Matadors find purpose in Lions run

2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

69TH LIONS TOURNAMENT

3A DIVISION

MOUNT MIGUEL 14, CASTLE PARK 6

EastCountySports.com staff report

SPRING VALLEY – The Mount Miguel Matadors, who have charged right into the thick of the Division V playoff picture, continued their strong, late-season run after winning for the fourth time in seven starts by stopping the visiting Castle Park Trojans (a Division IV program), 14-6, to advance to the Lions Tournament 3A Division semifinals and will host Thursday’s division semifinal and championship games.

At 9:30 a.m., the Matadors will host SD-Southwest, then Valley Center meets Tri-City Christian at 12:30 p.m. The division’s championship contest is slated for 3:30 p.m.

For Mount Miguel, talk about balance: five of the first six batters In the batting order all drove in two runs, led by three base hits each by Austin Ortiz and Thomas Ringer. Meanwhile, Nico Camacho went 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk.

“This was another great win for us,” Ringer said. “We have really been feeling confident and believing in ourselves.

“Coach (Frank Coit) told us to play baseball like men so we are going no batting gloves and no gear up at bat. We are playing straight up baseball and we are playing well.”

Tied 5-5 through two innings, the Matadors scored four times in the third, then five times in the seventh before “C-Park” answered with a late cosmetic run.

In the 3rd, the go-ahead run saw Nico Camacho foul off three straight pitches before he was hit by a pitch. Camacho eventually scored the go-ahead run on a line single by JoJo Castillo.

Later, No. 9 batter Carlos Sanchez delivered a 2-run single for an 8-5 lead, Sanchez would score on a successful double steal when Ortiz took second base.

Mount Miguel stole 12 bases.

Matador JoJo Castillo had two hits and drove in a pair of runs. He also scored a run.

“We all saw the ball well today,” Castillo said. “This win gave us more confidence that we can do some damage this year.”

Erik Kelly had a hit and drove in a run for the Matadors.

“It was a good win,” Kelly said. “We fought hard and came out with a win.”

Mount Miguel (7-13), following the wild first two innings, saw Cameron Beauzec settle down everything with four frames of shutout relief to garner the victory. Beauzec struck out six Men of Troy.

Castle Park (9-11), SLAM (Sports Leadership & Management of Nevada) and the Matadors all finished 2-1 in pool play.