ROUNDUP: Valhalla, Helix earn share

By Ramon Scott
Updated: May 16, 2017

Monte Vista seniors on Senior Day 2017 Tuesday.

2017 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

By Ramon Scott

EastCountySports.com

SANTEE – The Valhalla Norsemen had worked too hard to let a potential championship slip away.

The Norsemen scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to overcome a three-run deficit to clinch at least a share of the Grossmont Valley League championship with an 8-6 win over host West Hills Tuesday afternoon.

After a tough non-league schedule early on left the Norsemen with a 2-8 record and a six-game losing streak, Valhalla used the experience to become the front-runner in by the time the heart of the GHL pennant race rolled around, only to see Steele Canyon still breathing down their necks over the final weeks.

The win over the Wolf Pack, however, now means that the Cougars will have to win at Valhalla on Wednesday in order to gain a share of the circuit title.

Valhalla trailed 6-5 in the top of the seventh inning when RYAN PEROT singled, driving in two runs.

West Hills scored five runs in the third inning.

Run-scoring singles by BRADEN SANFORD, TREVOR COMMERFORD and JASON VILLASANA (two RBI) were part of the rally.

LEWIS DIRKES drove in two runs and scored twice for Valhalla, while VILLASANA and SAM HUGHES (double) both drove in two runs for the Wolf Pack.

Valhalla took a lead in the first inning as RILEY O’SULLIVAN drove in one run when he singled with no outs.

O’Sullivan earned the win, as he went four innings, giving up zero runs, zero hits, striking out one, and walking one.

KYLE CASPER, JACOB BARBA and MAX HAGEMAN each had two hits for Valhalla, which banged out 12 hits in the contest. Barba scored a pair of runs.

Hageman drove in the final Valhalla run in the seventh.It was the second-straight time Valhalla rallied in the 7th inning to beat West Hills.

It was the second-straight time Valhalla rallied in the 7th inning to beat West Hills.

Winning pitcher TANNER SMITH closed it out with 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball.

HELIX 10, GRANITE HILLS 2 – The Helix Highlanders jumped out to an early lead over Granite Hills and took home a road victory on Tuesday, giving them at least a share of the Grossmont Hills League title.

Helix (9-3 GHL, 19-10) scored two runs on a double by CARLOS OQUITA and a two-run home run by MATTHEW RICHARDSON in the second inning, as it put up a five-spot.

KEATON CHASE earned the win, as he tossed six innings, allowing one run, two hits, and striking out three.

ZACK OWENS had two hits, two runs, a walk and a RBI for Helix and HUNTER ISBELL had two hits, a walk and a run scored for the Highlanders.

CONNOR KONISHI drove in two runs for Helix, as he had two hits and scored a run.

GARRETT CURRAN and BRAYDEN ANDERSON each drove in one run for Granite Hills.

Helix will await the result of Wednesday game between Santana and El Capitan in Lakeside. The Sultans can gain their share of the patch with a win over the Vaqueros.

Baseball tops Granite Hills, 10-2 to secure a share of the League Championship. K. Chase-6 innings, 2h, 1 run. Richardson HR pic.twitter.com/W5kHy9J1oC

— Helix Athletics (@HelixScotties) May 17, 2017

GROSSMONT 8, EL CAPITAN 4 (12 inn.) – It took 12 innings to decide Tuesday’s Grossmont Hills League tilt in Lakeside. A testament not only of the Hillers’ will, but the Vaqueros strong late-season improvement, as well.

The game was tied at four in the top of the twelfth when AUSTIN ODOM singled, driving in one run. Odom had two hits and scored twice.

Senior TYLER LINDSAY hit a three-run home run in the third inning for the Vaqueros.

JAYLEN LOMBARDO drove in one when he singled in the first inning for Grossmont (6-5 GHL, 14-14). Lombardo had three hits and drove in three runs.

El Capitan knotted the game up at four in the bottom of the seventh inning. Lindsay singled on a 1-2 count, scoring one run.

JOE WILLIAMS earned the win with five innings of relief work, striking out three. KANNON ROMERO got the save, striking out one in the bottom of the 12th.

JACKSON HULETT had three hits and a RBI for the Foothillers, while teammate NOAH LEVIN had two hits and a RBI.

Junior STEVIE MONTEJANO had three hits for El Capitan and also scored a run.

Sophomore AUSTIN BELL and senior JUSTIN ZAMORA each had two hits for El Cap.

STEELE CANYON 3, MONTE VISTA 1 – The Cougars were able to get by the stubborn Monarchs, who have done their darndest to shake up the Grossmont Valley League chase.

The result enabled Steele Canyon to remain alive for a share of the Grossmont Valley League banner.

Valhalla holds a one-game lead heading into tomorrow’s clash between the top two squads in southeastern El Cajon.

Ironically, Monte Vista handed the Norsemen two of their league losses, while the Cougars swept the series with the Monarchs, but two of the games were decided by just two runs.

NOAH NADEAU was the winning pitcher for Steele Canyon (11-3 GVL, 19-8).

LANDON SCHIRER recorded three outs for a save.

The game was tied at one with Steele Canyon batting in the top of the fifth when BRANDON NAVARRO had an infield single, driving in one run. He had another RBI with a hard grounder to right in the seventh.

Steele Canyon took an early lead in the first inning. An error scored one run for Steele Canyon.

JOSH ESQUIBEL had two hits and scored a run for the Cougars, while teammate BILLY TELLOUS had two hits and scored a run.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, IVAN PLAZOLA had a one-out single to tie the game.

DIEGO SANDOVAL had two hits for Monte Vista.

Senior JUSTIN SCHWEIZER was solid despite the loss, pitching a complete game and striking out five.

CHRISTIAN 3, MADISON 2 (10 inn.) – The Patriots won in thrilling fashion, scoring two runs in the bottom of the tenth inning after the Warhawks had taken the lead in the top of the ninth.

ETHAN CONTRERAS won the game with a bases-loaded double with one out in the bottom of the tenth.

Senior ZACH HOGUISSON started the rally with a walk, then GARRETT NIELSEN and senior JUSTIN LEDGERWOOD both reached after being hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Contreras jumped on the first pitch, smacking it down the right-field line for the huge walk-off winner.

As a result, things are quite dicey in the Western League with one day remaining.

Christian (22-6), Cathedral Catholic and Scripps Ranch are all tied for first at 6-3. Madison is one game back at 5-4.

The Warhawks host the return trip against Christian on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Scripps Ranch travels to face St. Augustine and the Dons will host last-place La Jolla. Cathedral Catholic beat the Vikings on Tuesday.

BRADLEY JEREMIAH put his durable arm to good use, going eight innings for the Patriots, allowing four hits and striking out three.

Christian captured the lead in the second inning with one out when JESSIE MATTHEWS doubled home Ledgerwood, who reached on a passed ball following a strikeout.

Mathews earned the win with two innings of relief.

The Pats were able to outlast Madison super starter Kevin Abel, who struck out 11 Christian batters, but finally had to leave after 110 pitches.

“(Kevin) Abel is really, really good,” said Patriots coach MIKE MITCHELL of Madison’s first pitcher. “He’s the best pitcher we have faced all year.”

Madison freshman Adam Lovato got a 2-out base hit to tie the score, 1-1, in the second.

Madison took lead a 2-1 in the tenth, as Devin Padua singled, took second on a sacrifice and third on a wild pitch. Trevor Halsema hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Padua.

MOUNT MIGUEL 6, EL CAJON VALLEY 2 – An early lead helped Mount Miguel defeat El Cajon Valley on Tuesday.

NICO CAMACHO earned the win, as he tossed 5 1/3 innings, surrendering two runs, three hits, and striking out eight. JOSEPH MENDOZA recorded the last five outs for the Matadors.

ANGELO ZERTUCHE and ANDREW MONTIJO each drove in two runs for the Matadors, who banged out 10 hits.

Montijo has been stellar with the bat this season. He went 3-for-4 in this one, scoring a pair of runs.

AUSTIN ORTIZ was 3-for-4 and also scored twice for the Matadors, who won their fourth GVL game of the season, while leadoff man CAMERON BEAUZEC had two doubles and scored two runs.

HECTOR CARREON was durable in defeat for the Braves, going the distance and striking out eight. He also hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.

Tue., May 16, 2017
Grossmont Hills League
HIGHLANDERS 10, EAGLES 2
Helix            ab r h bi Granite Hills    ab r h bi
Richardson ss     3 1 1 2  Ross cf           4 0 0 0 
Kretzschmar 3b    5 0 1 1  Hazelhurst rf     3 0 0 0
Smelko cf         5 2 1 0  Verdon 3b         2 0 0 0
Peterson 2b       2 1 0 0  Cossio 1b         3 0 0 0
Owens dh          3 2 2 1  Joslyn c          3 1 2 0
Konishi lf        4 1 2 2  Omahen ss         3 1 1 0
Isbell c          2 1 2 0  Anderson lf       3 0 0 1
Johnson lf-c      1 1 1 0  McGrew 2b         2 0 0 1
Padilla rf        2 0 0 1  Brooks eh-2b-dh   2 0 0 0
Kovalcheck ss-rf  1 0 0 0  Cummings          0 0 0 0
Oquita 1b         3 1 2 2  Strickland lf-p   0 0 0 0
Babbitt lf-1b     1 0 1 0
TOTALS         32 10 13 9  TOTALS           25 2 3 2

 Helix         (19-10, 9-3) 053 100 1 - 10 13 1
 Granite Hills (12-15, 3-8) 010 000 1 -  2  3 2

E-Richardson, Hazelhurst, Strickland.
DP-Hel 1, GH 1.
LOB-Hel 8, GH-5.
2B-Owens, Oquita, Joslyn. 
HR-Richardson (1) 2^nd, one on. 
SF-Padilla.

PITCHING SUMMARY
Helix           ip  h  r er bb so
 Chase  W      6.0  2  1  1  2  3
 Elliott       1.0  3  1  1  1  1
Granite Hills
 Burton L      3.0  7  8  8  3  3
 King          3.0  4  1  1  2  1
 Strickland    1.0  2  1  0  1  1
 Bodtke        0.0  0  0  0  0  0
WP-Chase, Elliott.

FOOTHILLERS 8, VAQUEROS 4 (12 inn.)
Grossmont        ab r h bi El Capitan         ab r h bi
Ford cf           3 2 0 1  Bell c              6 0 2 0
Odom lf-rf        6 2 2 1  Lindsay ss-rf-p     6 1 2 4
Lombardo rf-lf-c  6 1 3 3  Shenefield 1b-rf-3b 6 0 1 0
JGarcia 1b        5 0 1 0  Coker pr            0 0 0 0
Keagy pr          0 0 0 0  Zamora cf           6 0 2 0
Hulett p-lf       6 0 3 1  Barker lf           5 0 0 0
Giovengo ss       6 0 0 0  Donahue dh          2 0 0 0
Levin 2b          5 0 2 1  Benedetto lf-dh     2 0 0 0
Russell pr        0 1 0 0  Peyton rf-1b        4 0 1 0
Parent 3b         4 1 1 0  Montejano 3b-rf-2b  4 1 3 0
BSmith c          2 0 0 0  Head pr             0 1 0 0
Williams lf-p     1 0 0 1  Markle 2b-rf-ss     5 1 1 0
Romero o          0 1 0 0  Cunningham          - - - -
TOTALS          44 8 12 8  TOTALS            46 4 12 4

 Grossmont (14-14, 6-5) 200 010 000 04 – 8 12 0
 El Capitan (7-19, 2-9) 003 000 100 00 – 4 12 0

E-None.
DP-Gro 1, EC 3.
LOB-Gro 9, EC 10.
2B-Hulett. HR-Lindsay (1) 3^rd, two on. 
SB-Ford 2, Markle. CS-Barker. Sac-Parent. 
SF-Williams.

PITCHING SUMMARY
Grossmont       ip  h  r er bb so
 Hulett        6.0  5  3  3  1  3
 Williams  W   5.0  6  1  1  1  3
 Romero        1.0  1  0  0  0  1
El Capitan
 Roberson      8.0  6  4  4  1  2
 Lindsay L     3.1  4  4  4  1  1
 Shenefield    0.2  2  0  0  1  1
HBP-Hulett, Williams, Lindsay 2, Roberson 2. 
WP-Shenefield, Roberson 2.

Grossmont Valley League
MATADORS 6, BRAVES 2
Mount Miguel      ab r h bi El Cajon Valley ab r h bi
Beauzec  1b        4 2 2 0  Sanchez ss       3 0 1 0
Conwright cf       3 0 0 0  Carreon p        3 1 1 1
Preciado cf        4 0 1 0  Michel c         2 0 0 0
Ortiz ss           4 2 3 0  Verdugo cf       2 0 1 0
Montijo c          4 2 3 2  Cebreros lf      3 0 0 0
Mendoza c-1b-ss-p  0 0 0 0  Bovee 1b         3 1 0 0
Zertuche 2b        3 0 0 2  Romero 3b        3 0 1 0
Harris dh          3 0 0 0  Asweaa rf        2 0 0 0
Beas lf            3 0 0 0  Naeem 2b         2 0 0 0
UNunez 3b-p        1 0 1 0
TOTALS           29 6 10 4  TOTALS          23 2 4 1

 Mount Miguel    (7-21, 4-11) 202 020 0 – 6 10 0
 El Cajon Valley (4-19, 0-14) 000 002 0 – 2  4 2

E-Sanchez, Romero.
DP-MM 1, ECV  1.
LOB-MM 4, ECV 6.
2B-Beauzec 2, Montijo. 3B-Montijo. 
HR-Carreon (1) 6^th, solo. 
SB-Montijo, Zertuche, Sanchez, Michel, Bovee, Naeem. 
CS-UNunez.

PITCHING SUMMARY
Mount Miguel       ip  h  r er bb so
 NCamacho  W      5.1  3  2  2  3  8
 Mendoza   Sv     1.2  1  0  0  1  2
 UNunez           0.0  0  0  0  0  0
El Cajon Valley
 Carreon  L(1-4)  7.0 10  6  4  2  8
HBP-NCamacho 2, Michel, Asweaa. WP-Carreon 3. 
BK-NCamacho.

COUGARS 3, MONARCHS 1
Steele Canyon   ab r h bi Monte Vista       ab r h bi
Taylor dh        3 0 0 0  Gutierrez lf       3 0 0 0
Brinkmeier cf    3 0 0 0  KCamacho 2b        3 0 0 0
Esquibel lf      3 1 2 0  DGarcia ss         3 0 1 0
Arias c          2 0 0 0  Gonzales 3b        3 1 1 0
Pedrin lf-c      0 0 0 0  DSandoval c        3 0 2 0
Tellous 1b       3 1 2 0  No. 4 lf-c         0 0 0 0
McCarthy 1b      0 1 0 0  Sanchez 1b         3 0 1 0
Yanez 2b         3 0 0 0  Plazola cf         3 0 1 1
Mata ss          3 0 1 0  Harlow dh          3 0 0 0
Navarro 3b       3 0 2 2  Alvarez rf         3 0 1 0
Dickey rf        3 0 1 0
TOTALS          26 3 8 2  TOTALS            27 1 7 1

 Steele Canyon (19-8, 11-3) 100 010 1 – 3 8 0
 Monte Vista   (18-12, 7-6) 000 100 0 – 1 7 2

E-DSandoval, Plazola.
DP-MV 1.
LOB-SC 3, MV 6.
2B-DSandoval. CS-Pedrin. Sac-Gutierrez. 

PITCHING SUMMARY
Steele Canyon    ip  h  r er bb so
 Nadeau         4.0  5  1  1  0  5
 Back  W        1.1  2  0  0  0  0
 Newberry       0.2  0  0  0  0  2
 Schirer Sv     1.0  0  0  0  1  1
Monte Vista
 Schweizer L    7.0  8  3  1  1  5
WP-Nadeau 2, Newberry, Schweizer. 

NORSEMEN 8, WOLF PACK 6
Valhalla            ab r h bi West Hills        ab r h bi
Barba 3b             4 2 2 0  Travoli cf-lf-rf   3 1 0 0
Dirkes ss-2b         4 2 1 2  Sanford c          4 1 1 1
RO’Sullivan 1b-2b-p  4 1 1 1  Quintana p         4 0 0 0
Casper cf            3 1 2 1  DCraft ss          2 1 0 0
Heider dh            2 0 0 0  Commerford lf      3 1 1 1
Perot ss-dh          2 0 1 2  Villasana 3b       3 1 2 2
Hageman c            4 0 2 2  Hughes 1b-rf       3 0 1 2
Dempsey lf-c         0 0 0 0  Sherwin lf-1b-cf   0 0 0 0
JSt.Clair 2b         2 0 1 0  Wittmeier 2b       3 0 0 0
CSt.Clair 2b-1b      2 0 1 0  Maat rf            1 1 0 0
TSmith p-2b-ss       2 1 0 0  Schroeder rf       1 0 0 0
Zamudio lf           3 1 1 0
Howard pr            - - - -
TOTALS             32 8 12 8  TOTALS            27 6 5 6

 Valhalla  (16-12, 12-2) 300 000 5 – 8 12 2
 West Hills (11-17, 7-7) 015 000 0 – 6  5 2

E-TSmith 2, Quintana, Wittmeier.
DP-Val 1. WH 1.
LOB-Val 5, WH 3.
2B-Hageman, CSt.Clair, Hughes. SB-Hughes 2. CS-Barba.

PITCHING SUMMARY
Valhalla         ip  h  r er bb so
 TSmith         3.0  5  6  5  1  2
 RO’Sullivan W  4.0  0  0  0  1  1
 Dirkes         0.0  0  0  0  0  0
West Hills
 Quintana  L    7.0 12  8  3  1  5 
HBP-TSmith, Quintana, Maat.

Western League
 PATRIOTS 3, WARHAWKS 2 (10 inn.)
 Madison          ab r h bi Christian       ab r h bi
 Padua 2b-p        4 1 1 0  Wehsener 1b      4 0 0 0
 Shimashita 3b-p   4 0 1 0  Hogueisson cf    3 1 0 0
 Halsema cf        4 0 0 1  Nielsen lf       4 1 1 0
 Abel p-3b         4 1 1 0  Mazza pr         0 0 0 0
 RLovato lf        4 0 0 0  Ledgerwood 3b    4 1 0 0
 Bolt dh           3 0 1 0  Contreras rf     5 0 1 2
 Williams ss       0 0 0 0  Beck dh          3 0 0 0
 Lantz ph          0 0 0 0  Matthews 2b-p    4 0 1 1
 Laff ph           0 0 0 0  Richardson ss    2 0 0 0
 Shilling 3b       3 0 0 0  Keltner pr       0 0 0 0
 Mayers p          1 0 0 0  Josephson c      4 0 0 0
 ALovato rf        4 0 1 1
 Ramaldi c         4 0 0 0
 TOTALS           35 2 5 2  TOTALS          33 3 3 3

Madison   (22-6, 6-3) 000 000 100 1 – 2 5 5
Christian (22-6, 6-3) 010 000 000 2 – 3 3 2

GWRBI-Contreras.
 E-Abel 3, Ramaldi 2, Richardson, Josephson.
 DP-Mad 1.
 LOB-Mad 8, Chr 10.
 2B-Contreras, Matthews, Bolt. SB-Abel. 
CS-Keltner. Sac-Shimashita. SF-Halsema.

PITCHING SUMMARY
 Madison            ip  h  r er bb so
 Abel             7.2  2  1  0  3 10
 Mayers           0.1  0  0  0  0  0
 Shilling         0.1  0  0  0  1  0
 Padua  L(0-1)    0.0  1  0  0  0  0
 Christian
 Jeremiah         8.0  3  1  0  2  3
 Matthews W       2.0  2  1  1  0  0