Sultans grab Valley League crown in emphatic fashion

By Bill Dickens
Updated: May 20, 2016

2016 EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com

SANTEE (5-20-16) — The showdown was not what most experts expected.

That is, the Sultans blew out West Hills 10-0 in Thursday’s (May 19) regular season finale to claim the Grossmont Valley League championship outright.

Santana lived up to its San Diego Section No. 4 ranking with a 24-3, 11-1 record.

Noah Nunez delivers to West Hills on Thursday.

The Sultans smothered the Wolf Pack behind the pitching of NOAH NUNEZ, COLTON CALVERT and DAULTON BARRY, surrendering only 2 hits while striking out 9.

The victory, based on the point rankings, should leave Santana the No. 1 seed in Division 2.

“We got the championship but we’re not done yet,” said Santana senior third baseman MITCHELL MILLER, who was 2-for-3. “It should be a fun journey for us.”

Steady TRISTEN SALINAS was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. He delivered a bases loaded triple in the second inning that obviously charged up the Sultans and deflated the Wolf Pack.

“That first hit beat us,” West Hills coach MICKEY DEUTSCHMAN said of Salinas’ base-clearing blow. “Based on who we were facing on the hill, we knew we had dug ourselves into a deep hole.”

The West Hills coach was referring to the pitching of Nunez who pitched 5 innings, allowed 2 hits and struck out 7 to hoist his record to 8-0.

Nunez was confident at the outset of the season. “Because of the guys we have, I thought we’d be pretty good,” he said.

And so they are.

“Some people might be upset that I didn’t throw a complete game against West Hills,” Nunez commented. “But that’s okay because I wanted to share the night with my pitching pals.”

JERRY ALESI was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI as was AIDAN RASMUSSON.

“Every game I play I try to make contact and put the ball in play,” said Salinas. “Every time we take the field we expect to win.”

No question Salinas has been a heavy hitter for Santana.

As a side note for Santana’s championship stride is Miller and JACOB ODENKIRK posed for pictures, celebrating the fact that they have been teammates ever since T-ball days.

Grossmont Valley League
Santana       ab r h bi West Hills     ab r h bi
Salinas cf     4 0 3 3  Sandez lf       3 0 1 0
Hernandez 2b   3 1 1 0  Hughes lf       0 0 0 0
Nunez p        4 2 1 0  Sanford ss-c    3 0 1 0
Odenkirk lf    3 1 0 0  Barkley c-p     1 0 0 0
Rasmusson ss   3 1 2 2  Craft p         1 0 0 0
Alesi 1b       3 1 2 2  ZSandoval 3b    2 0 0 0
Ellis dh       3 0 0 0  Ybarra 3b       1 0 0 0
Jackson 2b     0 0 0 0  Jewell 2b       2 0 0 0
Pryor ph       1 0 0 0  Alvarez 2b      1 0 0 0
Mora c         1 2 0 0  Lewis 1b        1 0 0 0
Allen-Fox c    1 1 1 0  Wilson 1b       2 0 0 0
Miller 3b      3 1 2 0  Quintana dh-p   1 0 0 0
Tolhurst ph    1 0 0 0  Currione ss     1 0 0 0
                        Carlin rf       1 0 0 0
                        Mickelson rf-c  1 0 0 0
                        Anderson cf     1 0 0 0
                        Maat cf         1 0 0 0
TOTALS      30 10 12 7  TOTALS         23 0 2 0

  Santana    (24-3, 11-1) 031 410 1 – 10 12 0
  West Hills  (17-9, 9-3) 000 000 0 -  0  2 3

GWRBI-Salinas (4).
E-Sanford, Currione, Lewis. DP-WH 3. LOB-Sant 6, WH 3. 
2B-Allen-Fox, Sanford. 3B-Salinas. SB-Odenkirk, Rasmusson. 
S-Odenkirk, Salinas. 

PITCHING SUMMARY
Santana           ip  h  r er bb so
 Nunez  W(8-0)   5.0  2  0  0  1  7
 Calvert         1.0  0  0  0  1  2
 Barry           1.0  0  0  0  0  0
West Hills
 Schubert L(0-1) 2.1  5  4  3  2  0
 Quintana        1.0  2  1  1  1  1
 Barkley         2.2  4  4  4  0  1
 Craft           1.0  1  1  1  0  1
HBP-by Schubert (Mora), by Barkley (Mora). WP-Craft. PB-Allen-Fox.