Stars split summer collegiate openers

LAKESIDE — Brady Joslyn registered a pair of RBI singles, while Mateo Medina scored a run by stealing home, allowing the San Diego Stars to skate past the San Diego Redbirds, 7-3, in Saturday’s (June 11) summer collegiate baseball opening doubleheader.

The Redbirds took the first contest, 10-4, before the Stars gained the split, in action held at El Capitan High’s Hostetler Field.

Joslyn (Granite Hills ’17) lined a pair of hard grass-cutters up the middle, with both Redbirds middle infielders only able to barely knock the balls down with runs scoring the first and fourth innings for a 4-1 lead.

During Joslyn’s second at-bat, Stars rookie Ethan Wright, a first-team, All-East County selection out of Santana earlier in the month, scored on a wild pitch. Two pitches later, Kip Famolaro (Foothills Christian ’21, Vanguard University) came home for the 3-run cushion on Joslyn’s second RBI.

Meanwhile, it was a bit of a turn-around for Medina (Patrick Henry), who just finished his freshman season at San Francisco State.

While at Henry, Medina led the CIF-San Diego Section in RBI during the pandemic-shortened 2019 season. However, he demonstrated his speed by catching the Redbirds pitcher off guard in his theft of the plate.

Meanwhile, Stars pitcher Luke Gentry (Christian HS ’16, San Diego Christian College ’22) fired a complete game for the victory. Only two of the runs were earned in his 2-hitter, striking out four Redbirds batters.
For the Stars (1-1), Wright, the leadoff batter, went 2-for-3 and scored twice, and Medina scored twice.

In Game 1, the Stars’ Famolaro batted 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI, coming up just a single short of hitting for the cycle.

Along with his double and triple, Famolaro bombed a leadoff homer in the sixth.

For the Redbirds (full roster not available on their website), someone named Esquivel, the second baseman, posted four RBI.

The Stars (1-1) open Western Baseball Association action on Tuesday, meeting the Gorillas (aka Bulldogs) in an early 4 p.m. start at Vista High School.

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