ROUNDUP: Eagles win, East continues slump

By Ramon Scott
Updated: March 1, 2019

2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

EL CAJON – The Granite Hills Eagles turned a scoreless game after 3 1/2 innings against Rancho Buena Vista into a 9-1 victory on Thursday.

Granite Hills’ Max Bodtke had a home run in the fourth inning.

Granite Hills (2-2) scored four runs in the sixth inning highlighted by a single by Sean McGrew and a double by TK Parker.

Austin Smith earned the victory as he allowed two hits and no runs over five innings, striking out eight.

“It feels great to get a win today on the mound,” Smith said. “The offense I had behind me today was a major factor when they got me the lead. It made me more comfortable on the mound. I was sticking with the fastball and locating it, and here and there I would come back with a changeup.”

Cayden Clinger and Ryan Fenn helped to close out the game in relief.

McGrew finished with four hits.

“TK and I do a pretty good job of manufacturing runs together,” McGrew said. “Him getting on a lot in the leadoff spot puts me in a good position to drive him in.”

“It was just nice to play at our field again,” Granite Hills head coach James Davis said. “It’s been awhile.”

KEARNY 6, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 5 – At the Bully’s Tournament, the Knights scored three times in the top of the seventh inning, but fell to host Kearny (1-1-1) on a bang-bang play at home plate.

Foothills Christian got a double by Corbin Harris and a single by Kip Famolaro to propel the rally in the seventh.

With two outs in the seventh and down by a one run, the Knights had the speedy Famalaro at third with senior Jaden Bankhead coming to the plate.

The first pitch was a passed ball, and Famalaro broke for home.

As the ball hit the backstop, it got a big bounce off a concrete footing and shot back toward the catcher who had turned to chase the ball. Famalaro was already committed and never stopped.

Both Famolaro and the catcher dove for the plate.

“It was a bang-bang play,” Foothills head coach Dave Liews said. “The umpire called him out to end the game. Trust me, with Kip’s speed, we score that run 9 out of 10 times. But this time did not go our way. Tough loss.”

“Definitely not our best game,” Famalaro said. “Made some mistakes early in the game that cost us later. Kearny pieced some runs together off some nice hits and some errors on our part.

Brendan Campbell started for Foothills Christian, going three innings.

“Brendan pitched well,” Famalaro said. “He has a great demeanor for a pitcher. He doesn’t let anything phase him.

“Nothing we can do but bounce back next game and not let the same mistakes hurt us again.

“Offensively, we’re solid. We have to change our approach to ground balls and line drives if we want to do well consistently this season.

Kearny took the lead on a double in the second inning and led 4-0 after three frames.

Famolaro and Jack Wurts each managed two hits to lead Foothills Christian

“We got behind early and then found ourselves battling back the whole game,” Wurtz said. “We had a few opportunities to have big innings, but we weren’t able to put it all together.

Foothills Christian was down two going into the bottom of the sixth.

Kearny was able to score two more runs, which ended up being key in the victory.

“We started the seventh inning and got a couple of hits,” Wurtz said. “The dugout was fired up and we really felt like we had a good chance to pull off a comeback.”

The Knights fell to 2-3 on the season.

“Still shorthanded pitching wise and we dug a hole we couldn’t dig out of,” Lewis said. “We just need to get everybody back. We have people playing positions they’re not usually playing and it’s costing us. This one really hurt. We should have never lost it.”

LA JOLLA 2, CHRISTIAN 0 – The Patriots were shut out for the first time this season, falling to 3-3 after the Sweetwater Invitational game.

Braeden Ross started the game for Christian and allowed two hits and no runs over three innings, striking out two.

“I felt like I had a good outing,” Ross said. “The first inning, I had a high pitch count, which contributed to me only going three innings. It’s early in the season and Coach (Mike) Mitchell is really trying to watch our pitch count. After the first inning, I was really locked in and felt good.

“I was followed by Trace Ramos and Peyton Berroth, who both did good jobs in relief. Unfortunately, we caught a bad break when a liner went off Trace’s glove. Other than that, our pitching and defense were strong.

“We are a young team and we’ve seen some strong pitching over the past couple days.”

The Patriots managed just four hits in the game.

La Jolla scored their runs on a hit on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded that deflected of Ramos’ glove and died in the infield.

“We played better today we just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it, Christian head coach Mike Mitchell said. “Braeden Ross threw well in his first start.”

LA COSTA CANYON 6, SANTANA 4 – Eighth-ranked visitor La Costa Canyon scored two in the sixth and two in the seventh to erase a 4-2 deficit and defeat ninth-ranked Santana.

Santana scored in the first inning when Jared Forster singled on a 1-2 pitch, driving in a run.

The Sultans scored three runs in the fifth inning thanks to an RBI triple by Cole Contreras and an RBI double by Tyler Glowacki. The outburst gave the Sultans a 4-2 lead.

Glowacki started and allowed two runs on two hits over four innings, striking out six.

“Thought we competed very well,” Glowacki said. “Though we didn’t get the result we wanted, we were still competitors. We have been training and working hard throughout winter ball for this year’s season.”

SAN YSIDRO 1, WEST HILLS 0 (8) – Another sparkling performance by a Wolf Pack starting pitcher went to waste as both starters received no-decisions after this scoreless duel went into extra innings in Thursday’s (Feb. 27) Aztec-Foothiller rain make-up contest at Wolf Pack Park.

West Hills starter Kyle Dobyns, a sophomore, allowed just five hits and struck out five batters over seven innings of work.

However, San Ysidro starter Danny Sandoval matched Dobyns, as the diminutive senior (5-foot-7, 140 pounds) yielded just four hits with four Ks over six frames.

The Cougars (2-2) won in the 8th on RBI single by senior catcher Miguel Alvarado.

Among the Pack’s four hits, two were registered by junior infielder Joe Thrailkill. In addition, Andrew Ritayik extended his hitting streak to four game for West Hills (1-3).

GREAT OAK 14, STEELE CANYON 3 – Steele Canyon’s Jake Entrekin hit a home run in the sixth inning, but a nine-run second inning by the visitors from Temecula did in the Cougars in a Falcon-Pirate Classic game.

“It was so cool I was trying to be serious around the bases but I couldn’t stop smiling,” said Entrekin, a sophomore. “I do really appreciate my coaches this year. They’ve put in so much work this year trying to better the program and to help us succeed.

The Cougars boast several of the top returning players in the East County but are off to an 0-2 start.

“We’re a good team and we’re just getting caught up after all our games getting rained out,” Entrekin said. “We’re gonna turn it around and have a great season.”

Steele Canyon committed five errors in the contest.

Junior Aiden Oakley threw two innings of relief for the Cougars, striking out four, and allowing an unearned run.

SWEETWATER 8, MOUNT MIGUEL 0 – At the Sweetwater Invitational, the Red Devils blanked the host Matadors.

The Matadors managed just four hits on the afternoon, including a double by Erik Kelly.

HILLTOP 9, EL CAPITAN 2 – JAKE PFITZNER and RENE PONCE drove in runs for the Vaqueros in the third inning after the Lancers scored six runs in the top of the third inning.

El Cap’s AUSTIN BELL pitched 4 1/2 innings, allowing no earned runs, while striking out three.

MARANATHA CHRISTIAN 10, LIBERTY CHARTER 3 – The Lions fell to 1-3-1.

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