Dons blast Pats; Braves win, 22-0

By Ramon Scott
Updated: May 1, 2018

Christian High throws a pitch against Cathedral Catholic on Monday.

2018 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

EL CAJON – It seems hard to fathom that these Cathedral Catholic Dons are ranked just eighth in the county.

Cathedral boasts a lineup full of players headed to four-year colleges on baseball scholarships, but seven losses have the Dons looking up at all the teams that were ranked below them at the beginning of the season.

The Dons were anointed as the No. 2 team in the county before the season began and looked like one of the best teams in the section once again on Monday afternoon, as they blew open a 5-all tie to defeat the Christian Patriots, 15-5, in a homer-filled Western League game.

BRAD JEREMIAH at the plate against Cathedral Catholic on Monday.

Seven round-trippers were hit in all. Four were by the visitors.

In the first inning, Christian’s BRAD JEREMIAH hit a solo homer and OWEN EASLEY added a sacrifice fly to score GARRET NIELSEN for a 2-0 lead.

The Dons scored five runs in the top of the third, capped off by a three-run home run from Garrett Frechette.

Christian would rally to tie the score on solo home runs by Nielsen and Easley.

For Nielsen, it was his seventh circuit clout of the season. Meanwhile, Jeremiah and Easley both had their third long ball of the campaign.

“I try to go up to the plate confident in my ability all the time,” Easley said.

Cathedral, however, regained the lead on three-consecutive home runs in the top of the fourth for a 9-5 edge. The Dons’ Logan Whitesides, Cade Brown and Nick Nastrini added to the long-ball parade.

“Honestly, we were laying fastballs right down the middle and they were hitting them,” Nielsen said. “We didn’t have an answer for 15 runs.”

The teams meet again on Wednesday at Cathedral Catholic.

EL CAJON VALLEY 22, ROCK ACADEMY 0 – The Braves took out their frustrations on the visitors as senior JESUS FAVELA and sophomore CHRISTIAN VASQUEZ both had five RBI and senior ROBERT VERDUGO struck out 14 in a complete-game, two-hit effort.

El Cajon Valley, which snapped a nine-game losing skid, put up crooked numbers in each of the first four frames, including a 10-spot in fourth.

“We went out there with a mentality saying we needed to use this game as momentum for our next game and get out of the losing streak and we did just that,” Favela said. “We did a great job hitting and our pitcher, Robert, had the momentum going, and that’s how it should be.”

The Braves scored four in the first highlighted by a triple from junior AARON RODRIGUEZ (3-for-4) and an RBI double by junior LUIS HUERTA.

El Cajon Valley scored it’s five second-inning runs after the first two batters were retired.

Consecutive run-scoring hits by Vazquez, Huerta, Favela, ADRIAN RUIZ and GREG SANCHEZ had the Braves rounding the bases like the Gas-House Gorillas’ conga line.

The victory over Rock Academy was key for the Braves because El Cajon Valley was just a couple of notches above Rock Academy near the bottom of the Division V playoff picture.

“Now we go face Mount Miguel tomorrow and hopefully we’re ready and keep the momentum going because I want to keep this ride going,” said Favela, who had a three-run triple in the Braves’ double-digit uprising the fourth.

In the third, Vasquez drove in two more runs with one of his three doubles on the afternoon, then had three RBI with a pair of hits in the fourth.

“It was just a great day at the plate and I was just thrilled to be back out on the field after missing some portion of the season,” said Vazquez, who scored four runs on the day.