ROUNDUP: Hillers, Norsemen, Pack, Sultans, Knights win

By Bill Dickens
Updated: May 13, 2016

JUSTIN EICHER of Foothills Christian takes a swing against Rock Academy.

2016 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com

EL CAJON (5-13-16) — The Grossmont Foothillers celebrated Doce de Mayo on Thursday (May 12) with a team taco fest that was originally scheduled for Cinco de Mayo but was postponed by inclement weather.

One of the immediate celebrities was Grossmont pitcher KANNON ROMERO who pitched a complete game 5-hit shutout in the Foothillers’ 3-0 knockout of Steele Canyon for a Grossmont Hills League victory.

Romero scattered 5 hits, walked 2 and struck out 4 to hoist his record to 4-2, while hoisting the Foothillers to within one game of the GHL leading Granite Hills Eagles.

During winter league Romero was ticketed to be the Foothillers’ closer, but since he’s been even more effective as a starter, which gives Grossmont arguably the deepest pitching staff in East County.

“We’re all aces,” said Romero of the Grossmont staff that includes CALVIN FARRIS, JACKSON HULETT and JAYDEN LOMBARDO. “I started out being a reliever but now I’m one of the four starters. I feel like I’m more of the team now.”

“He’s a crafty left-hander,” said Foothillers coach JORDAN ABRUZZO of Romero. “A guy who can throw all three pitches for strikes. We knew he could help us, we just didn’t know how, in what capacity.”

So far he has.

Steele Canyon coach DAN NERAT said, “We’ve lost so many close game that I need my kids not to forget how to win. Our pitching has been there for us all year. We have a team ERA of 2.55, but we just haven’t done a very good job swinging the bat.”

VALHALLA 4, GRANITE HILLS 1 – No question, the biggest upset of the East County season thus far featured Valhalla’s knockout of No. 10 ranked Granite Hills in Thursday’s (May 12) Grossmont Hills League contest.

Granite Hills alum and now Valhalla head coach ROBERT WILSON helped guide the hapless Norsemen to a major upheaval in the circuit by toppling the front-running Eagles.

CASEY O’SULLIVAN turned in an overpowering pitching performance with a complete game victory. He allowed only 4 hits, one unearned run, walked 3 and struck out 7.

RILEY O’SULLIVAN slashed his 4^th home run of the season – a fifth inning solo shot – and JOSH HEIDER followed with a homer right behind him, his first of the season.

For one of the few times this year Valhalla took the lead and kept it.

COLE HENDERSON was 2-for-2 with 2 runs scored.

For Granite Hills, DILLAN SHRUM returned to the pitching mound for the first time in a month allowing no hits, one run, one earned run, no walks and 3 strikeouts.

WEST HILLS 8, MONTE VISTA 7 – West Hills kept its Grossmont Valley League championship hopes alive thanks to a walkoff single by RANDY JEWELL, who slashed a 2-run shot to deny visiting Monte Vista a shot at an upset in Thursday’s (May 12) encounter in Santee.

AARON BARKLEY doubled and went to third on a 2-base hit by CLAYTON LEWIS in the final frame. Then it was Jewell’s chance to be a hero.

Barkley walked off the field with his 6^th win in eight decisions.

“Unbelievable ball game,” summed up West Hills coach MICKEY DEUTSCHMAN. “Should have been a comfortable win for us and we started out that way and let them catch up. And then we went ahead and we let them catch up again. And again we went ahead and we had two innings left to see if we could get it done.

“It came down to the last inning,” Deutschman continued. “We happened to be able to get a couple of guys on and we got a walk off hit from Randy Jewell that pushed two across the plate. This ball game probably wore me out as much as the 2-1 victory over Santana. This was a must win for us and we will see what happens tomorrow and then next Thursday with Santana.”

ANDREW GONZALES was the hardluck loser for Monte Vista, despite going 4-for-4 with 2 RBI. Gonzales was tagged with his 2^nd loss in four decisions.

SANTANA 18, EL CAJON VALLEY 1 – Santana scored 9 runs in the first inning and never looked back in Thursday’s (May 12) conquest over El Cajon Valley in a Grossmont Valley League game.

The Sultans ran the table on the Braves, ripping off 17 hits to propel their record to an East County best 21-3, 8-1 in league.

However, as hefty as the Sultans’ overall mark is, second place West Hills is 8-2 with an overall mark of 16-8.

Unheralded COLTON CALVERT was 3-for-4 with 5 RBI for the Sultans. He also had a double, while BLAKE PRYOR slashed 2 doubles and scored twice.

REECE HERNANDEZ was 2-for-3 with 3 runs in the explosive first inning. He also contributed a triple.

Santana got a surprising lift from their pitching staff as BRANDON MOSBURG, who allowed only one run and 3 hits on a four inning stint that awarded him his 2^nd win in as many decisions.

BROCK ELLIS and LOGAN LINSCOTT combined to pitch three hitless innings to lock up the victory for Mosburg.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 8, ROCK ACADEMY 3 – For the second time in 24 hours Foothills Christian rolled over Rock Academy to assume the lead in the Ocean League on Thursday (May 12) at Mira Costa College.

The Knights were guided by red-hot JUSTIN EICHER who collected 7 hits in 9 at-bats, scored 7 runs and chalked up 9 RBI. He also whacked 3 doubles in Thursday’s game for the Knights, who have scored 37 runs in the two game sweep.

“Eicher has had a really good week,” noted Knights coach DAVE LEWIS. “CHRIS STALLARD had his first start for us this year and he did a really good job.”

Thur., May 12, 2016
Grossmont Hills League
NORSEMEN 4, EAGLES 1
Valhalla       ab r h bi Granite Hills   ab r h bi
Dirkes 2b       3 0 1 0  Ross cf          4 0 0 0
CBrown dh       3 0 0 0  JoVerdon p-1b    3 0 0 0
Dunnam lf       0 0 0 0  Hazelhurst rf    2 0 0 0
Henderson ss    3 2 2 0  Cossio 2b        1 0 0 0
Mosier cf       2 0 0 0  ABrown 3b        3 0 1 0
CSt.Clair 1b    3 0 1 2  BSt.Clair lf     3 1 1 0
Howard rf       3 0 1 0  Harris dh        3 0 0 0
RO’Sullivan 3b  3 1 1 1  JaVerdon 1b      0 0 0 0
Heider c        3 1 1 1  Shrum p          0 0 0 0
CO’Sullivan p   3 0 0 0  Fenn c           2 0 1 1
                         Omahen ss        3 0 1 0
TOTALS         26 4 7 4  TOTALS          24 1 4 1
 Valhalla      (3-22, 2-9) 000 121 0 – 4 7 0
 Granite Hills (17-9, 8-3) 000 010 0 – 1 4 0

GWRBI-CSt. Clair (2). 
E-None. LOB-Val 1, GH 6. 
HR-RO’Sullivan (4) 5^th, solo; Heider (1) 5^th, solo. 
SB-Dirkes, Henderson 2, Howard, Mosier, Cossio, BSt.Clair. 
SF-Fenn.

PITCHING SUMMARY
Valhalla               ip  h  r er bb so
 CO’Sullivan  W(2-6)  7.0  4  1  0  3  7
Granite Hills
 JoVerdon*  L(1-1)    4.0  6  3  3  1  2
 Shrum                3.0  1  1  1  0  3
(*JoVerdon faced 2 hitters in the fifth.)
PB-Heider.



FOOTHILLERS 3, COUGARS 0
Steele Canyon   ab r h bi Grossmont     ab r h bi
Brinkmeier lf    2 0 0 0  Pineda cf      4 1 1 1
Tuck cf          3 0 0 0  Arreola 2b     3 0 0 0
Esquibel dh      3 0 0 0  Lopez 3b       3 0 2 0
Alcarez 2b       3 0 0 0  Farris rf      2 0 0 0
Row 1b           3 0 2 0  Garcia 1b      3 0 1 0
Arias c          3 0 1 0  Hulett dh      3 0 1 0
Logan 3b         3 0 1 0  Ouellette ss   3 1 1 0
Fiedler ss       3 0 1 0  Tedokon c      3 1 1 0
Smith rf         2 0 0 0  Van Every lf   1 0 0 0
TOTALS          25 0 5 0  TOTALS        25 3 7 1

  Steele Canyon (10-15-1, 3-8) 000 000 0 – 0 5 3
  Grossmont        (17-9, 7-4) 000 030 x – 3 7 1

GWRBI-Pineda (2).
E-Arias 2, Fiedler. DP-Gro 1. LOB-SC 6, Gro 7. 
SB-Fiedler 2, Smith, Pineda 2. S-Van Every. 

PITCHING SUMMARY
Steele Canyon     ip  h  r er bb so
 Schirer  L(3-2) 6.0  7  3  1  1  6 
Grossmont 
 Romero  W(4-2)  7.0  5  0  0  2  4
HBP by-Schirer (Van Every).
Grossmont Valley League
SULTANS 18, BRAVES 1
El Cajon Valley  ab r h bi Santana       ab r h bi
Foster ss         4 0 0 0  Salinas cf     3 2 2 1
Sanchez 3b        3 0 0 0  Jackson cf     1 1 0 0
Carreon c         4 0 2 1  Hernandez 2b   3 1 2 3
Herrera p         2 0 1 0  Alesi 3b       2 1 1 0
Castillo 2b       3 0 0 0  Nunez dh       3 0 0 0
Manglona lf       3 0 0 0  Roe dh         1 0 0 1
Campechano cf     3 0 0 0  Odenkirk lf    2 1 1 1
Hussein rf        2 1 0 0  Simmons lf     3 1 1 0
Bovee 1b          1 0 0 0  Rasmusson ss   0 2 0 0
                           Tolhurst ss    3 1 2 0
                           Allen-Fox c    4 2 2 2
                           Pryor 1b       4 2 2 1
                           Calvert rf     4 2 3 5
                           Miller 3b-2b   3 2 1 1
TOTALS           25 1 3 1  TOTALS     36 18 17 15

  El Cajon Valley (9-14, 0-10) 001 000 0 –  1  3 4
  Santana          (21-3, 8-1) 941 121 x – 18 17 2

GWRBI-Barkley (1).
E-Sanchez, Campechano, Foster, Manglona, Linscott, Alesi. 
DP-Sant 1. LOB-ECV 8, Sant 7. 
2B-Pryor 2, Calvert, Salinas, Odenkirk, Simmons, Tolhurst. 
3B-Hernandez. SB-Salinas. SF-Row, Allen-Fox.

PITCHING SUMMARY
El Cajon Valley   ip  h  r er bb so
 Herrera  L      2.0 16 17  8  4  0
 Foster          1.0  1  1  0  0  1
Santana
 Mosburg  W(2-0) 4.0  3  1  1  2  4
 Ellis           2.0  0  0  0  2  4
 Linscott        1.0  0  0  0  0  2
HBP-by Mosburg (Hussein), by Herrera (Rasmusson), 
by Foster (Allen-Fox). WP-Herrera.

WOLF PACK 8, MONARCHS 7
Monte Vista       ab r h bi West Hills       ab r h bi
FGutierrez 1b-p    4 1 0 0  Sandez cf-lf      3 0 0 0
AGonzales 3b-p     4 2 4 2  Currione ss       4 1 2 1
Rosario ss         3 1 1 1  Barkley c-3b-p    3 0 2 1
Collis dh          3 1 2 2  Mickelson pr-p    0 1 0 0
DSandoval c        4 0 1 0  ZSandoval 3b-c    1 1 0 0
Harmon rf          4 0 2 1  Hughes c          2 0 0 0
JGutierrez lf      2 0 0 0  CLewis lf-1b      4 2 2 0
Alvarez lf         2 0 1 0  Jewell 2b         4 1 2 2
Gulley cf-3b       4 0 0 0  Alvarez dh        2 1 1 0
Franken 2b         4 2 1 0  Quintana 1b       2 0 0 0
Schweizer dh       0 0 0 0  Anderson 1b-lf-cf 1 0 0 0
Matanane           0 0 0 0  Carlin rf         3 1 0 2
TOTALS           34 7 12 6  TOTALS           29 8 9 5

  Monte Vista (9-15, 5-5) 004 201 0 – 7 12 4
  West Hills  (16-8, 8-2) 132 000 2 - 8  9 3

GWRBI-Jewell (1).
E-Rosario, DSandoval 2, Schweizer, Barkley, JSandoval, Currione. 
LOB-MV 8, WH 5. 2B-Collis, AGonzales 2, CLewis, Barkley, Jewell. 
3B-Currione. SB-Harmon, Collis, DSandoval, Franken. 
S-Sandez, Rosario. 

PITCHING SUMMARY
Monte Vista          ip  h  r er bb so
 Schweizer          2.0  5  4  1  0  1
 FGutierrez         4.1  3  4  2  1  1
 AGonzales  L(2-2)  0.0  1  4  2  1  1
West Hills
 Schubert           3.1  9  6  5  0  1
 Maat               1.2  3  1  0  0  0
 Barkley  W(5-1)    2.0  0  0  0  1  3
HBP-by Schubert (FGutierrez 2).

Ocean League
KNIGHTS 8, WARRIORS 3
Foothills Christian ab r h bi Rock Academy    ab r h bi
Sims lf              5 1 2 1  Mitchell c       4 0 1 1
Profeta cf           3 0 1 1  Byrd ss          3 0 1 0
Von Der Lieth ss     3 2 1 0  Padilla 1b       3 1 1 0
BBrown dh            3 0 0 0  Alvarez cf       2 1 1 0
Stallard p-2b        0 0 0 0  Sills p          3 1 2 1
Smallwood 3b-p-1b    4 1 2 1  Wade lf          3 0 0 0
Link c               3 1 0 0  McCain 3b        3 0 1 0
Eicher 1b-p          4 2 3 2  Johnson rf       3 0 0 0
JBrown pr            0 1 0 0  Clossen 2b       3 0 0 0
Barling ph           0 0 0 0
Carey rf             4 0 2 2 
Guccione pr          0 0 0 0
BLewis 2b-3b         4 0 2 1
TOTALS             33 8 13 8  TOTALS          27 3 7 2

  Foothills Christian (8-13, 3-1) 101 140 1 – 8 13 1
  Rock Academy        (7-13, 2-2) 000 300 0 – 3  7 0

GWRBI-Profeta (1).
E-Von Der Lieth. DP-FC 1. LOB-FC 7, Rock 6. 
2B-Sims, Eicher 3, Sills, Carey, BLewis. 
SB-Sims, Profeta, Von Der Lieth, Mitchell, Byrd, Alvarez. 

PITCHING SUMMARY
Foothills Christian ip  h  r er bb so
 Stallard  W(1-0)  4.0  4  3  1  0  7
 Smallwood         0.2  1  0  0  2  1
 Eicher            2.0  2  0  0  0  0
 Barling           0.1  0  0  0  0  1
Rock Academy
 Sills    L        7.0 13  8  8  2  5
HBP-by Sills (Profeta, Link), by Stallard (Alvarez).