VALLEY: Norsemen win pennant on walk-off

2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

East County Sports staff report

RANCHO SAN DIEGO (5-7-2019) –

Valhalla High junior Ingrassia

couldn’t win Monday’s (May 6)

Grossmont Valley League showdown as a

pitcher, so he did so as a hitter.

Following six innings of shutout ball

in a pitcher’s duel against senior

Jack Schlotman of Steele Canyon,

Ingrassia delivered a walk-off, RBI

double in the 8th inning, lifting the

Norsemen to the league pennant with a

1-0 verdict against the Cougars.

Valhalla (20-6 overall, 10-1 GVL)

holds a two-game lead over Steele

Canyon (17-9, 8-3 GVL) heading into

Wednesday’s matchup between the

ballclubs at the Cougars’ diamond.

Ironically, with Ingrassia and

Schlotman, who also pitched six

shutout innings on three hits, both

received a no-decision. Instead, Riley

O’Sullivan, the No. 1 starter for the

Norsemen, pushed his record to 4-1

with two frames of shutout relief. He

leads the Grossmont Conference with an

amazing seven no-decisions.

Ingrassia also struck out 12 batters

for his fourth double-digit Ks figure

this season. He now has 104 for the

season, well ahead of Mount Miguel’s

Nico Camacho (60) and Santana’s Ben

Hart (57) for the conference lead.

O’Sullivan has 54.

The county leader is Trevor Elliott of

Mountain Empire with 133 strikeouts.

The winning run was created when No.

9 hitter Ryan Perot belted a one-out

double to right field. Kyle Casper was

intentionally walked to set-up the

double play, but Ingrassia lined a

double to right field to plate Perot.

Both squads stranded runners at third

base in the first. In the fourth, the

Cougars tried to steal third base, but

Norsemen catcher Ethan Dunnam fired

the ball to third baseman Luke Clark.

 

 

MONTE VISTA 3, EL CAPITAN 2:  At

eastern Spring Valley, immediately

after the visiting Vaqueros doubled

their lead to 2-0, the Monarchs

tallied three times in the home-half

of the 6th inning to secure a

thrilling triumph in Monday’s (May 6)

Grossmont Valley League contest on

Senior Day at Monte Vista.

Jacob Savoy, one of East County’s

leaders in stolen bases, registered his

9th steal of the season by taking home

for the tie0breaking run. The play

came moments after El Capitan turned a

double play.

 

“Coach Neu made a great decision with

two outs and a runner on first and me

on third to call an early steal,” Savoy said.

“The pitcher threw it to second and I

stole home when he did.”

In the seventh, a Vaqueros’ lead

double was erased on a fielder’s

choice at third base. The next batter

singled, but Monte Vista pitcher

Carlos Esparza coaxed a ground ball,

as third baseman Anthony Canedo

started a game-ending double play.

 

“It feels amazing especially on an

important night to some of my

teammates with it being Senior Night,”

Esparza said. “The pitch best working

for me was my outside slider that my

catcher Jacob Savoy was calling and

my defense helping me to make

the out when I needed it the most.”

Canedo pitched the final two innings

to garner the victory. Starting

pitcher Andrew Savoy yielded just four

hits, but left after five innings

trailing 1-0.

Monte Vista’s game-winning rally saw

Abraham Sanchez record a lead single,

Canedo was hit by a pitch. then

Derrick Wiley reached on an error to

load the bases.

Savoy ended El Cap’s shutout bid with

a single to the left side, scoring a

pair to knot the ballgame at2-all.

Ramon Varela followed with a fly ball

in an attempt to grab the lead on a

sacrifice fly, but Vaqueros left

fielder Austin Barker fired a strike

to catcher Jake Bergherm for a double

play.

The key was Savoy taking third base on

the throw. And when pinch-hitter Aaron

Zuniga was hit by a pitch, the

Vaqueros were looking toward first

base for a possible double-steal — a

hot staple in Grossmont Conference

baseball over recent weeks.

Instead, Savoy simply took off for the

plate, beating the throw to give Monte

Vista (16-13 overall, 5-6 GVL) the

lead.

 

“I got a chance to play all my seniors,”

Monte Vista head coach Craig Neu said.

“A fun game to be a part of. Carlos got

the win in relief, which is really cool.”

El Capitan (7-19, 4-7 GVL) registered

single runs in the 4th and 6th

innings.

Jake Pfitzner singled home Barker to

snap the pitcher’s duel. Barker also

scored the second run on a Conner

Crist base hit.

 

MOUNT MIGUEL 9, EL CAJON VALLEY 0 —

At western Spring Valley, Matadors

starting pitcher Nico Camacho struck

out five batters over his three

innings, then was followed by relief

pitchers Cameron Beauzec, Thomas

Ringer and Michael Camacho in firing a

combined no-hitter at the visiting

Braves.

Beauzec came through with seven

strikeouts in his two full innings.

Seven? Two batters had a chance to

reach base on dropped third strikes,

with one batter reaching on a passed

ball. Beauzec also intentionally

struck out the other five Braves.

The only other ECVHS baserunner was

hit by a pitch in the 1st inning.

 

“Pitching by committee this week

(under 50 pitches) trying to get everyone

some innings in preparation for playoffs,”

Mount Miguel head coach Frank Coit said.

“Pitchers did a good job, threw a lot of strikes,

attacked the zone all day, just what we ask for.”

 

Mount Miguel expanded an early 3-0

lead by scoring six times in the

fifth, all crossing the plate after

two were out.

Ricardo Partida doubled in a run to

make it 4-0, then Beauzec  who

finished with a pair of doubles to go

3-for-5, had an RBI single to drive in

his third run of the ballgame.

For Mount Miguel (8-17 overall, 4-7

GVL), cleanup hitter Trevor Darby

added two hits, moving the Matadors

into a tie for fifth place with El

Capitan.

 

“We are trying to get a little mojo back after a rough four-game stretch leading up to this week,” Coit said.

ECVHS (2-19-1, 0-11 GVL) saw Greg

Sanchez reach by getting plunked,

while Salvador Morales reached on the

dropped third strike in the fifth.

Meanwhile, pitcher Robert Verdugo

struck out a season-high 10 batters

over 4.1 innings.

 

“Verdugo, their lefty, threw away, away, away,” Coit said. “We were slow to adjust.

 

SD-HIGH TECH 15, LIBERTY CHARTER 8: At

Liberty Station, the Knights slim

chance at the Summit League crown were

eliminated Monday (May 6) by the host

Storm. No game information was

reported.

Related Posts

• 
  Villanueva: Five TDs, Monarchs gain final
• 
  CIFSDS Football Championships
• 
  Eagles, Vaqueros, Monarchs advance