Patriots edged by top Titans, lose Armijo

By David Dickens
Updated: March 15, 2018

Eastlake senior star GRANT HOLMAN swings on Wednesday at Christian.

2018 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

By Dave Dickens

EastCountySports.com

EL CAJON (3-14- 2018) – The Christian High Patriots have only have five games in the books, and although they are 1-4, they could have easily been 4-1.

Christian lost their first two contests in the last inning, missing routine fly balls, handing out bases on balls like they were out of control, amongst other mental mistakes that may take place with just three seniors and the rest mostly underclassmen.

A Christian High pitcher delivers on Wednesday.

Christian obtained their first win against the Mater Dei Crusaders at home on a 7-0 offensive spanking and on the arm of senior LUKE RYNKOFS, who threw a no-hitter late last week.

The Pats picked up a loss against Grossmont High, and then were handed a loss of a little more than a game on Wednesday afternoon versus Eastlake High, the preseason No. 1 team in the county.

Eastlake has a few of the former players that won the Little League World Series a few years back, namely GRANT HOLMAN, who went yard to put the first points on the board and make it 1-0 Titans. Holman went yard on a 3-2 count, and scored two.

Eastlake was up 3-0 until the bottom of the second, when on a 3-2 count, Christian’s OWEN WILSON hit a ground ball single to shortstop.

Next, on a 3-1 count, TREVOR NIELSEN doubled on a fly ball to center, with OWEN EASLEY advancing to third, making it 3-1 Titans heading into the top of the third.

Christian pitcher BRAD JEREMIAH pitched well, but not perfect, however, as he induced two groundouts and a pop out that he secured himself.

Eastlake walked two, as JAKOB BECK scored from second on an error on an attempted pick off at first to pick up another run narrowing the gap to 3-2 Eastlake.

The score remained 3-2 as both squads squandered opportunities with men on.

The biggest loss for the Patriots, however, came in the bottom of the fifth when centerfielder, MATT ARMIJO hit the base at a bad angle, doubling over in pain, and rolled his ankle and was removed by emergency services, where he was taken to the hospital for further observation.

Christian High fields a fly ball to left as the Eastlake runner sets to tag on Wednesday night.

According to Patriots head coach MIKE MITCHELL, the report was not the greatest of news as Matt will be out 3-to-4 weeks as he ripped the tendons from the bone of his ankle, which surely is very painful indeed.

The Patriots would score one in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the bottom of the sixth, which was a whole other story in itself.

With TREVOR NIELSEN on second and Easley on his way to third, a well-hit ball up the middle by CONNOR OHTON hit the umpire, but then contacted then Easley, which by rule, resulted in an out.

With the score 6-5 Eastlake, neither team scored again and Eastlake puts together a double play for a 6-5 Titans’ win, as Christian loses a great player and another close game to a top squad.

“I struggled today at the plate, and didn’t have it today, but that is a part of Baseball,” said Christian High captain GARRETT NIELSEN. “We just have to bounce back from it, the big thing is we are young and inexperienced, so we are learning how to finish games, and get a W, it will come in time.”

Christian will play on Saturday the 17th at 10:30 a.m., stay tuned for details and we all pray a speedy recovery Matt Armijo.

TREVOR NIELSEN 2-3 with 2 walks; ALEX MARKO 2-3, 1 RBI; OWEN EASLEY 1-3, 2 runs scored and a walk; BRADLEY JEREMIAH 1-4, 1 run scored,

Pitching – BRAD JEREMIAH 4.2 IP, 5 runs, 6 hits, 5 ER, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts; DYLAN PAGE 1.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 2 walks and a strikeout; ALEX MARKO 1 IP, 1 hit