ROUNDUP: Foothiller Gomez chasing mark

SANTEE —- Grossmont shortstop Isaiah Gomez, the current batting leader in the Grossmont Hills League, continues to embarrass opposing pitchers. With a batting average hovering just above .600, Gomez continues his quest for the all-time Grossmont Conference record after driving in four runs in the Foothillers’ 19-3 conquest of West Hills.

Gomez “only” batted 2-for-5 on Friday (May 13), but with a grand slam to cap a 7-run outburst in the seventh inning to further bury the Wolf Pack. The triumph moved Grossmont back into a deadlock with Steele Canyon for second place in the Grossmont Hills League.

Grossmont produced multiple-run inning on four occasions, scoring twice in the first, four more in the third and sixth, then the fireworks display when the ballgame approached its conclusion.

The 19 runs equal the Hillers’ season-high, set in the opener against Coronado, the current leaders of the Eastern League,  on Mar. 22. Conversely, the runs were the most allowed by West Hills in 13 years, when Valhalla took a 23-2 non-league decision on Mar. 7, 2008.

Obviously, everyone contributed to Grossmont’s 21-hit attack.

Caleb Hommel stroked a 2-run double in the first. In the third, Chris Chrzan was dinged by a pitch with the bases loaded for an RBI then Luke Williams followed with a 3-run double for a 6-0 advantage.

In the seventh, a lead single by Hommel was followed by a two-run homer by Justin Brown. Of course, Gomez added his “salami” to cap the offense against five pitchers on the afternoon for West Hills (11-10 overall, 1-6 GHL).

Hommel put up career numbers in hits with five, along with three runs and a trio of RBI for Grossmont (19-4 overall, 5-3 GHL).

For the Wolf Pack, Ryan Parker batted 3-for-4 with three RBI, including a run-scoring double in the fifth. Meanwhile, leadoff batter Jacob Villanueva batted 2-for-4.

Helix 12, Valhalla 6

LA MESA —- If the Helix Highlanders are to make a run at a record-tying fifth straight Grossmont Conference league title, this was the week to do something or face early elimination,

And the Scotties delivered with their best week of the season, completing a three-game sweep by doubling-up visiting Valhalla, 12-6, in Friday’s (May 13) Grossmont Hills League encounter.

Seven runs over the first two innings put the victory to bed early. The stretch began with a solo home run by James Whitman, while second baseman Wyatt Laub contributed four RBI in the one-sided contest, including a 3-run in the second to mount a 7-0 cushion.

Other batting leaders for Helix were Ben Haar, who went 2-for-3 with two, run and a pair of RBI, including one on a sacrifice fly; and two hits each from Aidan Perez, Demarae Woods, and Laub.

Valhalla (5-15, 1-6 GHL) has dropped nine of 10, despite two hits each from Fernando Hernandez, Nick Medrano, and Riley Hughes. The Norsemen are 10 games under .500 for the first time since 1998.

Monte Vista 12, Mount Miguel 1

SPRING VALLEY —- Monte Vista catcher Jacob Savoy knocked in three runs while the heart of the Monarchs lineup card drove in seven in an easy triumph over host Mount Miguel in Friday’s (May 13) Grossmont Valley League affair.

The Monarchs scored in all seven at-bats,  as the Matadors’ pitching staff suddenly starting leaking oil over the past week or so after posting a shutout victory.

Surrounding the clean-up hitting Savoy, Andy Canedo and Isaiah Hilke collected two RBI each, as every starter posted at least one hit or a run scored.

Key hits included RBI singles by Savoy in the first and third innings, a triple by Hilke to score Savoy in the third, then a two-run Canedo homer in the sixth – A no-doubter to left.

The consistent display of offense made life easy for Monte Vista pitcher Ernie Arambula, who fired a 1-hit shutout over his six innings on the mound. Arambula finished with five strikeouts and walked just one in his top outing of the season. He also went 3-for-5 at the plate.

Mount Miguel (7-14 overall, 2-4 GVL) avoided the shutout when Thomas Ringer doubled home Johnathan Trader (hit by pitch) in the seventh.

The season will be on the line for Monte Vista (10-8, 4-1 GVL) next week. They complete the home-and-home series with Mount Miguel, probably facing Ringer, the Matadors’ pitching ace, then open a home-and-home series with front-running Santana in Santee on Wednesday.

“It was a nice bounce-back win after Wednesday’s tough loss,” Monte Vista head coach Craig Neu said. “It shows how resilient our boys are.”

Santana vs. El Cajon Valley, ppd.

SANTEE —- The Santana Sultans chase at history will need to wait as Friday’s (May 13) Grossmont Valley League game against visiting El Cajon Valley was, for now, being listed as postponed because the Braves lacked a full roster for the third time this month.

The Sultans were looking to match the 2012 El Capitan Vaqueros with a fourth consecutive shutout in the 21st Century.

ECVHS earlier postponed a GVL contest with Mount Miguel, while a non-league home game with Hoover was canceled.

Mountain Empire 19, Liberty Charter 0

LEMON GROVE —- Mountain Empire took advantage of the depleted  Liberty Charter roster by posting five runs in the fourth inning, then 13 runs in the fifth to run-rule the Lions, 19-0, in Friday’s (May 14) Summit League ballgame.

RedHawks pitcher Nakai Lindholm finished with a 1-hit shutout, carrying a no-hitter into the fourth inning. He struck out seven Lions batters.

In the fourth, following a walk, MEHS turned a double play, as Lindholm fielded a come-backer, firing the ball to shortstop Marcus Smith for the 1-6-3 twin-killing, However, Lions junior Tyler Leon Guerrero followed with a clean single to right field.

The big inning for the RedHawks saw four of the first five batters draw walks. Then it was station-to-station baseball with 10 singles — Mountain Empire intentionally did not take an extra-base — in sending 18 batters to the plate. Alejandro Adkins, Smith, and Angel Jimenez had two hits each in the frame.

Mountain Empire is back to level at 6-6 overall, 1-2 in Summit play. Liberty Charter fell to 1-5 (0-4 league).

Maranatha Christian 15, Foothills Christian 6

SPRING VALLEY —- Foothills Christian was maintaining contact with Maranatha Christian until the Eagles scored six times in both the fifth and seventh innings to pull away for a 16-6 decision in Pacific League action on Friday’s (May 14). The decision gave the clubs a split of their league-opening series.

It was a career day for Eagles catcher Joey Wittig, driving in a career-best seven runs on 3-for-3 hitting. Wittig also walked twice and scored three times.

With the Knights trailing only 4-2, Jake Dagan singled home a run, then Wittig followed with a 3-run homer to left field to mount an 8-2 advantage. Both are sophomores.

In the seventh, Wittig added a 2-run double, coming home on a triple by Jacob Smith for Maranatha Christian (7-10-1 overall, 1-1 league).

For Foothills Christian (10-10, 1-1 league), Colby Johnson and Billy Temple each had two hits among the eight by the Knights.

Johnson and Taylor Casey posted doubles.

“We kept it close for most of the game but Maranatha had some key hits and took advantage of a few mistakes,” Johnson said.

Both ballclubs stand one full game behind Tri-City Christian, which split this week’s series with Orange Glen.