Henry’s Palin nearing 20 career victories

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: March 20, 2024

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2024 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

ECS staff report

Talin Gardini

Patrick Henry 4, Santana 0 – Patrick Henry pitcher Talin Gardini, a four-year varsity performer, ran his career record to 17-5 in blanking Santana over his 5.2 innings.

Gardini struck out nine Sultans batters, then Nate Moloney and Nico Lopez entered in relief for a composite 2-hit shutout.

Meanwhile, the offense of the Patriots (8-2 overall) accepted 8 walks to punch across their runs, including a run-scoring double by Gardini. Fellow senior Jack Giordano also posted an RBI.

Santana (1-8) received hits from seniors Lucas Kelly and Charles Dibble. The Sultans have just four runs in their last four contests, including a pair of shutout setbacks.

Palin recorded four wins in both his freshman and sophomore seasons, then added seven more victories in 2023.

Grossmont 7, Montgomery 1 – Entering Wednesday’s (Mar. 20 game), Grossmont owned just three victories — all by one run. But when the Hillers erupted for 12 hits while the defense played a rare error-less outing, the Foothillers were able to enjoy an easy 7-1 decision over the Montgomery Aztecs.

The lone Aztec run came on a Khalyl Perez solo homer in the second inning before the Hillers responded with seven unanswered runs.

Christian 3, Valhalla 2 – The visiting Norsemen held a quick 2-0 through two frames, but the Patriots rallied on just four hits all afternoon to sneak past Valhalla for a 302 decision.

Valhalla could’ve argued they deserved to win, but a pair of errors allowed two unearned runs which spelled the difference.

Christiab=n (6-4) has only collected five hits in two games this week. However, one of those was an RBI single by Landon Reid.

Valhalla, on the dawn of the spring equinox, saw its record drop to 5-5.

Cathedral Catholic 4, Steele Canyon 2 – The Cougars partook in their third extra-inning game of the season, with the visiting team winning all three. Too bad, they were the home team as Cathedral Catholic took the win in front of the Great Wall of Jamul.

The game-winning blow was a two-run home run by the Dons’ Joseph Anderson.

The teams exchanged single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, then the bullpens were virtually perfect until Anderson’s blow. Alex Harrington also homered on a solo shot for Cathedral Catholic/

The Dons (8-2 overall) can match their best start this century with a victory against the Simi Valley Royals in next week’s pool-play opener of the Lios Tournament.

Steele Canyon (4-6) has dropped three straight.

The Cougars received doubles from Greyson Tamborski and Austin Hall, both scoring on a Tommy Rimoldi (Jr) base hit and an error.

St. Augustine 4, Granite Hills 0 – In a battle between a pair of 7-1 ballclubs that could determine the top spot in the next section rankings, St. Augustine pitching tossed a 3-hit shutout at host Granite Hills.

Meanwhile, the Saints collected 12 hits to maintain pressure on the Eagles all afternoon.

Scripps Ranch 3, West Hills 2 (walk-off) – The Wolf Pack finally broke through with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend the contest, but the Falcons immediately answered with a two-out, walk-off winner for a 3-2 triumph at Scripps Ranch.

West Hills (3-6 overall) received an RBI single by Anthony Rosolino, then the game-tying run came on an error. Rosolino, registered both hits by the Wolf Pack

University City 4, El Capitan 2 – The host Centurions own the best record in the CIF San Diego Section at 9-1 overall after stopping El Capitan, 4-2, Wednesday (Mar. 20).

The Vaqueros tallied single runs in the first and fourth innings, but the Centurions scored four unanswered runs to win.

Both El Capitan runs were driven home by Dominic Jones, including a solo home run. The other hits knocked home Brody McAuliffe.