… After spotting La Jolla Country Day seven runs Williams boasted about his squad, “Overall I’m real happy with the two guys in relief – freshman RILEY DAIZ and John Balajadia, who came in and kept us in the game by blanking them the rest of the game.” “I knew I had to get them to put the ball in play because we have a great defense and I have confidence in all of them,” Balajadia said. “There’s still a lot of ball to be played this year and I know we’re going to have a great season.” O’Connor and Sabo both went 2-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI apiece in the finale. “I knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park ‘cause I played with these guys on their freshman team a year ago and know first-hand how good they hit. We definitely showed a lot of character coming back even though we got down 7-1 in the 2nd inning. We’ve been in those situations before and have come back to win, just unfortunately today wasn’t one of those games.” In game one, El Camino had been on a tear offensively in Division 5A of the Lions Tournament, scoring 45 runs in three games coming into Thursday (Apr 21) morning’s semifinal match-up against Monte Vista. Queue the real “King of the Jungle,” Monarchs starting pitcher NICK SABO. In what turned out to be a good ole’ pitchers’ duel, Sabo dominated on the mound and knocked in his East County-leading 6th game-winning RBI before the Wildcats even got their turn at the plate as he spun a dazzling one-hitter leading his team into the championship game with a 1-0 triumph. Sophomore PAUL O’CONNOR got the ball rolling in the top of the 1st with a leadoff double and Sabo singled him home safely which was more than enough support that he would need on the mound. With a no-no still intact late in the 6th inning El Camino’s Dylan Navarro hit a slow roller to second. In a hurry to keep it intact, the throw forced first baseman LUIS LEBRON to reach out and stretch for the throw. In what was a complete controversial call the runner was called safe. Apparently Lebron’s foot left the bag too early and took its talent to South Beach. Monarchs skipper CHAD WILLIAMS disagreed stating, “I’m still questioning the one hit they got. I thought he was clearly on the bag and if not, then I have an error in my book.” But the story in this was one was Sabo’s domination on a questionable mound. Even the coaches were all complaining of the condition of the mound when such high stakes were on the line. Williams noted, “He didn’t throw too many curveballs today, but he got ahead with his fastball and spotted his change. When he needed to mix in a curve though he threw it for a strike.” Sabo explained why, “I’m not one to make any kind of excuses, but the mound was getting really bad out there so it was really hard to get over my front side. It just feels really great to do my part and get us into the championship game.” It’s all fine and dandy for everyone unless you’re the one who has to catch Sabo. His catcher and fellow senior captain CARLOS OCHOA broke it down. “It’s pretty tough sometimes catching him, but it’s definitely fun ‘cause he throws so hard and it’s not always easy to catch,” Ochoa said. “It’s fun just to be his teammate and watch him play because we all know he’s going on to bigger and better things.” “Sabo’s is a pretty good pitcher,” Wildcats skipper Joe Gonzales conceded. “He mixes up the ball really well. He’s a quality starter and good pitching will take care of good batting most of the time. It was a really well played game and I think our starter also did a great job.” Matching Sabo was the Wildcats’ James McKenrick, who gave up just 4 hits himself, but in the end it was Monte Vista that was moving on to the championship game. Sabo has a scholarship to Cal State Long Beach in hand. “I was thoroughly impressed with his performance today,” Williams noted. “Obviously he took us on his shoulders once again with that RBI single and his stuff on the mound. Who knew that would’ve been all he needed.”

© East County Sports.com
FULLERTON (4-22-11) — Sure, it was only a third-place game in the Diamond Sports National Classic Thursday (Apr. 21) at Cal State Fullerton, but to look at the lineup presented by IMG Pendleton Academy out of Bradenton, Fla., was almost like a who’s who of major leaguers.

IMG is the nation’s most renowned sports academy. The sons of six-time Major League All-Star Bobby Bonilla, Manny Ramirez and Jamie Moyer (who pitched 25 years in the Major Leagues) and the list of alumni from this institution are seemingly endless. Gary Sheffield, Nomar Garciapara, Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, Vernon Wells and Ben Sheets are just a few of the alumni of IMG, a 400-acre campus in South Florida. The annual tuition is $61,000.

Get the idea?

When IMG traveled to compete in the Diamond Sport National Classic, they did so on a budget of $43,000 – just for this trip. So this outfit is totally first class and possesses advantages few other high schools offer.

Apparently the El Capitan Vaqueros weren’t overly impressed. Rallying from deficits of 4-2 and 6-3 the Vaqueros (15-5) broke a 7-7 deadlock with two runs in the final frame to claim a 9-7 victory over the talent-laden Floridians.

“I think going 3-1 in a tournament like this did a lot to build the confidence of our team,” said El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY.

The ringleader of the Vaqueros’ surge was shortstop TYRONE WIGGINS, who was 10-for-16 and named to the all tournament team. Against IMG he slugged a 2-run homer – his 6th of the season – to give the Vaqueros a 7-6 lead in the 6th inning. But that lead didn’t hold up as IMG tied up in the bottom of the frame.

For the third straight inning the Vaqueros rebounded to score two runs in the 7th inning, and this time it held up.

ERIC LOZANO was hit by a pitch and BRAD MITCHELL ran for him. JAVIER GONZALEZ singled to right to put runners at the corners. After two tries to squeeze home the winning run backfired, the Vaqueros were in danger of blowing the go-ahead opportunity.

Fortunately they had Wiggins at the plate with the game on the line. The San Diego State-bound shortstop laced a double to score Mitchell with what proved to be the winning run. IMG then balked home an insurance run for El Capitan.

El Capitan’s unsung hero against IMG was SHELDON GABRIELS. Not only did Gabriels double and score on a single by TROY CONYERS in the 3rd inning, he tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by CHUCK MOORMAN in the 5th.

But wait – there’s more.

Asked to pitch for only the second time this season, Gabriels – a senior right-hander – came through with an effort that would make Padres closer Heath Bell proud. He allowed only one hit in two shutout innings while striking out two and was rewarded with the victory.

“Sheldon had pitched only one inning all year for us,” Vickery said. “So to get two quality innings in a big game like this was a definite plus. He’s got a pretty good curveball and a live fastball. It’s nice to know we can count on him when we need pitching help.”

Trailing 4-2 after two innings the Vaqueros shaved the deficit on a leadoff double to right center by Gabriels and an RBI single by Conyers.

This was a real fistfight. El Capitan pushed across two runs in the 5th inning to cut a 6-3 deficit to one. Once again it was Gabriels with a leadoff triple that provided the spark.

“He really completes our offense. When he’s hitting he makes us a much stronger club,” said Vickery.

Side-by-side Submariners
East County features a pair of submarine-style pitchers this season. In action on Thursday were Grossmont's Vincente Trujillo (left) and El Capitan's Alex Mariscal. (Photos (l-r) by Tim Soto and Mark Gabriels)

The 9th ranked Foothillers (13-5) did all their scoring against the Condors from California Whittier in the 2nd and 5th innings. It was an even split with nine markers coming in each of those frames.

“Our kids were motivated,” said Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY. “To score 18 runs in the wind tunnel at Montgomery is almost unheard of. Our kids hit a lot of hard ground balls, didn’t put the ball in the air very often.”

If Earley had to pick a hero it would be ALEX CONNOR. Not only did the junior right-hander pitch five shutout innings in his first varsity start, he was also 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI at the plate.

“Alex gave us five good innings and that’s more than we could have asked,” Earley said. “The big thing is he gives us another arm we can rely on.”

A dozen Foothillers contributed to a 16-hit attack. Fifteen of the Hillers scored.

Grossmont rattled out eight hits in the 2nd inning and California made four errors. Connor, contributed a 2-run double in that frame.

In the 5th inning DEREK RUSTICH ripped a 2-run double and finished with three RBI in the contest.

Not to be overlooked was Grossmont junior submariner VINCENTE TRUJILLO, making his first varsity appearance. He allowed only one hit and struck out two in his two innings of work.

“We went 3-1 in the Classic Division of the Lions Tournament,” Earley remarked. “And we did it without throwing our senior ace JOE MUSGROVE. That says something about the depth we have on our ballclub.”

On another note of interest, Condors junior left-hander Luis Gallegos, who has only one arm, came into the game in the 3rd inning and shut the Foothillers down, then did the same thing in the 4th.

Just seeing him on the mound brought back memories of former major leaguer Jim Abbott, who pitched 11 seasons in the big leagues for the Angels, Yankees, Brewers and White Sox. Abbott was born without a right hand.

“We were pretty good in those first three games, but showed no life and no passion in the championship game,” said Helix coach COLE HOLLAND. “We were so bad... like zombies.”

Holland reached into the depths of his pitching staff and had five pitchers share in spinning an 8-hitter against the Coyotes of Buena Park (6-14).

“It’s pretty hard to win a game no matter who is pitching if you don’t score any runs,” Holland said. “We were just listless. This was not a good team that beat us.”

KACY SMITH smacked two singles to pace an anemic five-hit attack for Helix (15-4).

“I like to think this trip was a good thing for us,” Holland added. “I hope the kids had a good time. Even though I know we should have done better I’ll take 3-1.”

Josh Rose of Granite Hills (right) is safe at second vs. Temecula Valley. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Granite Hills pitcher Doug Brannvall. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

The hard-throwing right-hander allowed only four hits over six innings in Thursday’s (Apr. 21) Lions Tournament Classic Division consolation contest against the visiting Golden Bears of Temecula Valley (10-8).

“Brannvall gave up some runs but overall he looked pretty good, despite the loss,” said Eagles coach JAMES DAVIS. “He struck out five and had decent velocity.”

Brief moments of wildness, however – two walks and two hit batters – cost Brannvall and the Eagles four runs.

“You know what they say about free passes – most of them find a way to score. And all four of those did,” Davis said.

Where Granite Hills (8-9) came up short was on the offensive end. They mustered four singles and a double by JOSH ROSE.

“This isn’t the way we want to play,” Davis noted. “Our energy level was zero; our emotional level was zero; and our offensive output was zero.”

SCRIPPS RANCH 7, VALHALLA 0 – For the second time in less than 24 hours, the host Norsemen suffered a shutout loss in Thursday’s (Apr. 21) Lions Tournament Premier Division consolation game.

Playing their 8th game in 11 days, the Norsemen could muster only three hits – singles by FRANCISCO TELLEZ, RAMSEY ROMANO and MATT HASKINS – against the Falcons (13-6).

Scripps Ranch broke the game open with five runs in the 5th inning.

“We just hit the wall this week,” said Valhalla assistant coach GLENN TURGEON. “I think we’ll benefit from a few days off now.”

Grossmont's Robby Nesovic is safe at third base, as the Foothillers scored five times in the 8th inning to trounce Torrey Pines, 9-4, in Lions action. (Photo by Tim Soto) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-21-11) — The Grossmont Conference likes to think of itself as the kingpin of San Diego CIF baseball. Well, that may be true. Fact is only two of East County’s 13 teams has a chance to win a tournament championship as play begins Thursday (Apr. 21).

In prime position are the one-time, top-ranked Helix Highlanders (15-3), who will face Buena Park for the Righetti High Spring Classic title at 4 p.m. in Santa Maria.

Closer to home the upstart Monte Vista Monarchs will tackle El Camino in the Division 5A semifinals of the 61st annual Lions Tournament at Chula Vista High at 9 a.m. If the Monarchs (13-5) can get by the Wildcats they will play for the division title against the Oceanside-La Jolla Country Day winner in the afternoon finals at 1 p.m. at San Diego Mesa College.

In other pre-Easter action, El Capitan (14-5), another former top-ranked SDCIF team, will battle IMG Pendleton Academy of Bradenton (Fla.) for third place in the Diamond Sports National Classic at Cal State Fullerton at 1 p.m.

Classic Division Lions Tournament consolation games include Grossmont vs. California Whittier at Montgomery, Temecula Valley at Granite Hills and Scripps Ranch at Valhalla. All those games start at 2 p.m.

HELIX 4, Antioch-DEER VALLEY 1 – Not much the Helix Highlanders do can be classified as flamboyant. By the same token, the Highlanders aren’t interested in flash as much as they are winning.

Helix posted its third straight victory in the semifinals of the Righetti High Spring Classic at Santa Maria on Wednesday (Apr. 20).

Trailing 1-0 after four innings the Highlanders staged a two-out rally in the 5th frame. Sparked by a single by BRENNAN INGRAM, followed by two Deer Valley errors and an intentional walk to DIEGO REYNOSO, Helix was set to break loose.

RASHAD HARLIN smacked an 0-2 pitch for a two-run single giving Helix a lead it would not lose.

Helix added an insurance run in the 7th with another two-out rally. JAKE REED doubled and scored on a basehit by Reynoso.

As usual Helix’ pitching was tight-fisted. Starter BRANDON LEWIS scattered five hits and allowed only one run in five innings to earn his first win. Reed finished the job by spinning two shutout innings with four strikeouts to earn his second save.

“People say coming up here and changing our venue would be the best things for us,” Helix coach COLE HOLLAND said. “Considering we’re 3-0 and playing for the tournament championship, that would appear to be true. We’ve gotten a chance to get refocused and get back to doing what we do best – pitching and defense.”

GROSSMONT 9, TORREY PINES 4 (8 inn.) – Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY got what he wanted – a victory over Division I rival Torrey Pines in Wednesday’s (Apr. 21) Classic Division pool play finale of the Lions Tournament.

Not that the victory propelled his Foothillers (12-5) into the championship fray, but flattening the Falcons in eight innings can only enhance Grossmont’s seeding in the San Diego CIF Division I playoffs.

“Beating Torrey Pines at their place is a sweet win for us,” said Earley. “Coming off a disastrous loss to La Costa Canyon 24 hours earlier made what we did today even that more impressive.”

The kingpin in the Grossmont victory over the Falcons was pitcher ROBBY NESOVIC, who toiled seven innings and picked up his 5th win without a loss.

“Nesovic shut down a good-hitting club for the most part,” Earley said. “He left a couple of balls up in the 6th inning and they didn’t miss ‘em.”

Nonetheless Grossmont’s sometimes anemic offense came to life in the 8th inning. The usually sharp fielding Falcons were anything but. The bottom line is Grossmont snapped a 4-4 tie on JOE MUSGROVE’s RBI single to left field.

TYLER TIMMER hammered a 3-2 pitch high off the left field fence to drive in three more runs. But the Foothillers still weren’t through. ALEX CONNOR singled to right to bring in Timmer to put the game out of reach for the Foothillers.

One of the freak ingredients was an usually sloppy Torrey Pines defense.

The Falcons made five errors in the 1st inning, and Grossmont scored four runs off those miscues. Torrey Pines totaled eight errors in the game.

Timmer finished with 4 RBI for the Foothillers.

La Puente-BISHOP AMAT 2, EL CAPITAN 1 – The Vaqueros squared off in a classic pitching duel in Wednesday’s (Apr. 20) semifinal of the Diamond Sports National Classic at Cal State Fullerton.

Despite having a runner thrown out at the plate for the second out of the 2nd inning, the Vaqueros (14-5) got on the scoreboard first when SPENCER NIELSEN tripled off the right-center field fence to score ELDEN WHISMAN.

Bishop Amat (19-2), which was hand-cuffed for most of the night for Vaqueros’ ace TROY CONYERS, scored its only two runs in the 4th inning. After a two-out walk Victor Zavala hammered a 1-2 pitch for what proved to be a game-winning homer over the center field fence.

“That was probably the only bad pitch Troy threw all night,” said El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY.

In suffering his first loss in five decisions, Conyers pitched a complete game 4-hitter and struck out seven.

“Troy kept us in the ballgame,” Vickery said. “He was pitching with a blister on his middle finger of his throwing hand and that kinda limited what he could do. But he hung in there and gave us chance to win. You can’t ask for more than that.”

No. 4 ranked El Capitan missed several opportunities to pull this one out. The Vaqueros had runners at the corners with one out in the 6th only to have two batters strike out in succession.

In the final frame ERIC LOZANO was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Whisman. But El Capitan once again came up short and the next hitters struck out and popped up.

“This was a great ballgame against a great team,” Vickery said. “This would have been a nice win, but we just couldn’t get it done.”

SAN PASQUAL 5, STEELE CANYON 4 – A series of miscues and untimely hitting sent host Steele Canyon (10-7) to its fourth loss in five games as pool play in the Lions Tournament Division 6A came to a conclusion Wednesday (Apr. 20) in Rancho San Diego.

An errant pickoff throw by hardluck pitcher MICHAEL CEDEROTH capped a 3-run 7th inning as the visiting Golden Eagles virtually stole a victory from the Cougars.

“Overall we need to do a better job of finishing games,” said Cougars coach TODD SNYDER. “Sure, we’re frustrated but we’re not ready to hit the panic button just yet.”

The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Cederoth turned in a complete game effort for the Cougars. Throwing the ball in the low 90s – peaking at 93 mph – he was able to intimidate the majority of the San Pasqual hitters. His problem was he allowed four two-strike hits and hit a batter on an 0-2 pitch. All of that proved to be costly in the end.

“Cederoth struggled throwing his cutters, and that’s his out pitch,” Snyder said. “That forced him to throw more fastballs than we would like, and it also caused his pitch count to run high.”

None of that seemed to bother a handful of major league scouts that were on hand. Even though Cederoth committed to San Diego State earlier in the day the pro scouts probably will be at his doorstep come the June draft.

For the moment though Snyder is hoping to rekindle the Cougars’ offense. Steele Canyon left 12 runners on base in this game, including leaving the bases loaded in the 6th inning.

“We’ve been cursed when we’ve had the bases loaded in this tournament,” Snyder said. “We’ve probably had the bases loaded four or five times yet we’ve only got one hit on those occasions.”

Steele Canyon led 4-2 with the bases loaded and one out against San Pasqual (13-6) in the 6th inning.

“Then we go back-to-back strikeouts when we had a chance to put the game away,” Snyder said.

CLAYTON ROYER and JESSE JENNER had three hits and one RBI apiece for the Cougars. WES JUDISH hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning and picked up a second RBI with a bases-loaded walk in the 6th.

Cederoth struck out seven in his complete game effort.

Domenique Lemus drove in two runs with a double, single and a sacrifice fly to propel San Pasqual into Thursday’s Division 6A semifinals against Mira Mesa at Westview at 2 p.m.

WEST HILLS 20, Whittier-LA SERNA 3 – West Hills continued its two-day scoring spree by rolling over La Serna in Wednesday’s (Apr. 21) final day of the Lions Tournament Division 3A action.

“I like days like this,” said Wolf Pack coach JASON FOWLER, whose team scored in six of seven innings while banging out 19 hits. “The way we’ve been struggling it’s good to get things going in a positive direction.”

In the last two games West Hills has outscored its opposition 32-6. In the Wolf Pack’s latest conquest BRANDON BYRD was 3-for-5 with 5 RBI. Designated hitter TY SOTELO was 4-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and 3 RBI.

And the hit parade continued with MICHAEL CARLIN lacing a pair of triples for 4 RBI and three hits in six at-bats overall. BRANDON BEARD was 3-for-5 with a double and scored three runs, while BRIAN COMMERFORD was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI. ALEX PARSONS chipped in with a pair of double and scored twice.

That made pitching easy for starter ALEX PIERCE, who limited the Lancers (5-12) to one earned run and three hits over five innings. TREVOR CLIPPINGER hurled the final two innings to complete the job for the Wolf Pack.

Salt Lake City-EAST 9, MONTE VISTA 4 – Even though the Monarchs took a 3-2 first inning lead, they were unable to lance the Leopards from Utah in Wednesday’s (Apr. 20) final round of Lions Tournament Division 5A pool play.

Although that loss did not knock the Monarchs out of tournament title contention, it did snap an 8-game winning streak for coach CHAD WILLIAMS’ ballclub.

“This was one of the ugliest games we have had all year,” Williams said. “We had too many walks (6) and way too many errors (4).”

The start of this one was okay. JOHN BALAJADIA spanked a one-out single and rambled over to third on a double by NICK SABO. CARLOS OCHOA singled in both runners, which tied the game at 2-2 at the time. Ochoa eventually scored on a base hit by BENNY GUERRERO to give Monte Vista the early lead.

The boys from Utah regained the lead with four runs in the 4th inning.

The Monarchs counterpunched with an RBI single by JUSTIN AQUINIGOC in the bottom of the inning, but the Monarchs’ offense would not be heard from thereafter. John Balajadia’s 3-for-4 effort paced Monte Vista’s 10-hit attack.

Sabo and LUIS LEBRON added two hits apiece to the Monarchs totals.

Santana left fielder Jonathan Alegria. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Four of those setbacks have come by a single marker, including the one that got away against St. Augustine.

Santana’s only error in the contest helped the Saints score two runs in the 6th inning to overcome a 1-0 Santana advantage. It also spoiled the 5-hit pitching of STEVEN SOLIVAN and KYLE GASNER.

“I thought we were the better team today,” said Sultans skipper LARRY OEDEWALDT. “We hit a lot of line drives right at people. We swung the bats pretty well but it didn’t show up in the scorebook.”

Santana took the early advantage in the opening frame when ZACH BREIDT walked, TYLER WEISS singled to center, CHRIS CAMARDA hit into a force play and CAMERON BALOUGH supplied the RBI single.

After that the Saints starter – and winner – Enrique “Kiki” Medina shut out the Sultans on one hit over the final six innings. That lone safety was supplied by Weiss.

OCEANSIDE 10, CHRISTIAN 4 – Here’s the good news: The Patriots had 13 hits, same as the host Oceanside Pirates in Wednesday’s (Apr. 21) final round of the Lions Tournament Division 5A pool play.

The bad news is Christian (7-11-1) committed four errors, which handed the Pirates three unearned runs. Probably the worst part of this encounter is Oceanside had built a 10-0 lead before Christian got on the scoreboard with a run in the 5th inning on SHIN KURODA’s RBI triple.

The Patriots rallied for three more in the 6th. MICHAEL POTEET led off with a single and scored on a one-out double by JOSH FITZGERALD. With two outs BRENDAN RYAN singled to put runners at the corners. A.J. GREGOROVIC followed with a base hit to right, scoring Fitzgerald. JOE ROSS then doubled in Ryan but it was too little, too late for the Patriots.

“We made some mistakes early, but we’ve had a good tournament,” said Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL. “We tied for our pool championship, just lost in the tie breaker. We took two of three this week. We’re improving and it’s showing.”

BONITA VISTA 3, VALHALLA 0 – Freshman MITCH COOMBS blanked visiting Bonita Vista on three hits over six innings in relief in Wednesday’s (Apr. 20) final round of Lions Tournament Premier Division action. Coombs walked four and struck out five.

The problem – actually there were two – was the Norsemen gave up three runs in the 1st inning and were shutout for the first time this season.

The key hit for Bonita Vista was a 2-run double by Brian Lockey in the opening frame. The second Valhalla error of the inning handed the Barons a third run.

Valhalla’s offense consisted of a double by FRANCISCO TELLEZ and singles by RAMSEY ROMANO and ANTHONY MANUPELLA.

After dropping three straight tournament games the Norsemen (9-7) will get another chance when they host Scripps Ranch in a Lions Tournament consolation contest at 2 p.m. Thursday (Apr. 21).

EL CENTRO-CENTRAL 4, MOUNT MIGUEL 3 – The host Matadors failed to maintain leads of 2-1 and 3-2 as they dropped their final pool play game in Wednesday’s (Apr. 20) Division 3A Lions Tournament contest.

Central Union (8-10) capitalized on five walks and seven hits. The Spartans erased a 1-run deficit with two runs in the 5th inning.

Things started off positive for Mount Miguel as speedy leadoff man JUWON McCRAY hammered his first home run of the season over the left-center field fence. One out later ANTHONY ORTEGA walked, stole second and scored on a base hit to left by CHRIS MAPLES.

The stolen base, which is Mount Miguel’s primary weapon, helped the Matadors (7-11) extend their advantage to 3-1 in the 3rd inning. CESAR PRECIADO singled with two outs, swiped second and rode home on BRAD MORENO’s single.

After that the Matadors’ offense stalled although they did end up with six thefts in the game. Two of those steals were by JOHNNY WRIGHT.

Maples and Wright accounted for half of Mount Miguel’s eight hits with a pair of singles apiece.

ESCONDIDO CHARTER 11, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 0 (5 inn.) – For the second time in as many day Foothills Christian fell to the Mercy Rule after five innings of Division 1A Lions Tournament pool play.

The Knights (8-7) avoided a no-hitter when NOAH GULA singled with two outs in the top of the 5th against the undefeated White Tigers (14-0).

CASTLE PARK 12, EL CAJON VALLEY 2 – After winning their first game of the season a day earlier, the Braves dropped Wednesday’s (Apr. 20) final round of Division 2A Lions Tournament pool play at Castle Park.

No further information provided.

© East County Sports.com
SANTA MARIA (4-20-11) – After suffering three consecutive losses following a 12-0 start, Helix coach COLE HOLLAND wasn’t sure what to make of his team that only a week ago was ranked No. 1 in the San Diego CIF.

A change of venue has apparently helped the Highlanders (14-3) who opened the Righetti High Spring Classic with an 11-2 victory over Pasadena Maranatha and an 8-6 nod over host Righetti.

“It’s nice to get back in the win column,” said Holland.

In the opening round victory over Maranath,a ROMELLO CARBUCCIA, JAMES MILES and CLARKE WILLIAMS combined to twirl a 4-hitter.

The fact that Helix had stacked up a 6-0 lead in the first four innings made pitching that much smoother. Eight of the nine starters in the Helix lineup contributed to the 14 hits assault on two Maranatha pitchers.

BRANDON LEWIS led the way by going 3-for-3. DIEGO REYNOSO ripped a 2-run double in the 4th inning and was among three of the Highlanders producing two hits.

Winning pitcher Carbuccia was 2-for-5 while leadoff man KACY SMITH was 2-for-4. DARYL BIBBS was 1-for-1 but more importantly had two sacrifice flies. Olivarria also had two RBI.

Holland had a beef with the host Righetti Warriors.

“The umpiring there was so one-sided,” Holland said.

Case in point was the pitching of Olivarria against the Warriors. He did not allow a hit in 5-plus innings yet was tagged with four runs due to two errors and seven walks. Despite the adversity, Olivarria came away with his 4th win in five decisions, striking out six.

What impressed Holland most was the relief pitching of MARK YOUNG, who toiled the final two innings and survived two unearned runs to earn the save.

“You have to give Mark a lot of credit because he came in the game in the 6th inning with the bases loaded and nobody out,” Holland said. “They nicked him with a pop-fly single for one run, but then he retired the next three guys in order.”

Helix has qualified for Wednesday’s (Apr. 20) tournament semifinals.

TYRONE WIGGINS anchored the Vaqueros offense and defense, while KEVIN GINKEL pitched a complete game 5-hitter to run his record to 5-0. Wiggins was 4-for-5 at the plate with a triple and two stolen bases.

“Wiggins put on a clinic,” El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY said of his shortstop, who helped stymie the 12-2 Miners. “Obviously he was a force on offense, but defensively he made one of the best plays I’ve seen in high school.”

After CURREN FACER’s RBI single gave the Vaqueros a 1-0 lead, El Capitan rang up five runs in the 4th and was ready to turn the game into a runaway.

The Vaqueros loaded the bases on singles by JAVIER GONZALEZ and JOSH TULLEDGE, along with a Bingham error. SHELDON GABRIELS then forced in a run when he walked on a 3-2 pitch. CHUCK MOORMAN then laced a 2-run single to left and TROY CONYERS followed with a 2-run single to right.

That set the stage for Wiggins’ highlight reel defensive nugget in the bottom of the 4th.

After Bingham opened the inning with a base hit, the second batter for the Miners appeared to follow suit. However, Wiggins had his own ideas as he raced behind second base to spear the ground ball in the webbing of his glove.

“It was amazing that he even got to that ball,” Vickery said. “But then he flipped it under his right arm to (second baseman) Gabriels, who completed the double play by tagging the bag and firing a strike to Conyers at first.”

It was one of three double plays El Capitan turned in the contest.

“That completely shut down any momentum that they might have had.”

Wiggins completed his banner outing with an RBI triple off the 405-foot sign in center field.

That would be sophomore SEAN WALKER. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound right-hander made a successful pitching debut in Tuesday’s (Apr. 19) Lions Tournament Classic Division victory over visiting Rancho Buena Vista.

Walker allowed only two runs and six hit while striking out five and walking none during a five-inning stint.

“Sean had some success down on the JV,” Davis said. “So I’m more pleased than surprised by how well he did for us. The main thing is he throws strikes and he has a good breaking ball.”

RYAN McCLANAHAN came on to pick up his 2nd save with two shutout innings.

“The thing about Ryan is he believes he can get people out – and that’s half the battle,” Davis said.

Granite Hills (8-7) snapped a 2-2 tie on NOAH CUMMINGS’ RBI single in the bottom of the 4th. A Rancho Buena Vista throwing error gave the Eagles another run in that same inning.

The Eagles put the game away on two-out run-scoring singles by McClanahan and CHARLIE ST. CLAIR. St. Clair led Granite Hills’ 10-hit attack with three hits, including his East County-leading 11th double of the campaign.

EL CAJON VALLEY 10, DeSALES (N.Y.) 9 — The spell is over… after dropping 17 straight games to open the season, El Cajon Valley finally found the win column in Tuesday’s (Apr. 19) Division 1A Lions Tournament victory over DeSales (Geneva, N.Y.).

“One of the things I thought of when we won was, gee – maybe I should inform the President, maybe he would invite us to the White House or something,” Braves coach MIKE RUPP joked. “This win is kinda cool – it’s been a long time coming.”

Trailing 6-4, the Braves battled back to score six runs in the bottom of the 4th to take the lead for keeps. They loaded the bases on a single by ROGER MEJIA, walk to ANTHONY TY and JOSH MEDLEY was hit by a pitch. ELMER RAMIREZ drew a walk to force in a run. CASEY RIVERA’s sacrifice fly tied it at 6-6.

A Saints error on a ball hit by ANDY RUE scored Medley with what proved to be the go-ahead run. JOHN THACKER and Mejia followed with RBI singles and Ty was hit be a pitch to force in another run.

Suddenly El Cajon Valley led 10-6.

“We’ve been working hard and it’s finally paying off,” Rupp said. “We hit the ball pretty good today.”

The Braves took a 10-8 lead into the final inning.

“(DeSales) scored a run and had runners on second and third with one out,” Rupp recalled. “They had a big kid on deck who I was hoping would be a slow runner and we could turn a double play.

“So I intentionally walked their big hitter to load the bases. The big kid hit a ground ball to our shortstop (Thacker), who flipped the ball to (Rue) second base, who fired to (Mejia) first base for the double play to end the game.”

OMAR CERVANTES, Thacker and Mejia had two hits apiece for the Braves. Elmer Ramirez scored three runs and Rivera logged three RBI.

CHRISTIAN 4, WHITTIER 3 – The Patriots won back-to-back games for the first time since the middle of March on Tuesday (Apr. 19) as they edged the Whittier Cardinals in a Lions Tournament Division 5A pool play game at Monte Vista.

JOSH SUFFRIDGE and KYLE HARRIS combined to pitch a 3-hitter as Christian improved to 7-10-1.

The Patriots broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the 3rd inning. Whittier helped out by walking the bases loaded, issuing consecutive free passes to CODY POTEET, SHIN KURODA and TANNER PERRY, with nobody out. MICHAEL POTEET than brought his brother home with a sacrifice fly. Suffridge hit into a force play, allowing Kuroda to score.

Christian scored what proved to be the winning run in the 4th inning. A.J. GREGOROVIC drew a two-out walk and advanced on a base hit up the middle by Cody Poteet. Kuroda then singled to right, scoring Gregorovic which at the time gave Christian a 4-1 lead.

WEST HILLS 12, LINCOLN 3 – The Wolf Pack snapped a five-game losing streak as it pounded out 14 hits in Tuesday’s (Apr. 19) Lions Tournament Division 3A pool play game against visiting Lincoln.

BRANDON BEARD drove in five runs by going 3-for-4, including his 3rd home run of the season to pace the Pack (5-10).

West Hills took the lead in the 2nd inning, breaking a 1-1 tie on RYAN NUCKOLS’ two-run single. Beard’s three-run blast keyed a five-run 3rd inning.

Beard carried the torch in the 4th as well, driving in two runs with a single.

ALEX PARSONS was 3-for-4 with two RBI for West Hills. BRANDON BYRD also had three hits and a stolen base.

Freshman D.J. LEWIS chipped in with a run-scoring triple.

BRANDON DELANEY gave the West Hills pitching staff a much-needed shot in the arm as he turned in a complete game four-hitter, while striking out five to earn his first varsity win.

LA COSTA CANYON 12, GROSSMONT 1 – Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY had a plan. Not his first choice, mind you. Yet, since his senior ace pitcher JOE MUSGROVE was nursing a jammed finger on his pitching hand, he was attacking the prestigious Classic Division of the Lions Tournament with only two-thirds of his starting staff.

As if facing the Mavericks’ Trent Swart (5-0) wasn’t tough enough, Earley sent three pitchers with a combined 3 2/3 innings pitching among them against No. 5 LCC (15-3).

Swart struck out 15 and walked none. The senior left-hander limited the No. 9-ranked Foothillers (11-5) to two hits – both by ROBBY NESOVIC. He smacked Swart’s first pitch for his 4th home run of the season in the bottom of the 1st and singled up the middle in the 6th. The only other Grossmont runner to reach base against Swart was on an error.

Earley saved Nesovic (4-0) for the pitching start in Wednesday’s (Apr. 20) final round of pool play at Torrey Pines. The Hillers’ skipper made this move for future consideration in the San Diego CIF playoff seedings, as both teams are in Division I. La Costa Canyon is in Division II.

SANTA FE SPRINGS 2, STEELE CANYON 0 – The Cougars wasted some blue chip pitching by WES JUDISH and RAY GOMEZ in Tuesday’s (Apr. 19) Division 6A pool play game of the Lions Tournament.

The USD-bound Judish blanked Santa Fe Springs on two hits over the five innings. Gomez was tagged for two unearned runs in the 6th inning and that was the difference.

“We aren’t executing very well,” Cougars assistant coach MARK BRUDER said. “One of our (three) errors led to a run for (Santa Fe Springs). It was an easy ground ball that we didn’t handle. Our pitching has been good. We’ve allowed no earned runs in either of our first two games in this tournament. Our defense is just not sharp right now.”

JESSE JENNER accounted for two of Steele Canyon’s six hits in the latest loss.

“We had the bases full – twice,” Bruder said.

Overall, Steele Canyon (10-6) stranded 12 runners on base.

POINT LOMA 5, VALHALLA 2 – The Norsemen suffered from a case of too much Connor Baits in Tuesday’s (Apr. 19) Premier Division Lions Tournament loss to the visiting Pointers.

And we’re not talking about fishing, which the Norsemen did a little bit more than usual against Point Loma’s 6-foot-5, 210-pound junior right-hander. Baits limited Valhalla (9-6) to four hits and one earned run. He walked one and struck out seven in a route going performance.

“He was lights out,” Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON admitted. “He’s legit – definitely a draft guy. Plain and simple, he beat us.”

After falling behind 5-0 in the 6th inning the Norsemen avoided a shutout on FRANCISCO TELLEZ’ RBI double in the bottom of the inning.

The Norsemen picked up their second run in the bottom of the 7th on a Point Loma throwing error.

MISSION HILLS 4, SANTANA 2 – Things were looking good for the Sultans in Tuesday’s (Apr. 19) Division 6A Lions Tournament game at Mission Hills.

In the 4th inning TYLER WEISS led off with an infield single and CAMERON BALOUGH followed with a long drive over the left-center field fence, staking Santana to a 2-0 lead.

But the Sultans’ offense stalled after that despite two hits apiece from ZACH BREIDT and GEORGE MARTINEZ.

SAN DIEGUITO 11, MOUNT MIGUEL 0 (6 inn.) – When CHRIS MAPLES was on the mound, the visiting Mount Miguel Matadors went toe-to-toe with the Mustangs in Tuesday (Apr. 19) Lions Tournament Division III tilt at San Dieguito Academy.

During a five-inning stint Maples allowed only two hits, one run and one walk while striking out two.

Then the wheels fell off as the Mustangs jumped on four Mount Miguel relievers for 10 runs in the 6th inning.

ORANGE GLEN 13, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 0 (5 inn.) – Eight errors spelled doom for the Foothills Christian Knights in Tuesday (Apr. 19) Division 1A Lions Tournament loss at Orange Glen. The Patriots capitalized on the miscues by scoring 12 unearned runs.

“As good as we were yesterday, we were that bad today,” Foothills coach DAVE LEWIS said. “We couldn’t catch the ball if you it rolled at us.”

Christian catcher A.J. Gregorovic gets the call after tagging out a baserunner from Foothill High of Henderson, Nev. The Patriots captured a 9-3 decision during Monday's opening day of the 61st annual Lions Tournament. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

El Capitan pitcher Michael Flores (left) records the out at the plate in his complete-game victory over Bishop Alemany High of Mission Hills. (Photo by Mark Gabriels) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
ANAHEIM (4-19-11) — Ranked No. 1 in the preseason ratings of the San Diego CIF, El Capitan arrived at Monday’s (Apr. 18) opening round of the Diamond Sports National Classic with a 12-4 record and a local No. 4 ranking.

If there was any question that the Vaqueros are faltering they made it clear behind the 5-hit pitching of 6-foot-7, 220-pound MICHAEL FLORES that they remain one of the premier teams in San Diego County by knocking off Bishop Alemany of Mission Hills, 3-1.

Flores did not allow an earned run and struck out six as he posted his 3rd win in five decisions in a route-going performance against the Warriors (13-8).

The Vaqueros made it 3-0 in the 3rd as SHELDON GABRIELS doubled in TYRONE WIGGINS (single) and ERIC LOZANO singled in CHUCK MOORMAN (single).

This was a sweet victory for El Capitan over Bishop Alemany, which was coming off a 19-8 season, finishing second to Crespi, the 2010 National Classic champion.

“It was a great way to start a tournament,” said Vickery. “When you’re going to play a lot in the next three days you don’t want to burn up your pitching, so it was good that Flores went all the way.”

Wiggins and Facer contributed two hits apiece for the Vaqueros, who totaled nine in the game.

MONTE VISTA 5, CHULA VISTA 0 – There is nothing flashy about Monte Vista pitcher LUIS LEBRON. But he is crafty, which is not uncommon for those who throw from the left side.

“We call him Picasso,” Monte Vista coach CHAD WILLIAMS said of the 5-foot-9, 160-pound Lebron after he pitched a 2-hitter in Monday’s (Apr. 18) Division 5A Lions Tournament victory at Chula Vista. “He gets up there and it’s almost like an art form. He takes his time between every pitch and really thinks about what he’s gonna do and how he needs to execute every pitch.”

Lebron doesn’t claim to be among the flame-throwers of the SDCIF like his teammate NICK SABO. Lebron is a finesse pitcher.

“We always know he’s going to let the hitters put the ball in play because he doesn’t throw hard enough to get a lot of strikeouts,” said Williams.

Lebron proved that speed isn’t everything as he struck out six in his third complete game. After allowing a pair of 1st inning singles to Chula Vista (7-10) Lebron permitted only one other baserunner over the final 6 1/3 innings. That was a walk which was swiftly erased on a Monte Vista double play.

At one stretch in the game Lebron retired 14 batters in a row.

“His curveball is outstanding,” said Monarchs catcher CARLOS OCHOA. “He was spot on with all three of his pitches. He kept them off balance all day.”

Monte Vista scored all the runs it would need in the 2nd inning as Ochoa set the tone by blasting a double into a strong head wind. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on the first of three PAUL O’CONNOR singles. After O’Connor stole second, Lebron reached base on an infield single to put runners at the corners. RICHIE BALAJADIA then stroked the first of his two singles to score O’Connor.

With two outs in the 3rd inning O’Connor singled, stole second and scored on a basehit by BENNY GUERRERO.

Monte Vista put the game away in the 5th on an RBI double by Ochoa and a run-scoring single by O’Connor.

Santana's George Martinez (middle) won't remain in this rundown for long when the shortstop from Sacramento-Kennedy does the ol' self face-plant. (Slideshow by Scott Seidel) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

SANTANA 11, Sacramento-KENNEDY 0 (5 inn.) – Santana’s CHRIS CAMARDA and BRIAN ASHWILL combined to pitch a 5-inning no-hitter against the Sacramento Kennedy Cougars in Monday’s (Apr. 18) Division 6A contest of the Lions Tournament.

Recognized as the ace of the staff, Camarda pitched only the 1st inning. No doubt coach LARRY OEDEWALDT made a pitching change after the Sultans (5-10-1) scored seven runs in the 2nd inning.

Ashwill picked up the ball after that and continued to hang up zeroes until a tournament run rule halted the action after five frames.

Meanwhile Santana, which has sputtered on offense much of the season, slashed out 14 hits. JONATHAN ALEGRIA was 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI to pace the Sultans.

In the key 2nd inning senior shortstop ZACH BREIDT belted a 3-run homer. Catcher CAMERON BALOUGH added a 2-run single in that frame.

CHRISTIAN 9, Las Vegas-FOOTHILL 3 – Victories have been few and far between for the Patriots of Christian High so far this season.

In fact when the Patriots flattened the visiting Foothill Falcons of Henderson, Nev. in Monday’s (Apr. 18) opening round of the Division 5A Lions Tournament, it not only snapped a six-game losing streak but marked only the second victory in 12 games for the Eastern League club.

MICHAEL POTEET led the Christian charge. Not only did the Patriots’ senior go 2-for-5 with his 2nd home run and East County-best 5th triple for 2 RBI, he also pitched five innings to earn the victory. Poteet scattered six hits while allowing only two earned runs while striking out five.

JOSH SUFFRIDGE slugged a 3-run homer to put the victory on ice for Christian in the 6th inning. He was 2-for-2 with 4 RBI and two runs scored.

Designated hitter MICHAEL KAUFMAN was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and 2 RBI for the Patriots.

Christian Patriots starting pitcher Michael Poteet (Slideshow by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

“We swung the bats today,” said Patriots coach MIKE MITCHELL. “We had three doubles, a triple and two home runs – six extra base hits. We only made one error and we played defense. We are trying to fix ourselves and we’ll be OK.”

STEELE CANYON 4, WESTVIEW 1 – Junior left-hander FRANK CALIFANO is probably best known around East County for his pinpoint pickoff move.

Talk about defusing an opponent’s running game, Califano has eliminated six runners from first base in his last 15 innings, including one in Monday’s (Apr. 18) Division 6A Lions Tournament game at Westview.

Almost forgotten is the fact that the Cougars’ pitcher is 4-0. He pitched a complete game without allowing an earned run and struck out seven against Westview.

Califano received the clutch blow that he needed from battery-mate JESSE JENNER, who lined a 3-run double into the left-center field gap in the 2nd inning. It proved to be Jenner’s third game-winning hit.

“It seems like we had runner on base all day but we just couldn’t get another big hit like we got from Jesse early in the game,” said Cougars assistant coach MARK BRUDER.

The Cougars (10-5) got their final run on a bases-loaded single by CLAYTON ROYER in the top of the 4th.

Grossmont right fielder Evan Rosenberger (far right) covers a ton of turf for this smooth running catch. (Photo by Tim Soto) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

Connor got the final three outs to earn his first varsity save.

Las Vegas Silverado (13-7) took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, before JOE MUSGROVE launched the Grossmont comeback with his 5th home run, cutting the Skyhawks advantage in half.

Grossmont (11-4) tied the game without benefit of a hit in the 4th. An inning later ROBBY NESOVIC singled up the middle, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored when TYLER TIMMER lined a shot off the pitcher’s glove that resulted in an infield out, but not before Nesovic crossed the plate.

In the 6th inning Eckley and EVAN ROSENBERGER singled. Two outs later Silverado’s second error of the game permitted Eckley to score an insurance run.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 9, GUAJOME PARK 2 – Coach DAVE LEWIS of Foothills Christian had the longest of days on Monday (Apr. 18). He began the morning flying out of St. Louis, after watching his son, freshman CODY LEWIS play in a college baseball game for Avila University.

Fortunately for Coach Lewis his Foothills Christian Knights were slated to play a night game in the opening round of the Division 1A Lions Tournament against Guajome Park at Vista Sports Park.

After falling behind their Citrus League rival Frogs 2-0 in the 1st inning, Foothills Christian (8-5) bounced back for four runs in the bottom of the frame. HENRY LUSCHEI’s bases-loaded triple was the key blow. He scored on a single by JORDAN LANCASTER. From there the Knights picked up a run in the 3rd on a base hit by ZACK TOMLIN.

Foothills Christian put the game away with three runs in the 5th as Luschei and DEREK BROWN contributed run-scoring singles. Leadoff man BRANDON JAROSIN was 3-for-4 with two stolen bases for the Knights.

J.R. ATTERBURY pitched a complete game, surrendering just three hits while striking out 10.

“It’s been a long, long day,” yawned Lewis.

EL CAMINO REAL 7, GRANITE HILLS 6 – After falling behind 4-1 the Granite Hills Eagles fought back to tie the game on JOSH ROSE’s 3-run homer in the bottom of the 3rd during Monday’s (Apr. 18) Lions Tournament Classic Division opener.

The Eagles (7-7), who are playing without their top two pitchers, took a 5-4 advantage in the 5th inning. CHARLIE ST. CLAIR clubbed his East County-leading 10th double and scored the go-ahead run on a two-out single by DANIEL BAGDASAR.

El Camino Real (12-8), however, had its own ideas as the Conquistadors regained the lead with three tallies in the 6th.

In the bottom of the 6th with two outs, the Eagles closed the deficit to one run as NOAH CUMMINGS singled and scored on a double by RYAN McCLANAHAN.

“We had our chances,” Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS said. “The frustrating thing is we’re not playing that bad, considering (DANIEL) STARWALT and (DOUG) BRANNVALL aren’t able to pitch. Right now we just can’t get over the hump.”

Rose was 2-for-3 with 4 RBI, including his San Diego CIF-leading 6th home run.

El Camino Real raked two Granite Hills pitchers for 15 hits.

PARAMOUNT 5, VALHALLA 3 (8 inn.) – The No. 11 ranked Norsemen saw their six-game winning streak end in Monday’s (Apr. 18) Premier Division contest of the Lions Tournament at Coronado.

Things started out smoothly for Valhalla (9-5), which took a 3-0 lead over the Pirates (13-3) of Paramount in the 5th inning. RAMSAY ROMANO stroked a scoring fly ball to center field. Pitcher RYAN PETERSEN then pounded an RBI triple to left as did CHRIS WILKEY.

That advantage was short-lived as Paramount tied it in the 6th.

“We had several chances to win it but couldn’t get the big hit,” said Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON. “We booted a double play ball in the 8th and that cost us. Even after that we had the tying run at the plate – twice in the bottom of the 8th – and just couldn’t get it done.”

Irvine-UNIVERSITY 10, WEST HILLS 3 – It was another listless Monday (Apr. 18) for West Hills which dropped a Lions Tournament Division 3A decision to the visiting Trojans from University.

Freshman D.J. LEWIS was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for West Hills (4-10) which suffered its fifth straight loss. PATRICK ESTEY and MICHAEL CARLIN also had RBI for the Wolf Pack.

MOUNTAIN EMPIRE 16, EL CAJON VALLEY 6 (5 inn.) – Matthew Dessel and Daniel Hoyos hammered home runs in Monday’s (Apr. 18) opening round of the Lions Tournament Division 2A action at Castle Park. The Braves took a 6-3 lead in the second inning but could hang on.

No other information was reported by El Cajon Valley.

El Capitan's Troy Conyers finished in second place during the home run derby at Saturday's (Apr. 16) Diamond Sports National Classic in Orange County. (Photos by Mark Gabriels)

El Capitan starting pitcher Shane Coleman tossed four shutout innings against El Cajon Valley to give Vaqueros coach Steve Vickery career win No. 600. (Photo by Mark Gabriels) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (4-16-11) — El Capitan High’s STEVE VICKERY was mulling over some of the great moments he’s enjoyed during a brilliant 32-year career of coaching high school baseball.

One of those was his first varsity win – a last-inning nod over Serra – when he began a five-year tenure at Valhalla High in 1980.

“I’ve had some pretty emotional moments, reflecting back these last couple of days,” Vickery said. “One of those memories I recall was that first win when I sent a kid named PAT BROTHERTON up to the plate in the bottom of the 7th and the score tied. I knew he could not hit a curveball and told him not to swing even if they threw nothing but breaking pitches. Sure enough they threw two breaking balls to go ahead 0-2. Then for some reason they tried to sneak a fastball by him. He crushed it (for a walk-off home run) and we won the game.”

Vickery’s victory count reached the 600-mark following Friday’s (Apr. 15) Grossmont Valley League 17-0 rout of visiting El Cajon Valley,

Mr. 600

El Capitan head coach Steve Vickery captured his 600th career victory after defeating El Cajon Valley, 17-0, Friday. (Photo by Mark Gabriels)

Not that Vickery is ready to hang up his cleats just yet. His No. 6-ranked Vaqueros (12-4, 3-0 GVL) are in second place behind Monte Vista in the league race at the moment. They are preparing to compete in the Diamond Sports Hard Nine National Classic Monday (Apr. 18) through Thursday (Apr. 21) in Anaheim.

El Capitan took a 9-0 lead over the Braves in the opening frame of the milestone victory. SPENCER NIELSEN paced a 17-hit attack with a 3-for-5 effort and 4 RBI.

“I’m proud of all the kids who have been part of these 600 wins,” Vickery said. “The kids I’ve had have sown a passion for doing things the right way. That is a credit to them.”

Vickery is only the third baseball coach in San Diego CIF history to reach this milestone. Rancho Bernardo’s Sam Blalock is the all-time leader with 768 wins, while Dennis Pugh, now at Cal State San Marcos, piled up 629 wins in 25 seasons at Mission Bay High.

Grossmont first baseman Derek Rustich (right), ball in glove, registers an easy out. (Photo by Tim Soto) / ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

GROSSMONT 4, STEELE CANYON 1 – Mighty JOE MUSGROVE of the Grossmont Foothillers is in the market for another league championship and a San Diego CIF title before he graduates in June.

So he figured one of the best ways to achieve those goals is to take matters in his own hands, glove and bat.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander was on top of his game Friday (Apr. 15) in the Foothillers’ Grossmont Hills League victory over visiting Steele Canyon.

Musgrove allowed only one run and six hits while striking out seven in a complete game pitching performance. Not only did he balance his season record at 3-3, he lowered his ERA to 2.21.

“My curveball was really sharp today, sharper than it’s been in the past,” said Musgrove. “And my two-seamer was really good to me towards the end of the game – it was starting to drop off the table real well.”

The San Diego State-bound Musgrove said he’d jammed a finger while avoiding a pickoff attempt at second base in the 3rd inning after he’d slugged an RBI double. That finger malady left him unable to throw a changeup.

“I jammed it pretty bad so I had to give up on my changeup,” he said. “It’s pretty swollen around the knuckle.”

So Musgrove said he had to rely on his 2-seamer curveball over the last three innings. It did not appear to be a hardship as he allowed only two hits and struck out four during that span.

“Joe did not have great stuff the first three innings,” said Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY. “It seemed like he didn’t get loose until the 4th. Once he jammed his finger it seemed like he threw better. He’s just a competitor. That was a great victory by him today – he just sucked it up, had to throw more pitches than normal and got the job done.”

Musgrove also got the job done at the plate. After ROBBY NESOVIC stroked a one-out single in the 3rd inning, Musgrove muscled a sinking line drive to center field that Steele Canyon’s BRAD BOEHMKE attempted to make a diving catch on to no avail, allowing Nesovic to score and left Musgrove at second base with a double.

With the score knotted 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th, Nesovic doubled to left and Musgrove followed with his 4th home run of the season, well over the left-field fence.

Prior to Musgrove’s game-winning shot, Steele Canyon coach TODD SNYDER paid a visit to the mound to meet with Cougars ace MICHAEL CEDEROTH.

“In my mind I was thinking if we go to 2-0, we put Musgrove on (intentionally),” Snyder said later. “I told Cederoth we had a base open and not to give Musgrove anything good to hit. The pitch he threw was way too good.”

Early in the season Musgrove was swinging from his heels and was obviously frustrated by the new, non-productive bats. Musgrove admitted that batting against Cederoth is no picnic.

“Cederoth is a tough guy to pick up,” Musgrove said of the Cougars’ 6-foot-6 right-hander who walked none and struck out eight in 5-plus innings. “The way he throws and the speed he has means we’re not going up there guessing. We make changes in our approaches, shorten up and get our foot down early and try to make it easier for us to see the ball in his hand.”

Just how hard Cederoth was throwing depends on which pro scout you were talking to – some said he peaked at 94 mph, others said it was 96.

One game before this one Earley decided to put his top three hitters – Nesovic, Musgrove and TYLER TIMMER – in the top third of the batting order. And once again it paid off as the trio went 5-for-9 with three extra base hits and 3 RBI.

“I was really surprised when coach said we should do that,” Musgrove said. “I think it’s a good strategy – get our best three guys at the top and see if we can do some damage.”

And so they did.

Valhalla shortstop Ramsey Romano (3) will get the phantom tag call in an attempt to turn the double play. Out at second base is West Hills shortstop Brandon Beard. The Norsemen lead the GHL with a 4-0 record. (Photo by Don DeMars) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

VALHALLA 7, WEST HILLS 3 – The Norsemen completed one of the best weeks in their baseball history Friday (Apr. 15) by coming from behind to knock off visiting West Hills for their 4th Grossmont Hills League victory in five days.

Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON does not claim to be a magician, but he’s doing a pretty nifty job of putting the right guy on the mound at the most opportune time.

In Valhalla’s latest victory Wilson called on freshman MITCH COOMBS to make his varsity debut. It proved to be a wise choice as Coombs allowed only one earned run in 4 2/3 innings.

Hard-throwing senior ALEX JOHNSON came on to slam the door as he blanked the Wolf Pack on one hit while striking out four over the final 2 1/3 innings to save the victory for Coombs.

“We have played four games in five days and I ran my pitching staff all the way down,” Wilson said. “My freshman (Coombs) left with a lead – that’s the first time he’s pitched in a league game. He came out and threw strikes.”

Things started out fine for Valhalla as the Norsemen took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. AUSTIN HENSLEY doubled to center, advanced to third on ANTHONY ZIMMERMAN’s sacrifice bunt and scored on RAMSEY ROMANO’s sacrifice fly to center.

West Hills (4-9, 0-4 GHL) rebounded with pair of runs in the 3rd inning as PATRICK ESTEY slashed a 2-run double to center.

Valhalla wasted little time fighting back, scoring three runs in the bottom of the 3rd.

DAVID CASTILLO, who was 3-for-3 in the game, started the 3rd inning comeback with a basehit to center. CHRIS WILKEY then singled to left. After FRANCISCO TELLEZ hit into a force play the Norsemen had runners at the corners with one out. KYLE McBRIDE then singled in Castillo with the tying run. One out later Hensley hammered a 2-run double to center field, staking Valhalla to a 4-2 lead it would not lose.

The Norsemen scored single tallies in the 4th, 5th and 6th to put the game away.

“It wasn’t a clean game – there were mistakes on both sides,” said Wilson. “We just happened to be the team that had the lead. It was a game of ‘take advantage of mistakes.’ We had 3 or 4 errors (actually Valhalla and West Hills each had two errors) which we haven’t had all season long.”

It was the fourth straight loss for West Hills.

“We just can’t get the big hit with runners in scoring position,” said West Hills coach JASON FOWLER. “The pitching is OK but we left a couple of guys in scoring positions. We’re not getting blown out, we just haven’t taken advantage of opportunities. It’s kinda like we’re playing not to lose.

“It will be good to get away from these guys (the teams in the Grossmont Hills League) for a week (for the Lions Tournament, which starts on Monday (Apr. 18)). It’s a tournament we should be OK in.”

MONTE VISTA 5, MOUNT MIGUEL 0 – Grossmont Valley League-leading Monte Vista stretched its winning streak to six games Friday (Apr. 15) behind another overpowering pitching performance by senior southpaw NICK SABO.

“Sabo was a real horse today,” Monte Vista coach CHAD WILLIAMS said. “He was in total charge. It’s a good feeling when he’s out there on the hill, and we played well behind him.”

JUSTIN AQUINIGOC was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI to pace the Monarchs (11-4, 5-0 GVL). He singled and scored on a base hit by CARLOS OCHOA for what proved to be the winning run in the 1st inning. Aquinigoc scored on JOHN BALAJADIA’s single to make it 2-0 in the 2nd frame.

“We got clutch hits when we needed them.” Williams said. “I like the way we are playing now.”

The Monarchs added three unearned runs in the 3rd inning and that was more than enough for Sabo (4-1), who pitched a complete-game 4-hitter. He struck out 9.

Mount Miguel’s FRED MOLLOCK was the hard-luck loser, surrendering only two earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Relievers JUWUN McCRAY and GILBERT TAFOYA combined to blank the Monarchs on one hit over the final 3 1/3 innings.

“Mollock pitched well enough today to beat most teams in the county,” said Mount Miguel coach BYRON GRIGSBY. “For the third time this year our defense (5 errors) let him down. And also, we did not hit at all (finishing with 4 singles).”

GRANITE HILLS 9, HELIX 6 – The Helix Highlanders began the week ranked No. 1 in the San Diego CIF with a 12-0 record. The Granite Hills Eagles were smeared by the Grossmont Foothillers by a combined 25-1 score leading to a pair of losses.

Thus both the Highlanders and Eagles were hungry when they faced off in Friday’s (Apr. 15) Grossmont Hills League encounter at Granite Hills.

Turns out it was a battle royale with the Eagles (7-6, 2-2 GHL) showing an influx of clutch hitting to send the visiting Highlanders (12-3, 1-3 GHL) to their third consecutive defeat.

“This was an important win for us,” Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS said. “We needed to build some confidence.”

One of the surprise contributors for the Eagles was freshman ROBERT BOSTEDT, who stroked a two-run single in his first varsity at-bat, giving Granite Hills a 4-3 edge after one inning.

Helix tied the game in the 2nd inning on a single by DIEGO REYNOSO, who finished the day 3-for-4 with 3 RBI.

The Eagles forged in front in the 4th inning as DOUG BRANNVALL laced a 2-run double to left-center field. DANIEL BAGDASAR then doubled in Brannvall to supply Granite Hills with a 7-4 advantage.

However the issue was not yet decided as the Highlanders capitalized on a Granite Hills miscue to plate two runs in the top of the 6th. DARYL BIBBS doubled and advanced to third when BRENNAN INGRAM reached base on an error to leave runners at the corners. Bibbs raced home when KACY SMITH tapped into a force play. After ROMELLO CARBUCCIA was hit by a pitch – for the second time in the game – Reynoso ripped an RBI single to make it a 1-run game.

Granite Hills counter-punched in the bottom of the 6th. Sophomore JOSH ROSE hammered his East County-tying 5th home run of the season to extend the Eagles’ lead to a 2-run margin.

“You know, Rose is proving he’s the real deal,” said Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS.

Singles by Brannvall and Bagdasar, coupled with a double steal, gave Granite Hills a 3-run advantage.

Eagles reliever RYAN McCLANAHAN retired the Highlanders in order in the 7th to post his first save.

Who's at First?

In a battle of first basemen, Steele Canyon's Garrett Gandolfo (top) applies to tag after grabbing a wide throw to save a teammate from an error. Meanwhile, the stretch by Austin Hensley (bottom) of Valhalla is not quite enough to retire the batter. (Photos by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-15-11) — Grossmont Hills League co-leaders Valhalla and Steele Canyon spun a good ol’ fashion pitching duel in Thursday’s (Apr. 14) bid for early supremacy in the Grossmont Hills League.

Both teams came into the game with 2-0 records, but the Norsemen claimed the top spot for now by beating the Cougars 4-1 to improve their overall record to 8-4 as they won for the 3rd time in four days while running their current winning streak to five straight.

The Cougars jumped on the board first in the 2nd inning when starting pitcher BRAD BOEHMKE led off the inning with a double. ANDREW KING and KYLE SAGER followed with singles and it looked like a rally was starting to form, but after a couple of failed sacrifice attempts Valhalla pitcher ROBBIE SCHMIDT got out of the inning only giving up a single stick figure.

A hit batsman, a sacrifice bunt and singles by RAMSEY ROMANO and CORY RUSSELL got the Norsemen back into the game in the 4th, evening the score at 1-1.

Valhalla sealed the victory with three markers in the 5th.

After a dropped fly ball in right put FRANCISCO TELLEZ on base, KYLE McBRIDE stepped to the plate and laced a double to left to drive in the game-winning RBI as Tellez scored.

“It’s been a long time coming,” McBride explained. “My teammates have been encouraging me ‘cause I haven’t turned on one lately, so it felt really great for me to finally get a clutch hit against such a talented team.”

Two batters later clean-up hitter AUSTIN HENSLEY added a pair of cushioning runs when he cranked his second homer in as many days to ring up his fourth dinger of the year.

“I thought it was gonna bring more rain,” Norsemen head coach MIKE WILSON said of the high fence-clearing drive. “He’s been hitting real good lately and was able to turn on it and hit it a long way.”

Hensley rarely misses the same pitch twice and proved it with his monster bash.

“It was an inside fastball and it was the exact same pitch I missed in my first at-bat,” he said. “This time I just recognized it and was able to turn on it.”

Schmidt pitched a complete game, surrendering only 5 hits to one of the best hitting teams in town.

“I completely owe it all to my defense behind me,” Schmidt said of his fellow teammates.

“Playing 4 times in one week can really put stress on your pitching staff, so for him to give us an outstanding performance and go the whole seven innings helps us out tremendously,” Wilson noted. “We played great defense with no errors and when you pitch to location and keep them off balance it goes a long way.”

Being in first place in the GHL all alone now had everyone on the Norsemen’s team excited.

“It feels so great to pitch my team into first,” said an exuberant Schmidt.

Hensley agreed.

“Last year we got off to a really slow start and it put us in a hole, so it’s great that this year it’s different.”

“Our team has come such a long way since the tournaments,” McBride echoed. “We’ve always had a good defense, but now that we’re beginning to hit it’s starting to all come together.

No one was happier than Wilson though.

“It really is nice for the kids. I’m pleased because – bar none – this is the best league in all of San Diego. Top-to-bottom there’s never a game off. If you don’t bring your “A” game you’re gonna get beat.”
— by Andrew Smith

ST. AUGUSTINE 8, CHRISTIAN 7 – Even though three Patriots pitchers limited St. Augustine to five hits in Thursday’s (Apr. 14) Eastern League tussle at Hickman Field, Christian came up short despite a furious rally in the 7th inning.

“We played much better... didn’t roll over and die,” Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL said. “We really battled over and over. We gave it our best shot. Our defense hurt us a little bit today but we are getting better there, too.”

Trailing 8-3 after five innings, the Patriots (5-10-1, 0-4 EL) embarked on a comeback bid against St. Augustine (10-4, 4-0 EL) which has taken over the league lead thanks to Scripps Ranch’s win over Mira Mesa.

Christian picked up a single tally in the 6th inning as TANNER PERRY led off with a single and MICHAEL POTEET doubled down the left field line. Perry, who was 4-for-4, scored on MICHAEL KAUFMAN’s ground out.

In the 7th, the Patriots loaded the bases on a walk to A.J. GREGOROVIC, BRENDAN RYAN was hit by a pitch and a base on balls was issued to CODY POTEET. One out later, Perry singled to left scoring Gregorovic. Michael Poteet then punched a two-run single up the middle cutting ther Saints edge to a single marker.

“We were right there,” Mitchell said after a wild pitch put runners at second and third with one out. But St. Augustine relievers Elliot Stepanof got a strikeout and Joe Dagostino coaxed a game-ending ground out.

“There’s a light coming at the end of our tunnel. We are advancing like a train."

Grossmont's Will Soto (right) steals second base against Granite Hills. (Photo by Tim Soto) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-14-11) — You won’t find the Valhalla Norsemen listed among the San Diego CIF’s Top 20. Not yet, anyway.

That may change.

Coming off impressive back-to-back victories over previously undefeated and No. 1-ranked Helix, the Valhalla Norsemen are riding high. In fact, after hammering the Highlanders 12-2 in Wednesday’s (Apr. 13) Grossmont Hills League duel, the Norsemen (7-4, 2-0 GHL) are tied with Steele Canyon (9-3, 2-0 GHL) for the circuit lead.

Better yet, Valhalla hosts Steele Canyon in a makeup game Thursday (Apr. 14) on the Norsemen’s field.

After stunning Helix 6-0 in their GHL opener on Monday, the Norsemen took the suspense out of round two by scoring 11 runs in the 1st inning.

“We stopped doing everything you have to do to play good baseball,” Helix coach COLE HOLLAND lamented.

A season-high six errors helped lead to Helix’s demise. That and the Highlanders’ inability to solve the serves of Valhalla senior southpaw NINO TUTINO, who allowed only one run and five hits over five frames.

“I had strep throat for about a week,” Tutino said. “I felt pretty good today, back on my game. I pitch to my defense. I try to get the batters to roll over on grounders or pop the ball up. I know the guys on defense have my back and they know I have theirs.”

Tutino admitted pitching with an early lead was a new experience.

“Even though I knew we had them chasing 11 runs, I knew I couldn’t get lazy,” Tutino said. “I came out in the 2nd inning with the same intensity I had in the 1st. I knew I couldn’t just coast. I still had to focus.”

AUSTIN HENSLEY carried the offensive torch for Valhalla, driving in four runs with his 3rd home run and a single in the opening frame.

KYLE ZIMMERMAN paced a 12-hit Valhalla attack by going 3-for-4.

“We try to teach the game,” Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON said. “We preach to our kids that once you get a big lead you have to protect it. It’s not about taking chances. It’s about playing sound baseball to maintain control. If we were to fall behind early then the strategy is different obviously”

Valhalla outscored the Highlanders 18-2 in the two-game sweep.

“To hold a team the caliber of Helix to two runs says something about our team.” Wilson said.

KACY SMITH collected three of Helix’s nine hits in the Scotties’ latest loss. RASHAD HARLIN cracked an RBI double in the 5th to shatter Tutino’s shutout bid.

The Highlanders tacked on a second tally an inning later when DARYL BIBBS belted a two-out double, Smith singled to right and DIEGO REYNOSO singled to left.

STEELE CANYON 15, WEST HILLS 4 – Most will concede that Steele Canyon has the most potent batting lineup in East County. OK, there might be a couple of dissenters, but the veteran Cougars pack plenty of punch.

One of the point men for Steele Canyon’s attack is junior GARRETT GANDOLFO, who was 4-for-5 with a double, a home run, three runs and three RBI in the Wednesday’s (Apr. 13) Grossmont Hills League conquest of host West Hills.

For the season, Gandolfo is batting at a.528 clip (19-for-36) with 11 extra-base hits and 14 RBI.

“I try to approach the plate calm and collected,” Gandolfo said. “My objective is to stay back and drive the ball. I don’t think about trying to hit the ball 450 feet. I don’t even think about hitting home runs.”

His second home run of the year was somewhat of a surprise.

“It was a 1-2 fastball that caught a little more of the plate than the pitcher wanted,” Gandolfo said. “I kept my head down, got it square by dropping the barrel on it. I watched it go, but wasn’t sure it would make it out until I rounded first base. The wind gave me a little help on that one.”

Not even the less responsive bats mandated by the CIF have intimidated Gandolfo.

“I don’t think the bats have anything to do with how well a guy hits,” he said. “It’s about your mental approach. You have to watch how a pitcher deals to the hitters in front of you and then make a plan for when you go up to hit.”

Steele Canyon’s latest victory was a story of big innings. The Cougars (9-3, 2-0 GHL) sent 10 batters to the plate during a 4-run 1st inning. Gandolfo contributed an RBI double.

The Cougars added six more markers in the 4th frame. JESSE JENNER ripped a one-out double to center field. He scored on a single by Gandolfo. BRAD BOEHMKE plated another tally with a double and KYLE SAGER doubled in two more. ROBBY NELSON’s RBI double made it 10-0.

“We are starting to play pretty well right now,” Gandolfo said.

Two West Hills errors helped the Cougars add three more runs to their total in the 6th inning.

Gondalfo’s lead home run in a two-run 7th put the clamps to the Cougars’ victory.

“The thing about Gondalfo is he has a good foundation at the plate,” said Steele Canyon assistant coach MARK BRUDER. “He has a nice stance and a great swing. He knows how to go with the pitch.”

West Hills (4-8, 0-3 GHL) did all of its scoring in the 4th inning. BRANDON BYRD drove in two of the runs.

GROSSMONT 16, GRANITE HILLS 1 – Coach JIM EARLEY had the Foothillers’ batting order stacked top heavy for Wednesday’s (Apr. 13) Grossmont Hills League encounter against visiting Granite Hills. He called it “pulling a MARK SMELKO.” Earley was referring to the one-time Monte Vista varsity coach putting his top three hitters in the first three slots of his batting lineup.

The top third of the Grossmont lineup consisted of ROBBY NESOVIC, JOE MUSGROVE and TYLER TIMMER. The trio went a combined 6-for-10, with two home runs, a triple, six runs and six RBI.

“I wasn’t your typical leadoff type lineup, but I kind of liked the results,” Earley said.

He didn’t have to wait long. Nesovic belted the first pitch from Granite Hills starter STEVEN ANACKER over the left-center fence for the first of his two home runs in the game.

“It was a bomb,” Earley said.

Three pitches later, Earley noted, Musgrove slugged a triple off the green batter’s eye in dead-center field.

“That one missed going out by about a foot,” Earley said.

Musgrove eventually scored on a base hit by cleanup hitter ALEX CONNOR, who finished the day 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI.

A two-out walk to WILL SOTO set the stage for Nesovic’s second homer in as many innings making it 4-0 for the Foothillers (9-4, 2-1 GHL).

EVAN ROSENBERGERs’ bases-loaded single made it 5-0 in the 3rd inning.

Grossmont, which outscored the Eagles (6-6, 1-2 GHL) 25-1 in a two-game sweep, broke this game open with six runs in the 4th and five in the 5th.

MONTE VISTA 9, EL CAJON VALLEY 1 – Freshman REILLY DIAZ, TOMMY POIRIER and BENNY GUERRERO combined to spin a 2-hitter in Wednesday’s (Apr. 13) Grossmont Valley League game won by the host Monarchs (10-4, 4-0).

Diaz toiled the first four innings to log his first varsity victory. He struck out six, walked one and allowed one hit.

Back-to-back doubles by CARLOS OCHOA and Benny Guerrero staked Monte Vista to a 1-0 advantage in the 2nd inning. After Diaz drew a walk, CRUZ GUERRERO gashed a two-run triple to dead center field. JOHN BALAJADIA then singled in Cruz Guerrero.

Consecutive singles by Ochoa, PAUL O’CONNOR and Benny Guerrero stretched the Monarchs’ lead to 5-0 in the 3rd. JOEY GONSALVES then capped the rally with a two-run double for Monte Vista, which won its fifth straight game.

El Cajon Valley avoided a shutout in the 5th inning. ANTHONY TY reached base on a dropped fly ball, advanced to second when JORGE MEJIA walked and scored on a CASEY RIVERA single.

OMAR CERVANTES accounted for the Braves other base hit.

Ryan Petersen tossed a 5-hit shutout Monday, handing No. 1 Helix its first setback of the year. (Photo by Tony Bordine) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
LA MESA (4-12-11) — When it comes to playing top-ranked teams, the Valhalla Norsemen have been on their best behavior. Twice this season coach MIKE WILSON’s crew has knocked off a No. 1-ranked team, the latest coming in Monday’s (Apr. 11) Grossmont Hills League showdown at Helix.

RYAN PETERSEN spun a 5-hit shutout as the visiting Norsemen (6-4, 1-0 GHL) handed the top-ranked Highlanders a 6-0 setback – their first loss in 13 games. Petersen rationed the Highlanders to four singles and one double in a complete game performance that earned him his 2nd win in five decisions.

“We’re still bitter about last year’s (SDCIF) playoffs,” Petersen said. “We were one game away from the finals but Helix beat us two straight in the semifinal round. We haven’t forgotten that. Our goal today was to avenge those losses.”

Valhalla took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning thanks to some wildness by Helix pitching. Junior ROBBIE SCHMIDT contributed an infield single, KYLE McBRIDE walked and BRYCE MOSIER was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. AUSTIN HENSLEY then drew a walk to force in what proved to be the winning run.

As one coach stated several years ago, “You win championships by winning on Mondays.”

The Norsemen put this one on ice by scoring five times in the 5th inning. A double to right-center by FRANCISCO TELLEZ made it 2-0. Mosier then smacked a 2-run homer and a Helix throwing error made it 5-0. Petersen then capped the Valhalla scoring with an RBI single to center.

“Helix is what I call a package team,” said Norsemen coach MIKE WILSON. “They do everything pretty well – you can’t go to sleep against them. The biggest thing is to get on top of them early. I don’t mean by a run or two, I mean by a sizeable lead. What helped us do that most is we didn’t let them get into a rally situation.

“There’s a reason why they came in undefeated,” Wilson continued. “They’re that good – they haven’t beaten a bunch of cupcakes.”

Petersen and Mosier discussed playing games on Mondays. Most teams believe they are not at their best, playing at the first of the week.

“It depends on who you ask,” said Petersen. “It doesn’t matter to me, especially against a team like Helix. When they came into this game at 12-0 you know they were not taking a day off.”

Added Mosier, “I don’t keep track of what day we play. I just go out and play hard in every game.

“Me and Petey work well together,” he noted. “At first he was able to throw his fastball, curveball, changeup and slider – all for strikes. He only shook me off once or twice.”

Mosier said Petersen’s repertoire shrunk later in the game.

“His curveball release point was high and he was rushing the pitch, which caused it to rise out of the strike zone,” said Mosier of his battery mate. “So we went with a fastball and changeup through the last two innings. Basically though, he was lights out.”

As for his first home run of the season the San Diego State State-bound Mosier said, “I’ve been a little pull happy in my first nine games. I haven’t faced (MAURO) OLIVARRIA before, but I tried to go opposite field against him.”

Ironically Mosier’s home run came on a pitch on the inside part of the plate.

“I think he missed with that pitch,” Mosier commented. “Even though I was looking away he came inside and I was able to react to it.”

Helix coach COLE HOLLAND, albeit disappointed, doesn’t expect his team to fold by the single setback.

“Honestly, top to bottom, we’re really struggling offensively,” he said. “Our pitching has been able to cover that up for us but today we didn’t have any answers for Petersen, 1 through 9.”

The same two teams will meet again on Wednesday (Apr. 13) at Valhalla.

That’s not a foregone conclusion just yet.

The host Santana Sultans proved that they’re not ready to concede anything as they took the Vaqueros into extra innings before falling in Monday’s (Apr. 11) GVL contest.

Santana (4-9-1, 0-3 GVL) rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 5-1 to force extra frames.

El Capitan (10-4, 1-0 GVL) pushed across the winning marker in the 8th inning when JOSH TULLEDGE doubled over the left-fielder’s head to score pinch runner BRAD MITCHELL.

That would be all MICHAEL FLORES, the Vaqueros senior reliever, would need. The 6-foot-7 right-hander retired all 11 Sultans he faced as he earned his 2nd win in four decisions.

“Flores was the bright spot today,” said El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY. “He was really focused. He had two pitches – what I call ‘plus pitches’ – his fastball and curveball today. He shut them down and allowed us to generate a win in a ballgame that we were very fortunate to win.”

Vickery said that even though his Vaqueros out-hit the Sultans 10-5.

Granted El Capitan marched to a 5-1 lead early. In the 1st inning the Vaqueros took the lead on an RBI single by TROY CONYERS. An inning later the Vaqueros made it 3-0 on run-scoring singles by TYRONE WIGGINS and ERIC LOZANO.

Santana counter-punched with an RBI double by CAMERON BALOUGH in the 3rd.

In the 4th inning after a leadoff walk by SPENCER NIELSEN, Tulledge sacrificed him to second base. Wiggins singled to put runners at the corners. The Sultans attempted to pick Wiggins off at first but the Vaqueros senior managed to get caught in a rundown long enough to allow Nielsen to steal home on a bang-bang play at the plate.

Lozano hit the ball to Santana first baseman AUSTIN SEIDEL, who turned and fired towards second base in hopes of turning a double play. The ball hit Wiggins in the helmet and caromed into center field. Wiggins continued on to third base and Lozano was safe at first. Wiggins eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by SHELDON GABRIELS, hiking El Capitan’s lead to 5-1.

Refusing to fold, Santana scored four runs in the bottom of the 5th inning. CHRIS CAMARDA ripped an RBI double. The Vaqueros also contributed two key errors that led to three unearned runs for the Sultans.

STEELE CANYON 3, WEST HILLS 0 – Talk about teasing a rival team... Steele Canyon junior southpaw FRANK CALIFANO issued back-to-back walks and then surrendered a single to ALEX PARSONS that should have loaded the bases with nobody out in the 1st inning of Monday’s (Apr. 11) Grossmont Hills League in Rancho San Diego.

Despite that promising start, the Wolf Pack (4-7, 0-2 GHL) never had more than one those runners on a base at the same time. That’s because Califano picked each of them off first base – one by one.

Califano’s slick move would tie a record if such achievements were actually chronicled.

“That’s not the kind of record we’re looking for,” retorted West Hills coach JASON FOWLER.

Cougars assistant coach MARK BRUDER admitted this was a new chapter in baseball lore for him.

“Califano started off really shakily,” Bruder said. “Three pickoffs in the same inning, wow, I’ve never seen that before. Frank threw 23 pitches in the 1st inning and 20 pitches in the 2nd. Then he really settled down. He battled and made some adjustments. It’s a testament to him to come back from that shaky start.”

And so he did. Califano blanked the Wolf Pack on three hits over five innings while striking out six to earn his third win in as many decisions. MICHAEL CEDEROTH hurled a pair of hitless innings and fanned four to claim his first save.

Steele Canyon (8-3, 1-0 GHL) took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning. JESSE JENNER was hit by a pitch and raced to 3rd on CLAYTON ROYER’s single. GARRETT GANDOLFO then hoisted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Jenner.

The Cougars added two more markers in the 5th. With two outs, Gandolfo doubled down the right field line and ERNIE FLINT ran for him. WES JUDISH then doubled down the left field line to score Flint. A wild pitch and passed ball eventually plated Judish.

Grossmont's Tyler Timmer batted 3-for-4 to power the Foothillers past Granite Hills, 9-0, Monday. (Photo by Tim Soto) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

GROSSMONT 9, GRANITE HILLS 0 – Lopsided games are uncommon when these two Grossmont Hills League rivals cross paths. But the visiting Eagles came in with one wing down as their top two hurlers – DANIEL STARWALT and DOUG BRANNVALL – were denied entrance to the mound due to nagging injuries.

This is not the best time to have your aces on the shelf.

Quick to capitalize on Granite Hills’ woes were the visiting Grossmont Foothillers (8-4, 1-1 GHL) in Monday’s (Apr. 11) league encounter.

Front and foremost for the Foothillers was pitcher ROBBY NESOVIC, who fired a complete game three-hit shutout for his 4th win in as many decisions.

“Robby faced the minimum 18 batters (although he had allowed one hit) the first six innings,” Grossmont coach JIM EARLEY said. “He has been great every time he’s gone out there. I think he threw only 80 pitches today.”

Earley was equally as pleased with the Grossmont offense, which peppered four Granite Hills pitchers for a dozen hits.

“I don’t think we’ve scored as many as nine runs more than a couple of times all year,” he said.

Actually Grossmont has generated as many as 15 runs in a game and reached double digits three times.

Against Granite Hills the Foothillers started fast.

WILL SOTO walked and stole second but was about to be stranded in the opening frame as the next two Hillers struck out. TYLER TIMMER kept the inning alive with an RBI single to left.

Singles by JOE MUSGROVE, Nesovic and ALEX CONNOR made it 2-0 in the 3rd.

Grossmont broke the game open with five runs in the 4th. Singles by JORDAN GERLEK and EVAN ROSENBERGER set the table for what was to be a booming 3-run homer by Musgrove.

“He got all of that one,” Earley said of Musgrove’s 3rd home run of the season. “It was a hanging curveball and he hit off the batting eye in center field.”

The inning continued, thanks to a Granite Hills error and a basehit by Timmer. Connor singled in a run and when the Eagles muffed the relay, Timmer scored.

MONTE VISTA 10, EL CAJON VALLEY 1 – Back-to-back triples by NICK SABO and CARLOS OCHOA and a single from PAUL O’CONNOR helped stake the Grossmont Valley League-leading Monarchs (9-4, 3-0) to a 4-1 lead in the opening frame of Monday’s (Apr. 11) Grossmont Valley League encounter.

Sabo’s RBI shot to right field provided him with his East County-leading 4th game-winning RBI.

Ochoa also slugged an RBI double to key a three-run 2nd inning.

Monte Vista, which has won four in a row, broke the game open with three tallies in the 4th. LUIS LEBRON’s two-run triple was the major blow.

El Cajon Valley scored its lone run in the 1st frame. CASEY RIVERA singled and road home on ABNER GARCIA’s triple. Rivera accounted for two of the Braves’ six hits.

O’Connor, JOHN BALAJADIA, and TOMMY POIRIER combined for 12 strikeouts for the Monarchs.

EASTLAKE 8, MOUNT MIGUEL 3 – Junior JUWUN McCRAY is one of the hottest hitters in East County these days.

The 6-foot, 170-pound McCray has collected 8 hits, scored 11 runs and stolen 13 bases in his last 16 at-bats. Those numbers, which include a 2-for-4 effort in Monday’s (Apr. 11) non-league loss at Eastlake (11-3), raised McCray’s season average to .366 (15-for-41). He’s also stolen a SDCIF-leading 22 bases.

McCray put the pressure on the Titans early as he began the game with a single, stole second and swiped third. As he arrived at third base, the catcher’s throw sailed into left field allowing him to score.

Eastlake countered by scoring six runs in the first two innings. The Matadors (6-8) rallied for a pair of markers in the 5th. ANTHONY GARCIA walked, McCray singled and BRAD MORENO followed with a hit to load the bases. ANTHONY ORTEGA was then hit by a pitch to score Garcia. CESAR PRECIADO smacked an RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Preciado finished with two hits.

Granite Hills' Doug Brannvall with one of his two homers to top West Hills, 9-4, in a GHL opener. (GHHS courtesy photo)

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (4-10-11) – Granite Hills High junior DOUG BRANNVALL apparently doesn’t believe in the weather reports. He was eager for the Eagles’ Grossmont Hills League opener Saturday (Apr. 9) at West Hills despite the recent rainy weather.

Brannvall blasted a pair of home runs and drove in five runs leading the visiting Eagles to a 9-4 victory over the Wolf Pack.

“I came into this one in a slump,” Brannvall said. “I don’t know what it is about this place (West Hills), but it seems to bring the best out of me.”

His first round-tripper came after a CHARLIE ST. CLAIR double and DANIEL STARWALT single in the 3rd inning. The latter came in the final frame that inflated a 3-run lead into a five-point cushion. Both went to right field as he showcased his opposite field capability.

“He’s a powerful kid and he had a couple really good at-bats,” Eagles coach JAMES DAVIS said of Brannvall.

A year ago Brannvall also slugged a pair of homers at West Hills.

“They’re a really good team over there and they swing the bats well,” West Hills skipper JASON FOWLER said of the Eagles. “We left a couple of pitches up in the zone and give Brannvall all the credit in the world for going with the pitch and taking them out to right.”

Granite Hills scored in five of its seven turns at bat.

The Eagles (6-4, 1-0 GHL) took flight in their first two turns at the plate pushing across a stick figure in both the 1st and 2nd innings to take a 2-0 lead. RYAN McCLANAHAN and NATE HUFF both spread their wings and soared swiftly into 3rd base in the respective innings with triples. St. Clair knocked in the run in the 1st with a solid single, and TRENTON BROOKS plated his man with a double deep into the gap in the 2nd.

After West hills catcher MICHAEL CARLIN drew a leadoff walk in the Wolf Pack 2nd, junior shortstop BRANDON BYRD got the first of his two singles and things looked promising.

TYLER SOTELO then stepped up and hit a deep fly ball to left field. A runner on second base usually doesn’t tag-up when the play is right in front of them unless it’s deep enough. Carlin showed off his speed and beat the throw easily only to be controversially called out for leaving second base too soon.

That would come back to bite the Wolf Pack (4-6, 0-1 GHL) when the next batter BRANDON BEARD homered to left on a 2-1 count which turned into a solo shot to tie the game at 2 apiece.

Granite Hills reliever STEVEN ANACKER pitched 3 1/3 innings in relief to garner his first varsity win.

“Steven came in and did a great job for us,” Davis said of his senior.

Anacker then passed the ball along to Starwalt who got his first save of the season.

“I’m just trying to do everything I can to get my guy the win,” Starwalt said.

Recent storms in the area denied these teams from playing a second game of what was slated to be a double-header. No makeup date has been set for the postponed nightcap.

— ANDREW SMITH contributed to this story.

HELIX 5, GROSSMONT 2 – COLE HOLLAND, skipper of the undefeated and top-ranked Helix Highlanders, does not view his club’s lofty rating as “sitting on top of the world.”

Don’t get the idea that Holland doesn’t relish being rated the kingpin of San Diego CIF baseball at the moment. For now, it’s merely a stepping stone.

“It was OK for us to pat ourselves on the back for starting the season with 11 straight wins,” Holland said. “In reality though, our season started (Saturday) with the beginning of (Grossmont Hills) League play.”

Answering the bell was tougher than it sounds. Grossmont’s TYLER TIMMER rifled a solo home run off Helix ace JAKE REED, staking the host Foothillers to a 1-0 edge after one inning.

Grossmont ace JOE MUSGROVE blanked the Highlanders (12-0, 1-0 GHL) over the first 5 innings.

“If you are a major league scout, you were at this game,” Holland said. “It doesn’t get any better in this town than Reed-vs.-Musgrove. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to throw (Helix right fielder RASHAD) HARLIN into the mix. All three of those guys have a chance to go high in the June draft.”

Helix finally broke through against the Foothillers (7-4, 0-1 GHL) with four runs in the 6th inning. After Musgrove plunked DIEGO REYNOSO and Reed, Harlin followed with a three-run home run, putting Helix in front to stay.

“Harlin is so much improved over last year,” Holland said. “The biggest thing is his plate discipline. Last year he swung at everything. This year he’s walked 10 times in 42 plate appearances. That’s something he didn’t do last year – most of the time he was getting himself out.”

Ah, to be a senior… Harlin is sporting an East County best .594 average with an on-base percentage of .696.

“We have this thing (stat) that I don’t think a lot of teams use, which is walks plus hit-by-pitch compared to number of strikeouts,” Holland said.

In Harlin’s case he’s received 13 free passes and stuck out only 5 times.

“Our team average is a plus 13,” Holland noted.

Reed limited the Foothillers to one run and three hits in six innings as he rolled his record to an East County best 5-0. He logged seven strikeouts. Reliever BRANDON LEWIS came on to fan three more in the 7th.

Pitching has been the ticket for Helix and much of the success of the Highlanders hurlers has been due to the work of Reynoso behind the plate.

“Reynoso is so overlooked yet he’s probably our most important player,” Holland said. “He does such a great job behind the plate – calling pitches and such – that not once in 12 games have we as coaches had to make a mound trip.”

That’s unheard of. The only time Holland has appeared at the mound during an inning was to make a pitching change.

“That was a pitch count deal, it had nothing to do with anything else,” he said.

Helix has used nine different pitchers this year while compiling a team ERA of 0.98.

“We kinda like where we stand right now,” Holland said.

The second game of a scheduled doubleheader between these teams was postponed due to wet grounds, and was rescheduled for Tue., Apr. 26, at 4 p.m.

HORIZON 11, MOUNT MIGUEL 5 – Gabe Saquilion limited the host Matadors to two hits and also slugged a two-run homer, leading Horizon to Saturday’s (Apr. 9) non-league victory.

JUWUN McCRAY accounted for Mount Miguel’s only hits – one of them a double – and stole 5 bases.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-9-11) — Although he is unheralded, Mount Miguel High junior JUWUN McCRAY is developing into one of the top lead-off hitters in East County.

He’s got a little bit of everything in his repertoire does this McCray, who was 5-for-5 with a triple, five runs, an RBI and two stolen bases in Mount Miguel’s 14-3 Grossmont Valley League romp Friday (Apr. 8) at El Cajon Valley.

“McCray hit two of those balls really hard,” said Mount Miguel assistant coach AARON MAPLES. “The other three hits he got with his blinding speed. If he hits a two-hopper, he beats it out.”

McCray leads East County with 15 steals.

After El Cajon Valley’s OMAR CERVANTES’ two-run single tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the 1st inning, the Matadors (6-6, 2-0 GVL) barged back in front in the 2nd inning.

BRENT LEASK ignited the Mount Miguel rally with a double and scored what proved to be the winning marker on McCray’s triple. McCray later scored on one of El Cajon Valley’s six errors in the game.

The Matadors began to pull away in the 4th. McCray set the tone with a basehit and a stolen base. He scored on a single by BRAD MORENO. An error and a groundout by winning pitcher CHRIS MAPLES extended Mount Miguel’s lead to 7-2.

After the Braves picked up their final tally on a sacrifice fly by ELMER RAMIREZ in the 5th inning, the Matadors broke the game open with five runs in the 6th.

Key blows in that frame included an RBI double by JOHNNY WRIGHT and a 2-run single by ALEJO CARDENAS for the Matadors.

Mount Miguel’s final two tallies came in the 7th inning. Once again McCray was center stage with a basehit to start things off. He advanced to second on an error and scored on Moreno’s basehit. Moreno stole second and third and scored on ANTHONY ORTEGA’s sacrifice fly.

Maples pitched five innings while striking out seven to post his 2nd win in three decisions. GILBERT TAFOYA twirled two shutout innings in relief to finish the job.

Elmer Ramirez and CASEY RIVERA collected three hits apiece to pace the Braves’ 11 hit attack.

FRANCIS PARKER 12, CHRISTIAN 1 – Head coach MIKE MITCHELL marched 18 Patriots into Friday’s (Apr. 8) non-league loss to No. 9-ranked Francis Parker.

Christian (5-8-1) pounded out nine hits, including a double and a single by TANNER PERRY. Pitcher CODY POTEET also had a pair of hits for the Patriots.

Kyle Dowdy was 4-for-5 with a home run and five RBI to pace the unbeaten Lancers (15-0). Jose Vizcaino keyed a three-run 1st inning against Christian starter and loser Cody Poteet, who struck out five batters and allowed three earned runs.

Three errors and five passed balls handed Parker four unearned runs.

“This game is a microcosm of all of our games,” Mitchell said.

Christian avoided a shutout with four consecutive hits in the 6th inning. SHIN KURODA led off with a single. Perry then laced a shot that bounced over the left-field fence for a ground-rule double, forcing Kuroda to stop at third. Poteet then tapped an infield single, but Perry got caught in a rundown between second and third. Kuroda held at third.

JOSH SUFFRIDGE then singled to score Kuroda.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-8-11) — It was another Eastern League nightmare for coach MIKE MITCHELL and the Christian High Patriots on Thursday (Apr. 7).

The Patriots (5-7-1, 0-2 EL) committed eight errors and uncorked six wild pitches as they succumbed to visiting Scripps Ranch, 12-2.

“That is one of the worst games I’ve ever been associated with,” Mitchell said. “We just keep beating ourselves with poor execution.”

Things don’t figure to get much easier as Christian hosts unbeaten Francis Parker (14-0) Friday (Apr. 8) at 3:30 p.m.

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (4-7-11) — A change in approach is making Monte Vista sophomore PAUL O’CONNOR a better hitter.

A one-time passive batter, the 6-foot, 170-pound O’Connor has become more aggressive at the plate these days.

“I’m going up there ready to swing... won’t let any strikes go by,” said O’Connor, who was 3-for-4 with a three-run home run and a triple in Wednesday’s (Apr. 6) Grossmont Valley League-opening 12-1 Monarchs victory over visiting Santana.

O’Connor has collected 9 hits in 11 at-bats over the past three games, raising his season average to .424 (14-for-33).

“I took too many pitches earlier in the season,” O’Connor admitted. “I’m going up there with more confidence now. I’m going to jump on the first fastball I see in the zone. Nothing to wait for until you get the pitch you want.

“Yeah, I know pitchers are going to deal me more breaking balls. That’s OK. I know I need to be looking fastball first, but I’m also ready to adjust to the curveball.”

O’Connor’s first varsity home run staked the Monarchs (7-4, 1-0 GVL) to a 5-1 advantage in the 3rd inning. He slammed an RBI triple in the Monarchs’ six-run 4th inning that broke the game open.

“The home run came on a first-pitch fastball,” said O’Connor. “My triple also came off a fastball, but the count was 2-1.”

Half of O’Connor’s hits have gone for extra-bases. He also has 10 RBI.

“He’s been seeing it pretty good of late,” Monte Vista coach CHAD WILLIAMS said. “He’s shortened his swing and keeping his approach simple. You can’t argue that he’s hitting at a pretty good clip. I just hope he can keep it up.”

The kingpin of the Monte Vista offense remains NICK SABO, who was 2-for-2 with his 4th home run that gave the Monarchs a 2-1 edge in the 1st inning they’d never lose. It was his third game-winning RBI.

Sabo continues to be a double threat. After surrendering back-to-back doubles to Santana’s CHRIS CAMARDA and CAMERON BALOUGH in the 1st inning, the senior southpaw blanked the Sultans (4-7-1, 0-1 GVL) on four hits over the next five innings. TOMMY POIRIER pitched a shutout 7th to finish the job.

MOUNT MIGUEL 9, EL CAJON VALLEY 1 — The fleet-footed Matadors stole 14 bases Wednesday (Apr. 6) as Mount Miguel opened the Grossmont Valley League season by battering the Braves. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Matadors (5-6, 1-0 GVL).

JUWUN McCRAY not only stole four bases to take the East County lead with 13, but was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and one RBI.

“The last couple of weeks have been tough for us,” Mount Miguel coach BYRON GRIGSBY said. “I know the scores don’t show it, but we were in some of those (Bill Dickens East County Tournament) games.”

MIKE SPENCER, FRED MOLLOCK and BRAD MORENO combined to spin a 7-hitter at the Braves. The trio totaled eight strikeouts between them. The key was they issued only one walk.

“Our pitchers aren’t overpowering, but they’ve been pretty sound most of the year,” Grigsby said. “They give us a chance when they throw strikes and don’t give up free passes.”

Mount Miguel took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning. McCray singled, stole second and then swiped third. He scored on a base hit by ANTHONY ORTEGA. Two steals by Ortega placed him at third where he scored on CHRIS MAPLES’ groundout.

FRANCO LUNA’s groundout plated a third run in the second inning.

El Cajon Valley fought back with a run in the 3rd and could easily have had more. ANDY RUE, OMAR CERVANTES and CASEY RIVERA singled to load the bases. Prior to his base hit, Rivera lifted a high fly ball down the left field line that cleared the fence, only it was two feet foul. Had Rivera’s drive stayed inside the foul pole the game would have been tied 3-3.

Instead, the Braves pushed across only a single marker when JOSH McILENEY was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Mount Miguel broke the game open with three tallies in the bottom of the 3rd. McCray stroked a single, stole two bases and rode home on Moreno’s sacrifice fly. Ortega and Maples slammed back-to-back doubles for a second run. An El Cajon Valley throwing error handed the Matadors a third marker.

Rivera and Rue had two hits apiece to lead the Braves.

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (4-6-11) — El Capitan senior reliever ALEX MARSICAL has a rather unique pitching style. Not that he is Australian, but he is a young man who comes from down under.

The 6-foot, 158-pound right-hander is a submariner. That is, he has a nasty lean to the right side during his delivery and snaps his pitches with an arm angle lower than that of a side-arm hurler.

“Mariscal is a true submariner in that his knuckles nearly scrape the ground on his every pitch,” El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY said. “He comes at hitters with a completely different look. He’s not a hard thrower, but he has a Frisbee slider and nice changeup.”

In his latest two outings, Marsical has spun five shutout innings in the last two days. Two of those came in a 7-1 non-league victory over host Otay Ranch Tuesday (Apr. 5) in South Bay.

“The nice thing about him is he can throw every day without hurting his arm,” Vickery said. “His dad realized he wasn’t going to be a 90-mph guy, so he and his son have spent the last four years researching the art of being a submarine pitcher. They’ve come a long way… done a great job.”

Meanwhile, TROY CONYERS drove in three runs with a double and a sacrifice fly to lead the Vaqueros (9-4) past Otay Ranch (9-3). His two-run double keyed a three-run 1st inning.

“We were a lot more aggressive – especially on bases – today than we’ve been lately,” Vickery said.

Conyers also pitched four innings and allowed only three hits and no earned runs to post his third win without a loss.

TYRONE WIGGINS, ERIC LOZANO and ELDEN WHISMAN had two hits apiece to pace the Vaqueros.

SCRIPPS RANCH 3, CHRISTIAN 2 – The Christian High Patriots missed a chance to pull an upset in Tuesday’s (Apr. 5) opening game of the Eastern League season when they failed to connect in the clutch.

And that cost them in the end.

Junior shortstop Taylor Madigan, who committed three errors in the field, singled in Markus Raimondi in the bottom of the 7th to give Scripps Ranch the walkoff win.

That left Christian starter MICHAEL POTEET as the hard-luck loser, even though he allowed only six hits and two earned runs in a complete game effort.

According to Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL the game might not have come down to that had the Patriots (5-6-1, 0-1 EL) produced a couple of key hits.

“We’re not doing some of the little things that we need to do,” said Mitchell. “We leave guys on base and don’t score a run. We had runners at first and third in the 6th inning with one out, and runners at first and third in the 7th… and didn’t score.”

This is the 4th one-run loss for the Patriots.

“I think we’ve out-hit (our opponent) in almost every game we’ve played this year,” Mitchell noted.

Senior SHIN KURODA was 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot for the Patriots. Michael Poteet swatted his East County-leading 4th triple.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 14, OCEAN VIEW CHRISTIAN 2 – Talk about a turn-around... make that seven wins in a row for the Foothills Christian Knights, who began the year with four consecutive losses.

Senior HENRY LUSCHEI was the main cog in the Knights’ latest Citrus West League conquest. Not only did he pitch a complete game 7-hitter without allowing an earned run, he was also a force with the bat, driving in three runs with a home run and a pair of singles. For good measure, he accounted for three of the Knights 12 steals. ZACK TOMLIN also swiped three bags for Foothills.

J.R. ATTERBURY led Foothills Christian with four of the Knights’ 15 hits. NOAH GULA was 3-for-4 with three RBI.

“The whole team hit the ball really well today and were running the bases really well, but the game really belonged to Henry Luschei,” Foothills Christian coach DAVE LEWIS said. “I like to be aggressive on the bases. We have only had two guys thrown out all year.

“In the 1st inning we were running and I was thinking we are going to have to stop (because he didn’t want to run up the score at the other team’s expense). Then it was a 6-2 game and I didn’t want to let off the gas too early. It’s always a judgment call when to let off the gas."

Helix third baseman Jake Reed fights the sun to grab a pop up in a 4-2 win over El Capitan to capture "The Dickens" championship title. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

B-DECT Championship: Helix at El Capitan (Helix slideshow by Tony Bordine) (El Capitan slideshow by Mark Gabriels)

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (4-5-11) — Helix High coach COLE HOLLAND doesn’t claim to be a master of the magnificent. Nor does he say he’s surrounded by a band of superstars.

Bottom line, though, is his Highlanders are 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in the San Diego CIF.

“I know being 11-0 breeds a lot of fun,” Holland said after Helix clipped host El Capitan 4-2 in Monday’s (Apr. 4) championship game of the Bill Dickens East County Tournament. “But I’ve never been around a team that gets along with each other more than these guys. They hang out all the time and when they are on the field they play really loose. There is never any panic in the dugout.

“To be honest, we as coaches, sit back and kinda just watch them. We pride ourselves into making routine plays, throwing quality pitches and scoring more runs than the other team.”

Sounds so simple. Of course, that is when things are going smoothly.

“Right now Cole is pushing all the right buttons,” El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY said. “They make things happen and we’re trying to find out what happened.”

Our 'Fearless' Leader

The Grossmont Conference Tournament is now named in honor of Bill Dickens, who has covered East County sports for more than 'XX' years. Here he tosses out the first pitch to Monday's title game. Of course, it was a strike! (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

SPECIAL THANKS to The San Diego Union-Tribune for allowing Dickens to report on 'his own' tournament. STORY

The Highlanders are anything but flashing. What they are is sound. In the first inning of the title bout they parlayed two hit batters, a single by JAKE REED and a walk for a 1-0 lead.

The resourceful Scotties tacked on another tally in the 4th with a two-out rally started by East County batting leader RASHAD HARLIN’s double. ROMELLO CARBUCCIA followed with a single for his second RBI in the game. He tops East County with 20 RBI.

“We take advantage of what we get,” said Carbuccia, who also pitched two innings of middle relief to pick up his 2nd win in as many decisions. “We really don’t worry about the rankings too much.”

BRANDON LEWIS pitched two shutout innings while striking out three to earn the save.

“It feels good to be ranked No. 1 in the county,” said Lewis, who is known as “B-Lew” to his teammates. “But we just take it day-by-day, game-by-game. There is no reward for being ranked No. 1 at this point in the season, but it still feels good.”

The Highlanders have what might be called a hunt-and-peck offense. Rarely do they put together a big inning. In fact, only once this season have they scored in double figures.

El Capitan cut Helix’ early 2-0 lead in half on a triple by TYRONE WIGGINS and a basehit by ERIC LOZANO.

Helix capitalized on the only error of the game to make it 3-1 in the 4th. An RBI single by BRENNAN INGRAM made it 4-1 in the top of the 5th.

If not for poor base running the Vaqueros might have put together a big inning in the bottom of the 5th. JOSH TULLEDGE led off with a single and Lozano followed with a one-out walk. SHELDON GABRIELS lined a ball to center field for a double, scoring Tulledge. However, when Lozano stopped at third Gabriels was caught in a rundown between second and third for a crucial second out in the inning.

The Vaqueros never threatened thereafter.

“We’re a great team that hasn’t shown up yet,” Vickery lamented. “We just haven’t let loose yet. We’re letting the stats affect us mentally and we’re worried why we’re not hitting 10-11-12 home runs… we’re just not having quality at-bats.”

El Capitan’s pitching has been stable. Only twice have the Vaqueros allowed as many as four runs in a game. The first time was an 8-inning victory over Poway.

“This is the most passive team I’ve had here in 27 years,” Vickery added. “I really think so. We get one hack per at-bat. And most of the time it’s not until we get two strikes. We’re so uptight and so concerned about the ball not flying out of here that we only have a few quality at-bats per game.”

Mon., Apr. 4
HIGHLANDERS, 4 VAQUEROS 2
Helix            ab r h bi  El Capitan     ab r h bi
Smith cf          4 0 1 0   Wiggins ss      4 1 2 0
Reynoso c         3 1 0 0   Lozano lf       2 0 1 1
Reed 3b           4 0 1 0   Gabriels 2b     4 0 1 1
Harlin rf         2 2 2 0   Conyers 1b      2 0 0 0
Carbuccia ss-p    3 0 1 2   Moorman c       2 0 0 0
Ingram lf         4 0 1 1   Facer rf        3 0 0 0
Olivarria p-2b-1b 2 1 1 0   Whisman dh      2 0 0 0
Lewis 1b-p        2 0 0 0   Nielsen 3b      3 0 0 0
Bibbs 2b-ss       3 0 1 0   Tulledge cf     3 1 1 0
TOTALS           27 4 7 3   TOTALS         25 2 5 2
 
Helix      (11-0) 101 110 0 – 4 8 0
El Capitan  (8-4) 001 010 0 – 2 5 1
 
GWRBI-Carbuccia (3).
E-Wiggins. DP-EC 2. LOB-Hel 8, EC 7. 2B-Olivarria,
Harlin, Gabriels. 3B-Wiggins. SB-Lozano.
 
PITCHING SUMMARY
Helix                      ip  h  r er bb so
 Olivarria                3.0  2  1  1  0  3
 Carbuccia W,2-0          2.0  2  1  1  1  0
 Lewis     Sv,1           2.0  1  0  0  0  3
El Capitan
 Coleman   L,1-1          4.0  6  4  3  3  1
 Mariscal                 3.0  2  0  0  1  0
Coleman faced 1 batter in the 5th.
HBP-Olivarria 3 (Lozano, Conyers, Moorman), by
Lewis (Whisman), by Coleman 2 (Reynoso, Carbuccia).

“I know this team is going to get better, but they need to believe that they can,” Vickery said.

Holland hopes that the Highlanders consistently continue.

“We know we’re gonna be up against it in our (Grossmont Hills) league – the toughest league in San Diego,” said Holland, whose Highlanders are preseason favorites in that circuit.

The Highlanders, who have allowed only 15 runs in 11 games, have the pitching to match up with any team in town.

Helix’ hurlers have twirled five shutouts and boast an 0.97 team ERA. Only one team has scored more than three runs against the Highlanders – that was Ramona in an 8-5 loss in the second game of the season.

“I think we’re headed in the right direction,” Holland understated. “At least we’re going to be there (No. 1) for at least a week so we can enjoy it for a few days.”

Santana shortstop Tyler Weiss (3) accepts the toss from second baseman Jesse Roberto for the inning- ending force out, as the Sultans rallied from 5-0 down to stun host Eastlake, 13-5, in a non-league contest. (Photo by Scott Seidel) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

SANTANA 13, EASTLAKE 5 – Call it winning the hard way. It’s not exactly the motto Santana coach LARRY OEDEWALDT was looking for, but his Sultans have taken on a pattern of falling behind early and then trying to pull out a victory at the end.

In Monday’s (Apr. 4) non-league encounter at No. 7-ranked Eastlake (8-3) the Sultans (4-6-1) found themselves trailing 5-0 after two innings. Talk about déjà vu … in their previous game on Saturday the Sultans were down 14-0 after five innings at Grossmont. It was 5-0 after one inning against the Foothillers.

“I told my team that we can’t keep digging such deep holes for ourselves, especially when we’re playing good teams,” Oedewaldt said.

The Sultans scored six runs in the final two innings in a lopsided loss to the Foothillers. They did a lot better against the Titans, outscoring Eastlake 13-0 over the final five innings. They turned the game into a blowout with seven runs in the 6th and left the bases loaded without scoring in the 7th.

“We showed a little character against Eastlake,” said Oedewaldt, whose Sultans have scored 19 runs in their last nine innings. “We’re starting to produce some offense but you need a whole lot of offense if you’re going to give up 20 runs like we’ve done in our last two games.”

Senior GEORGE MARTINEZ whacked a pair of 2-run doubles to spark the Sultans. His 2-base blow in the 5th inning gave Santana a 6-5 lead it would not surrender.

Catcher CAMERON BALOUGH and infielder JESSE ROBERTO were each 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI.

CHRIS CAMARDA collected three hits, including one of the Sultan’s five doubles. He drove in Santana’s second run with a 2-base blow in the 3rd frame.

TYLER WEISS ignited Santana rallies in the 5th and 6th innings with walks. He also scored three times and drove in a run.

Although Eastlake touched up five Santana pitchers for 10 hits, only one of the Titans’ runs was earned.

JIMMY ELIAS was impressive in his two innings of relief, allowing no runs, no hits while striking out five. The five Santana hurlers combined for a dozen strikeouts.

JAYLEN FLEER pitched only one inning but was awarded his second win in three decisions.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 13, RIVER VALLEY 3 – There was no stopping Foothills Christian’s BRANDON JAROSIN in Monday’s (Apr. 4) non-league romp over River Valley at the Sportsplex USA of Santee.

The versatile senior was all over the place, reaching base six times in as many at-bats. He scored four runs and stole five bases. He walked four times, whacked a double and reached on an error.

“Jarosin has been our leadoff hitter all year,” said Knights coach DAVE LEWIS. “You can’t have a better guy in that spot. He really set the tone for our offense today – and he’s one of our team captains.”

Did we mention pitching? Yeah, Jarosin did that too, blanking the Leopards on one hit over three innings to pick up his 2nd win in three decisions. He struck out five and walked only one.

The Knights (6-4) won their 6th straight game. TREVOR TINNEY, HENRY LUSCHEI and ZACH CUMMINGS had 3 RBI apiece. Tinney was 2-for-3 and scored three runs. Luschei was 2-for-2 and scored twice. Cummings stroked a 2-run double in the 5th inning.

JORDAN LANCASTER also drove in two runs, one coming on a double. J.R. ATTERBURY was 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI.

Tinney also supplied the Knights with two innings of middle relief, recording six strikeouts in the process. Cummings pitched the final two frames. None of the Leopards’ runs were earned.

The three Foothills Christian pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts.

“Three guys on our team played their first varsity game today,” Lewis said. “COTY KINCAID, CHRIS FARMER and CHRIS SERABIA are all freshmen."

Steele Canyon shortstop Clayton Royer will corral the ball and tag out El Capitan baserunner Tyrone Wiggins in the Cougars' 3-0 triumph. The Vaqueros still qualified for Monday's BDECT final, hosting Helix at 4 p.m. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Top: Steele Canyon pitcher Michael Cederoth. Bottom: El Capitan sinkerballer Alex Mariscal. (Photos by Frank Price, youatplay.com)

By Andrew Smith
Special to East County Sports.com
RANCHO SAN DIEGO (4-3-11) — Steele Canyon High’s MICHAEL CEDEROTH was the center of attention in Saturday’s (Apr 2) action of the Bill Dickens East County Tournament. The flame-throwing right-hander was at his best against visiting El Capitan, spinning a complete-game, 1-hit shutout while striking out 8 to give the Cougars a 3-0 victory.

“He really polished up from last year,” said El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY. “He was sitting at 90-92 (mph) and peaked at 93. He looked like a pitcher, not just a hard thrower today.”

Any suspense of the 6-foot-6 Cederoth pitching a no-hitter was dashed early. One out into the game Vaqueros’ second baseman SHELDON GABRIELS singled and stole second base. One batter later, clean-up hitter TROY CONYERS walked, but Cederoth escaped by inducing a ground ball back to the box and El Capitan (8-3) stranded its only two runners of the game.

The Cougars (7-3) came out pouncing in the bottom half of the opening frame ignited by JESSE JENNER’s lead-off double. CLAYTON ROYER and GARRETT GANDOLFO followed with singles and after El Capitan committed the only error of the game, Steele Canyon was enjoying a 2-0 lead. From there it was game-set-match for Cederoth (2-0).

“We had to prepare a lot for this team this week pitching-wise, so it was a great win for us,” Cederoth said.

The Cougars’ fire-baller faced the minimum number of batters after the 1st and ended up striking out 8 of the last 11 batters he faced. He struck out the side in the 7th inning to end the game, but what was more impressive was the fact he was still throwing 92 mph that late in the game.

That is why he is expanding his repertoire with a cutter, curve and changeup to keep hitters off-balanced and guessing. “My cut was working good today and once I got a feel for my curve it felt great, too” said the righty.

That was an understatement to say the least as he seemed to only grow stronger as the game progressed and the lone runner to reach base after that point was the all-county shortstop TYRONE WIGGINS in the top of the 6th.

Wiggins drew a walk bringing the tying run to the plate. But when a pitch caromed off the backstop to Cougars’ catcher MICHAEL RANDEL he showed off his cannon of an arm and threw a perfect strike to nail the speedster at second.

“I missed the ball coming in, but I know the backstop kicks pretty hard here so I got lucky and it came right back to me,” the jubilant catcher explained afterwards.

Gandolfo lead off the 6th for Steele Canyon with a double to left and after pinch runner ERNIE FLINT got to third on a passed ball, the USD-bound WES JUDISH knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to give the Cougars an added insurance run.

That bit of action aside, the story of the game was Cederoth.

“Not a whole lot of words to describe him,” Cougars skipper TODD SNYDER said after seeming perplexed for words. “He was throwing everything for strikes and hitting his spots. It was a dominant performance. What’s exciting is he’s not even close to his full potential yet and that ceiling is so unbelievably high. He works harder than any pitcher I’ve ever been around so he absolutely deserves all the accolades he receives.”

Vickery agreed.

“We’ve seen three pitchers just like him this week, but we just couldn’t do anything against him. I give him all the credit in the world – he just made us look ridiculous at the plate today. There is nothing we can do except tip our hat to him."

Helix, El Capitan, to battle for BDECT championship

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (4-3-11) — Undefeated Helix (10-0) and defending San Diego CIF Division III champion El Capitan (7-3) will collide in Monday’s (Apr. 4) championship game of the Bill Dickens East County Tournament at the Vaqueros’ Hostetler Field. Game time is 4 p.m.

Helix posted a 4-0 mark in tournament pool play, including three shutouts. Overall, the Highlanders claimed a 33-1 scoring advantage, nosing out Steele Canyon which won four of five pool play games and nailed down three shutouts. In this case Helix received the nod to represent the Grossmont Hills League due to having a better winning percentage.

For the record Steele Canyon also authored three shutouts in five games, but a last-inning loss to Santana denied the Cougars any chance of leapfroging over Helix for the title berth.

El Capitan, the Grossmont Valley League representative, lost its final pool play game on Saturday (Apr. 2) to Steele Canyon, 3-0. The Vaqueros finished with the same pool play record (3-2) as Monte Vista, but allowed 14 fewer runs in the tiebreaker.

A .130 average, one homer and 3 RBI in his first nine games were not up to Musgrove’s standards.

“I think it was a matter of confidence,” said the 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior, who also attracts major league scouts’ attention with his 90 mph fastball. Musgrove was coming off a junior season where he batted .430 (46-for-107) with 10 doubles, 9 home runs and 35 RBI.

His pitching stats were equally as impressive as they included an 11-1 record, a 2.07 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings.

“I was so excited about my junior year. I just thought I’d be able to pick up right where I left off,” Musgrove said.

Of course, when you reel off the kind of numbers he did as a junior, you create a reputation and opposing players adjust accordingly.

Musgrove had a breakout game in Saturday’s (Apr. 2) Bill Dickens East County Tournament against visiting Santana (3-6-1) at Joe Gizoni Field. He belted a grand slam homer in the 5th inning and finished 3-for-3 with 7 RBI as the Foothillers’ first baseman.

“It’s about time,” Musgrove said. “Obviously I’ve been struggling but I’ve had a lot of help from our hitting coach BENNY CRAIG and I feel a lot better right now.”

One of the things Musgrove did to help himself was to build a batting cage in his back yard with the help of his father, MARK.

“We made a cage out of old pipes, some netting and a tee that I got from school,” young Musgrove said. “It’s really helped me.”

While Musgrove was practicing mechanics on his own time, Craig was helping him from the psychological end.

“He kept telling me to keep my barrel up,” Musgrove said. “I’ve been getting under too many pitches and that resulted in pop-ups and fly balls – all of them outs. I was trying to do too much.

“My confidence was down because I felt like I was letting the team down.”

Musgrove was on the mark against Santana. His bases-loaded walk in the 1st inning gave Grossmont a 1-0 lead it would not lose. He had RBI singles in the 2nd and 3rd innings helping Grossmont extended its advantage to 10-0.

His grand slam that whizzed past the scoreboard in left-center field gave Grossmont a 14-0 cushion.

“It was a fastball and I got all of it,” Musgrove said. “I was down in the count early and the Santana pitcher made a mistake with a fastball inside, thigh high.”

Grossmont pounded out 13 hits en route to its season scoring high. ROBBY NESOVIC was 3-for-3 with an RBI, but more importantly he pitched five shutout innings to log his 3rd win without a loss.

Santana made a belated comeback by scoring six runs in the final two innings against Grossmont’s bullpen.

The Sultans parlayed a single by TYLER WEISS, two walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly to round up a pair of tallies in the 6th. It could have been a bigger inning had Grossmont’s centerfielder WILL SOTO not made a brilliant running catch as he crashed into the right-center field fence to rob CAMERON BALOUGH of a 2-run double in the same frame.

Balough got even in the 7th. The Sultans loaded the bases on singles by AUSTIN SEIDEL, JONATHAN ALEGRIA and a walk to CHRIS CAMARDA to load the bases with one out in the final frame. Balough then worked the count to 2-2 before belting a grand slam off relief pitcher JARED OULETTE over the right-center field wall.

“We’re a lot better team than we’ve shown so far,” Musgrove said. “I think we’ll prove that in the coming days.”

Fact is, the Highlanders have been a “Perfect 10” (take that Bo Derek!) this season.

On the strength of the combined two-hit pitching of senior ace JAKE REED and junior MARK YOUNG, Helix rolled over visiting Mount Miguel (4-6) in Saturday’s (Apr. 2) final round of pool play in the Bill Dickens East County Tournament.

Pitching has been Helix’s strongest suit. The Highlanders’ hurlers have strung together 22 consecutive scoreless innings. Ironically, El Capitan was the last team to score on Helix when catcher CHUCK MOORMAN hammered a solo home run in the 6th inning of a 3-1 Highlanders win on Mar. 23 in Lakeside.

Only three Matadors reached base against Reed and Young. Reed’s six innings on the bump, yielded 13 strikeouts en route to his 4th win without a loss. Young allowed a walk in the 7th but that’s all.

“Our pitching has been sensational all season,” Helix coach COLE HOLLAND said. “It was again today.”

A double by BRANDON LEWIS coupled with a bunt by DARYL BIBBS and a Mount Miguel throwing error gave the Highlanders a 1-0 edge in the 3rd. BRENNAN INGRAM’s two-run single made it 3-0 in the 4th.

Heavy-hitting RASHAD HARLIN added RBI singles in the 5th and 6th innings. Bibbs belted a two-run double in the 6th frame, while DIEGO REYNOSO plated yet another marker in the 5-run 6th with a single.

Mount Miguel ace JUWUN McCRAY was victimized by four errors as he rationed the Highlanders to four hits and no earned runs over five innings. Helix blew the game open at the expense of reliever FRED MOLLOCK.

DOMINIK SAWYER and CESAR PRECIADO accounted for Mount Miguel’s only two hits.

VALHALLA 14, EL CAJON VALLEY 1 – Games that Valhalla has lost this season cannot be blamed on its pitching. Only twice have the Norsemen allowed more than three runs and they’ve not given more than five markers in any of their first nine games.

It’s been a matter of consistency on offense and defense. Valhalla (5-4) broke loose for a season-high 14 runs and could easily have doubled that total in Saturday’s (Apr. 2) Bill Dickens East County Tournament encounter.

Credit Valhalla coach MIKE WILSON for finding a way to hold the score down against an El Cajon Valley outfit that has allowed as many as 29 and 34 runs in a single contest this season.

Two innings into the game Valhalla scored 14 runs. How the Norsemen failed to score in the final four innings is amazing.

BRYCE MOSIER’s RBI single ignited Valhalla’s 6-run 1st inning. In that same frame AUSTIN HENSLEY whacked a 2-run triple to left-center. ROBBIE SCHMIDT also had an RBI double in the 1st inning flurry.

A dropped fly ball with one out in the 2nd inning proved to be kindling for an 8-run frame for the Norsemen.

Obviously the game was over at that point.

RYAN PETERSEN pitched two innings for Valhalla but allowed El Cajon Valley’s only run, yet escaped with his first win in four decisions.

The Braves, who have been held hitless in the previous two games, put together singles by ELMER RAMIREZ and JOSH McILENEY and a run-scoring groundout by ANDY RUE that helped El Cajon Valley avoid a third straight shutout.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-2-11) — He’s hardly an imposing figure when he stands on the mound, and you won’t see a bevy of radar guns pointed at his every pitch. But LUIS LEBRON, a 5-foot-9, 160-pound Monte Vista southpaw, knows how to baffle hitters.

He proved that to the aggressive Granite Hills Eagles in Friday’s (Apr. 1) Bill Dickens East County Tournament tilt.

It seemed like every pitch Lebron threw had some kind of spin to it. That fooled all but a couple of the Eagles’ hitters as the Monarchs used a 7-run 2nd inning to march to an 8-3 victory at Granite Hills.

“My curveball was working pretty well and I was trying to work on my changeup,” said Lebron, who allowed only two earned runs in a complete game effort. “They took most of the curveballs and changeups I threw, and then went after my fastball.”

“I try to throw strikes and let my defense help me out,” he said.

The fact that Monte Vista (6-4) scored 7 runs in the 2nd inning to take a 6-run lead provided Lebron with a platform for smooth sailing.

“When you get that kind of support it definitely makes you feel more confident,” he said.

Five of the Monarchs’ 9 hits came in the explosive 2nd inning. BENNY GUERRERO’s 2-run single put the Monarchs in front 3-1. A 3-run double by senior catcher CARLOS OCHOA broke the game open in the same inning. It marked the second time this season that Ochoa has answered a bases-loaded situation with a base-clearing blow.

“This was a big game for us,” Ochoa said. “It shows our opponents that we’re out there to win, that we’re a tougher team than we’ve been in the past.”

Ochoa has seen the improvement in the Monarchs during his four years wearing the crimson and gold.

“Now I think people should look at us as a good team because we are,” he said.

The veteran receiver had nothing but praise for Lebron’s pitching. “He was hitting his spots all day. He was throwing a lot of off-speed stuff and (the Eagles) were way in front of it, trying to pull everything.”

Senior NICK SABO had another impressive outing for Monte Vista. He laced a double to right-center field in the 1st inning, walked with the bases loaded in the 2nd and hammered a majestic solo homer in the 4th.

“I barely even felt the ball hit the bat,” said Sabo of his home run that sailed over the Granite Hills scoreboard in left-center field.

Sabo’s 3rd homer of the season was more like a golf shot.

“That really wasn’t a bad pitch... about six inches or so off the ground,” mused Monarchs coach CHAD WILLIAMS. “But Nick just jumped on it.”

Even the umpires admitted they were in awe of Sabo’s rocket shot. One can only imagine how far that ball might have traveled had Sabo been using an aluminum bat.

“He might be a better hitter than he is a pitcher,” Granite Hills coach JAMES DAVIS said of the Long Beach State-bound Sabo. “He crushed that ball. I’ll tell you what, the home run he hit was a good pitch – a breaking ball low and away and it was a no doubter.”

It’s hard to say for sure what scouts think about Sabo. Most probably believe that the future of the 6-foot-5, 225-pound southpaw is as a pitcher.

“I didn’t realize he’d gotten that good at hitting, because he really has,” said Davis. “I was really impressed at how well Sabo swung the bat.”

Williams was pleased that the Monarchs were finally able to cluster a bunch of hits into a big inning.

“It was nice to come through with clutch hits in that big inning,” he said. “It’s something we haven’t been able to do very often. The fact that we were able to do it today allowed Luis to settle in.”

The lone bright spot for the Eagles was the hitting of catcher CHARLIE ST. CLAIR who had 3 doubles and 3 RBI.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 7, CHRISTIAN LIFE 5 – Foothills Christian jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 2nd inning of Friday’s (Apr. 1) Citrus West League action in North County and then held on for its 5th straight victory. Included in that win streak are two league wins.

“They are our league rival,” said Knights coach DAVE LEWIS.

J.R. ATTERBURY and ZACK TOMLIN combined to scatter 8 hits and allow only 2 earned runs. Another major factor was the duo issued no walks to the Eagles (3-7, 1-1 CWL).

“Atterbury had pitched on Tuesday but he has friends on (CLA) and he really wanted to pitch this game, so I let him,” Lewis said.

Atterbury pitched four innings, allowed one earned run and struck out three to post his second win in three decisions. The senior southpaw also contributed at the plate, ripping a 2-run double in the 2nd inning.

The top three hitters – BRANDON JAROSIN, TREVOR TINNEY and Atterbury – in the Foothills Christian batting order were collectively 5-for-9 with 6 runs scored and 3 RBI.

Tinney, a sophomore, was 2-for-3 with 3 runs scored and an RBI and two stolen bases.

“That kid’s a player,” said Lewis. “I’m going to try to get him in the Junior Showcase next year.”

Defensively, Foothills Christian (5-4, 2-0 CWL) turned three double plays.

“The fact that we turned three double plays and walked none... that’s how you win ballgames,” Lewis said. “We also stole seven bases. I gave the guys the weekend off because they did so well.”

CATHEDRAL 9, CHRISTIAN 3 – Visiting Cathedral Catholic (9-1) posted its ninth straight win Friday (Apr. 1) to claim a berth in Saturday’s (Apr. 2) City Conference Tournament large school championship game.

The Dons will host Mira Mesa at 10:30 a.m., and Francis Parker (12-0) will meet Horizon (10-2) in the City Conference Tournament small school championship game Saturday at Cathedral Catholic at 1:30 p.m.

Christian (5-5-1), meanwhile, is thankful just to have a day off. The Patriots have played five games in seven days. Four of those games have resulted in losses.

“Playing that many games in a week isn’t ever going to be easy,” Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL said. “Think about how difficult it can be with a 12-man roster like we have.”

After falling behind 1-0 the Patriots took a 2-1 lead in the 2nd on an RBI single by PHIL JOHNSTON and BRENDAN RYAN’s sacrifice fly.

Cathedral tied it 2-2 in the 3rd when Daniel Camarena doubled and came around to score on a wild pitch and a passed ball.

The Dons, whose only loss was 5-0 to Granite Hills in the season opener, took the lead for keeps on Stephan Haviar’s two-out single in the 4th.

Two Cathedral Catholic pitchers combined to check Christian on four hits. One of those blows was a solo home run by CODY POTEET in the 6th inning, which cut Cathedral’s advantage to 6-3.

The Patriots will have the weekend to catch their breath before opening the Eastern League season on Tuesday (Apr. 5) at Scripps Ranch.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-1-11) — There’s nothing flashy about El Capitan pitcher KEVIN GINKEL. He just gets the job done.

Ginkel, a 6-foot-2, 174-pound junior right-hander, scattered 7 hits and allowed only 2 earned runs as he posted his East County-leading 4th win without a loss in Thursday’s (Mar. 31) Bill Dickens East County Tournament victory over the Foothillers, 3-2 at Grossmont.

“I threw a lot of fastballs but kept them guessing on my sliders,” said Ginkel. “The slider – that’s my pitch.”

No question Ginkel is one of the fastest workers in East County. Yet he says he’s not afraid to shake off catcher CHUCK MOORMAN’s signs.

As a starter Ginkel’s command has been next to perfect. In a relief effort against Helix he struggled and had trouble finding the plate – walking three batters in the same inning.

“I like to start more than pitch in relief,” Ginkel said. “As a starter you’ve have more control of a game. As a reliever you have to come in in a pressure situation, maybe with the bases loaded. You have no room for error.”

El Capitan coach STEVE VICKERY agreed that Ginkel is probably a better starter.

“His ball has a lot of late life,” said Vickery. “He’s learning how to be a competitor. As soon as he figures out how good he really is – I mean, look out.

“I don’t think that he accepts right now that he is one of the quality pitchers in this league, maybe in the county. When the light goes on completely he’s really gonna be a force to reckon with.”

El Capitan broke a 1-1 tie in the 6th inning on an opposite-field home run by TYRONE WIGGINS – his 4th round-tripper, which ties him for the East County lead.

But it was the 7th inning two-out solo homer by ERIC LOZANO that proved to be the winning blow.

“It was a fastball on the inside part of the plate,” Lozano said. “That was the pitch I was sitting on.”

Nice guess.

This was a long term at-bat for Lozano, who fouled off seven consecutive pitches before clearing the right field fence.

“It surprised me when the ball went over,” he said.

Lozano’s name is not listed among the leading home run hitters in East County.

“I try to keep a tight swing instead of flying open all the time,” he said. “I feel like I can hit the long ball.”

After Grossmont piecemealed a run in the 2nd inning the Vaqueros tied it in the 5th on a double by TROY CONYERS and a Grossmont error.

Grossmont’s JOE MUSGROVE was the hard luck loser as he pitched probably his best game of the season in a losing effort. The SDSU-bound right-hander turned in a complete game effort and struck out 9 without walking any.

“Musgrove did a great job today, only made a couple of bad pitches,” said Foothillers coach JIM EARLEY. “The fact that he only gave up 5 hits to a team like El Capitan means we should have won. But offensively we always seem to find a way to stub our toe.”

Musgrove had a perfect game through four innings.

For the second game in as many days ALEX CONNOR slugged a home run for the Foothillers, a solo shot in the 7th.

HELIX 13, EL CAJON VALLEY 0 – The undefeated Helix Highlanders (9-0) have all but secured a berth in Monday’s (Apr. 4) Bill Dickens East County Tournament championship at a site to be determined.

The Highlanders, who conclude pool play Saturday (Apr. 2) when they host Mount Miguel, can assure themselves a spot in the gold medal game by knocking off the Matadors. That would give Helix an unbeatable 4-0 finish in the tourney. But even if the Highlanders lose they’ll still have a better than even shot at being a finalist.

Going into the final two days of Dickens tournament pool play Steele Canyon has an outside shot at nosing out the Highlanders. The Cougars are 3-1 in pool play and should they beat El Capitan on Saturday in Rancho San Diego, would finish with a 4-1 mark and leap frog Helix into the title game.

The Highlanders hammered out 16 hits in Thursday’s (Mar. 31) lopsided victory over El Cajon Valley.

ROMELLO CARBUCCIA drove in five runs with a home run and a pair of singles against the Braves. He now leads East County with 18 RBI.

JAKE REED and BRANDON LEWIS had two hits and 3 RBI apiece for the Highlanders. BRENNAN INGRAM was 3-for-4 for Helix.

Helix scored five runs in the 1st inning. The key hit was a 2-run single by Carbuccia.

Six Helix pitchers combined to spin a 3-hit shutout.

“Considering how badly they’ve been beat up by our side (Grossmont Hills League teams – 88-1) in four games, I was very impressed by how upbeat they were,” said Helix coach COLE HOLLAND. “I didn’t see any bad attitudes, pouting or kids complaining. And that’s a credit to their coach, MIKE RUPP.”

After being no-hit two games in a row El Cajon Valley got base hits by CASEY RIVERA, ABNER GARCIA and JOSH McILENEY.

CHRISTIAN 14, MADISON 10 – Forget about the less responsive bats and limited offensive productivity. When Christian visited Madison for Thursday’s (Mar. 31) City Conference Tournament game the two teams knocked out 26 hits and scored 24 runs between them.

For the first time in the last five games the Patriots (5-4-1) finished on top.

A 7-run 4th inning was the swing vote for Christian against the Warhawks (2-8). The Patriots began that frame with 7 consecutive hits. The key blows included a 2-run single to center by SHIN KURODA that tied the game 7-7.

An RBI single by CODY POTEET in that inning gave the Patriots the lead. The onslaught continued on an RBI double by JOSH SUFFRIDGE, a sacrifice fly by MICHAEL POTEET, and a run-scoring single by BRENDAN RYAN.

Madison counter-punched in the bottom of the inning with 3 runs – the final two driven in by Austin Houser’s single.

In the top of the 5th, Christian coach MIKE MITCHELL to lay down a successful sacrifice bunt. Better than that he got base hits out of all three of the bunt attempts – two of which came in the 5th inning.

A.J. GREGOROVIC led off the 5th with a single to center. Kuroda laid down a bunt and beat the throw to first for a base hit. TANNER PERRY followed suit to load the bases. Cody Poteet then slashed a single to drive in Gregorovic. Suffridge, who was 3-for-4 with 4 RBI, hoisted a sacrifice fly, extending the Patriots’ advantage to 13-10.

For extra measure Christian tacked on its final run in the 7th inning as Suffridge singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Michael Poteet’s second sacrifice fly.

“We’ve been hitting the ball real well lately,” Mitchell said. “Our problems have been we keep putting people on with free passes, can’t make routine plays and throw the ball away. That’s not a good combination.”