ROUNDUP: League races heating up

By Bill Dickens
Updated: April 26, 2017

Josh Verdon is safe at home plate against El Capitan on Tuesday.

2017 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com

LA MESA (4-26-17) — There’s no question that the Helix Highlanders have not played in front of a crowd as big as they will on Wednesday (Apr. 26) when they take on Grossmont Hills League rival Santana at Petco Park at 7 p.m.

The thrill of playing in a major league baseball stadium says it all. But the fact that the two teams are tied at 4-1 at the top of the GHL sweetens the pot.

This will be a classic pitching duel between Santana ace NOAH NUNEZ and Helix veteran CONNOR KONISHI.

Helix came out on top in Tuesday’s (Apr. 25) meeting between the two, dealing Santana a 4-0 loss to move into a temporary tie for the league’s top spot.

Helix catcher HUNTER ISBELL had a game-winning RBI for the Highlanders, as he walked with the bases loaded. Helix scored two in the bottom of the first inning

ROMAN PADILLA was 2-for-3 for Helix. MATTHEW RICHARDSON, ZACK OWENS and Padilla each drove in a run.

Santana suffered by leaving 11 men on base but didn’t commit a single error. Failing to score any runs left the Sultans wanting.

Nunez had two oof the Sultans’ 7 hits.

GRANITE HILLS 8, EL CAPITAN 0 – Granite Hills’ JAKE FENN has spent three years of his high school baseball career wearing the equipment behind the dish as the Eagles regular receiver.

Talk about impressive, Fenn, the Eagles’ usual catcher, pitched a complete game allowing only 4 hits while striking out 3 as the Eagles toppled El Capitan 8-0 in Wednesday’s (Apr. 25) Grossmont Hills League game.

Fenn proved that he’s a double threat. Not only can he handle pitchers, but he can swing the bat as well. Teeing off against El Capitan pitching, Fenn swatted 2 doubles to provide the spark for Granite Hills’ 10-hit attack.

As a sophomore a year ago, Eagles coach JAMES DAVIS used to put a designated hitter in for Fenn and held him behind the plate. But this season has been a breakout year for Fenn.

The Eagles are desperate for both offense and defense at the moment, and Fenn has answered the call.

But this was no one-man show as TREVOR HAZELHURST slashed a 2-run homer in the 5^th inning with two on board.

Steady SEAN ROSS was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a double. JOSH VERDON was 2-for-3 with 3 runs scored including a pair of doubles as the Eagles rolled up 10 hits.

BAILEY ROBERSON pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Vaqueros, gave up 10 hits, 8 runs, 7 earned, struck out 5 and walked 5.

VALHALLA 7, MOUNT MIGUEL 2 – The Valhalla Norsemen (9-11, 5-1 GVL) overcame an early deficit to defeat the Mount Miguel Matadors (4-14, 0-6) 7-2 at Eric Turgeon Field Tuesday (Apr. 25).

The Matadors opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as CHRIS CONWRIGHT scored via a walk and an error.

The Norsemen claimed the lead for good, scoring three times in the bottom half of the 1st. KYLE CASPER singled in a run, JOSH HEIDER doubled in another and COLE HOWARD collected the final RBI on a fielder choice.

CASEY O’SULLIVAN (3-4) earned the win hurling 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out six. CAMERON BEAUZEC took the loss.

JOSEPH MENDOZA paced the Matadors offensively going 2-3 while Heider collected a pair of RBI doubles for Valhalla.

Three GVL teams – Valhalla, West Hills and Steele Canyon – all have just one league loss.

ST. AUGUSTINE 5, CHRISTIAN 3 – The Christian High Patriots played end to end baseball in a Western League shootout with St. Augustine on Tuesday (Apr. 25).

That is, the Patriots slugged a home run in the 1^st inning and another in the 7^th. What occurred in the middle frames did not go in Christian’s favor.

CHASE WEHSENER slugged his 3^rd homer in the 1^st inning, a solo shot, and JUSTIN LEDGERWOOD hit his 5^th in the final frame with a man aboard.

“Their pitcher, Jack Dolak, did a really good job,” said Patriots coach MIKE MITCHELL. “After he gave up the home run to Wehsener he retired 8 straight batters and then gave up a hit to Wehsener in the 3^rd. Then he retired the next 10 batters.”

“We only got four hits going seven innings,” he continued. “Wehsener had the first 2 hits and GARRETT NIELSEN and Ledgerwood had the last 2 hits .”

STEELE CANYON 5, WEST HILLS 2 – Steele Canyon continued its climb to the top of the Grossmont Valley League standings with a record of 11-6, 3-1 GVL by snipping West Hills 5-2 in Tuesday’s (Apr. 25) contest.

That was a key win for the Cougars (3-1 GV) , who dealt West Hills its first league loss.

West Hills jumped in front in the first inning on a home run by NOAH QUINTANA over the right field fence. It was a short-lived advantage, however, as the Cougars countered in the bottom of the 1^st.

YUSUF SMITH, who has been wielding a hot bat of late, came up with the key hits to send the Wolf Pack packing. He singled in the bottom of the 1^st and JOSH ESQUIBEL whacked a 2-run homer to stake Steele Canyon to a 2-1 lead.

The Cougars padded their advantage as BRANDON NAVARRO singled and AARON TAYLOR reached on an error. Smith hit a single to score Navarro.

Steele Canyon tagged on two more runs in the 4^th inning. Taylor walked and stole second base and Smith walked and stole second. Taylor ended up stealing home and Smith came in on an error.

In the 6^th inning, West Hills scored a run as CHRIS SCHROEDER hit a single and BRADEN SANFORD followed with a single of his own. Quintana hit a sacrifice fly to score Schroeder.

TREVOR COMMERFORD was 2-for-3 in a losing cause.

Steele Canyon’s TYLER LUBAN pitched six innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned, walked none and struck out 6 to earn his fourth win in five decisions.

LANDON SCHIRER pitched one inning, gave up one hit and had one strikeout to earn the save.

MONTE VISTA 21, EL CAJON VALLEY 6 – The Monte Vista Monarchs rolled over the El Cajon Valley Braves 21-6 in a Grossmont Valley League encounter on Tuesday (Apr. 25) El Cajon.

DERRICK WILEY was 2-for-4 with 4 RBI, while JUSTIN SCHWEIZER was 4-for-4 with 4 RBI for Monte Vista.

The Monarch’ batting spree continued as FRANCISCO GUTIERREZ went 2-for-3 with a run and 3 RBI.

No information was provided by El Cajon Valley (4-8, 0-3).

Tue., Apr. 25, 2017
Grossmont Hills League
HIGHLANDERS 4, SULTANS 0
Santana       ab r h bi Helix          ab r h bi
Salinas        4 0 1 0  Smelko          2 2 1 0
Rasmusson      3 0 0 0  Peterson        2 1 0 0
Nunez          4 0 2 0  Richardson      1 0 0 1
Simmons        3 0 0 0  Konishi         3 0 0 0
Calvert        3 0 0 0  Isbell c        1 1 1 1
Alesi          3 0 2 0  Owens           1 0 0 1
Tolhurst       2 0 1 0  Padilla         3 0 2 1
Allen-Fox      3 0 1 0  Babbitt         3 0 0 0
Ellis          2 0 0 0  Kretzschmar     3 0 1 0
TOTALS        27 0 7 0  TOTALS         19 4 5 4

 Santana (14-7, 4-1) 000 000 0 – 0 7 0
 Helix   (14-7, 4-1) 201 001 1 – 4 5 1

GWRBI-Isbell.
E-Babbitt.
DP-Hel 2.
LOB–Sant 10, Hel 9.
2B-Allen-Fox, Isbell. SB-Tolhurst, Smelko. 
Sac-Richardson, Smelko. 

PITCHING SUMMARY
Santana         ip  h  r er bb so
 Salinas  L    1.2  3  2  2  4  1
 Linscott      2.1  2  1  1  3  0
 Alesi         2.0  0  1  1  0  0
Helix
 Chase  W(3-1) 5.0  4  0  0  4  2
 Smelko Sv     2.0  3  0  0  0  2
HBP-Alesi.

EAGLES 8, VAQUEROS 0
El Capitan     ab r h bi Granite Hills   ab r h bi
Montesanto 3b   3 0 0 0  Ross cf          4 1 2 1
Markle 2b       3 0 0 0  Verdon 3b        3 3 2 1
Shenefield 1b   3 0 1 0  Fenn p           4 0 2 3
Lindsay ss      3 0 1 0  Hazelhurst rf    3 1 1 3
Zamora cf       3 0 0 0  Joslyn c         2 0 0 0
Bell c          2 0 0 0  Omahen ss        4 0 1 0
Donahue c       1 0 1 0  Cummings c-dh    2 0 0 0
Peyton rf       2 0 0 0  Anderson c       0 1 0 0
Benedetto dh    3 0 1 0  Curran 1b        2 0 0 0
Cunningham lf   2 0 0 0  Bodtke ss-rf     1 0 0 0
                         McGrew 2b        3 2 2 0
                         Brooks pr        0 0 0 0
TOTALS         25 0 4 0  TOTALS         28 8 10 8

 El Capitan    (5-13, 0-3) 000 000 0 – 0  4 2
 Granite Hills (10-9, 1-2) 002 033 x – 8 10 1

GWRBI-Verdon.
E-Shenefield, Lindsay, Curran.
DP-GH 1.
LOB-EC 4, GH 7.
2B-Donahue, Fenn 2, McGrew, Ross, Verdon 2. 
HR-Hazelhurst (4) 5^th, two on.

PITCHING SUMMARY
El Capitan      ip  h  r er bb so
 Roberson L    5.2 10  8  7  2  5
 Shenefield    0.1  0  0  0  2  0
Granite Hills
 Fenn  W(1-0)  7.0  4  0  0  0  3
HBP-Roberson, Fenn. 

Grossmont Valley League
NORSEMEN 7, MATADORS 2
Mount Miguel   ab r h bi Valhalla      ab r h bi
Ortiz ss        4 0 0 0  Barba 3b       2 0 1 1
Conwright cf    3 1 0 0  Dirkes 2b      3 1 1 0
Montijo 3b      3 1 1 0  RO’Sullivan 1b 3 1 0 0
White 1b        2 0 0 0  Casper cf      2 3 1 1
Preciado dh     3 0 0 0  Heider c       2 1 2 2
Zertuche 2b     2 0 0 0  Hageman lf-c   0 0 0 0
Darby lf        4 0 0 0  Howard ss-p    3 1 0 1
Mendoza rf-p    3 0 2 0  Perot lf       3 0 1 1 
Camacho c       3 0 0 0  TSmith ss      3 0 0 0 
Beauzec p       0 0 0 0  Zamadio dh     2 0 0 0 
                         Ingrasia pr    0 0 0 0
TOTALS         26 2 3 0  TOTALS        23 7 6 6

 Mount Miguel (3-15, 0-6) 100 001 0 – 2 3 1
 Valhalla     (9-11, 5-1) 302 200 x – 7 6 3

GWRBI-Heider.
E-Beauzec, Barba, Heider, TSmith.
DP-Val 1.
LOB-MM 6, Val 9. 
2B-Heider 2. 3B-Barba. 
SB-Zertuche 2, Montijo, Ortiz, Casper, Howard, Perot. 
Sac-Heider.

PITCHING SUMMARY
Mount Miguel      ip  h  r er bb so
 Beauzec    L    2.2  3  5  5  1  1
 Mendoza         3.1  3  2  2  2  0
Valhalla
 CO’Sullvn W,3-4 5.2  3  2  1  2  6
 Howard          1.1  0  0  0  0  3
HBP-by Beauzec (7). WP-Mendoza, CO’Sullivan 3.


COUGARS 5, WOLF PACK 2
West Hills     ab r h bi Cougars      ab r h bi
Schroeder cf    3 1 2 0  Taylor dh     2 1 0 0
Sanford c       3 0 1 0  YSmith rf     3 2 3 1
Quintana p      2 1 1 2  Esquibel lf   3 1 1 2
DCraft rf       3 0 0 0  Arias c       3 0 1 0
Travoli ss      3 0 0 0  Tellous 1b    2 0 0 0
Villasana 3b    3 0 0 0  Yanez 2b      3 0 0 0
Commerford lf   3 0 2 0  Mata ss       2 0 0 0
Hughes 1b       2 0 0 0  Blethen ph    1 0 0 0
Wittmeier ph    1 0 0 0  Navarro 3b    2 1 1 0
Gagliano 2b     3 0 0 0  Canales ph    1 0 0 0
                         Brinkmeier cf 3 0 0 0
TOTALS         26 2 6 2  TOTALS       25 5 6 3

 West Hills    (9-11, 5-1) 100 001 0 – 2 6 5
 Steele Canyon (11-6, 3-1) 210 200 x – 5 6 0

GWRBI-Esquibel.
E-Hughes 2, Sanford 2, Gagliano. 
LOB-WH 4, SC 6.
HR-Quintana (1) 1^st, solo; Esquibel (2) 1^st, one on. 
SB-Taylor 2, YSmith 2, Sanford. SF-Quintana.

PITCHING SUMMARY
West Hills        ip  h  r er bb so
 Quintana L(6-4) 4.0  5  5  3  2  5 
 Sherwin         2.0  1  0  0  1  3
Steele Canyon
 Lubin W(4-1)    6.0  5  2  2  0  6
 Schirer Sv-(2)  1.0  1  0  0  0  1
HBP-by Quintana (Tellous).

MONARCHS 21, BRAVES 6
Monte Vista    ab r h bi El Cajon Valley (none submitted)
Gutierrez       3 1 2 3
Garcia          5 1 2 1
Sanchez         4 3 2 1
Gulley          4 2 2 1
Sandoval        4 1 1 2
Wiley           4 2 2 4
Alvarez         2 0 1 0
Schweizer       4 2 4 4
Gonzales        2 4 1 1
Plazola         5 3 3 2
Manuel          1 1 1 0
TOTALS      38 20 21 19

 Monte Vista    (13-9, 2-3) 113 277 – 21 - -
 El Cajon Valley (4-8, 0-3) 000 240 -  6 - -

2B-Sandoval, Plazola.

PITCHING
Monte Vista
 Plazola W

Western League
SAINTS 5, PATRIOTS 3
St. Augustine  ab r h bi Christian      ab r h bi
Staker ss-p     4 0 0 0  Wehsener 1b     3 1 2 1
White lf        4 0 1 1  Hogueisson cf   3 0 0 0
Anderson cf-3b  4 1 3 0  Nielsen dh      3 0 1 0
Fontes c        3 0 0 0  Josephson c     0 0 0 0
Zolak p         2 1 1 1  Keltner pr      0 1 0 0
Pyatt 3b-ss     2 1 1 0  Legerwood 3b    3 1 1 2
Silvia rf       3 1 2 2  Contreras rf    3 0 0 0
Bitter dh       2 1 1 1  Matthews lf-2b  3 0 0 0
Cortez 1b       0 0 0 0  Jeremiah p-lf   3 0 0 0
Peraza 2b       2 0 0 0  Beck 2b-p       2 0 0 0
Marty ph        1 0 0 0
TOTALS         27 5 9 5  TOTALS         23 3 4 3

 St. Augustine (12-11, 1-3) 021 100 1 – 5 9 1
 Christian      (16-5, 1-2) 100 000 1 – 3 4 1

GWRBI-Silvia.
E-Beck,Anderson.
DP-None.
LOB-St. A 5, Chr 2.
2-Anderson. HR-Wehsener (3) 1^st, solo; 
Ledgerwood (5) 7^th, one on; Silvia 4^th, solo. 
SB-Anderson 2. SF-Bitter.

PITCHING SUMMARY
St. Augustine     ip  h  r er bb so
 Zolak  W        6+   4  3  3  0  7 
 Staker Sv       1.0  1  0  0  0  0
Christian
 Jeremiah L(4-2) 3.0  5  3  3  2  0
 Beck            4.0  4  2  2  1  1
*Zolak faced 2 batters in the 7^th.