Timmy Holdgrafer steals third base just before his
steal of home in the bottom of the fourth inning.
(Photos by Ed Piper)
With one stroke of the bat, La Jolla's Sean Hofmann broke up a no-hitter and provided the walk-off hit that defeated Patrick Henry, 2-1, in the bottom of the seventh inning Wed., April 1, to send the Vikings into the semifinals of the Lions Baseball Tournament 6A Division.
Hofmann, who had nearly snapped Henry lefty Alek Blik's no-hitter by almost beating out an infield grounder in the previous inning, drove a fly to right-centerfield that Patriot rightfielder Alejondro Reyes ran a long way for and touched with his glove. But the ball went on through, scoring pinch-runner Ben Hutchins from third base.
That set off a wild celebration, with Vikings players speeding out to short rightfield to give Hofmann a water-bottle shower. "I was just trying to put the ball in play," said the senior shortstop, still wearing a wide grin and catching his breath after the dousing by his teammates.
It was the only hit on the Vikings' side, as Blik--who La Jolla beat just last week in a non-tournament game at Patrick Henry--continued his wizardry into the seventh inning despite struggling with command of his fastball.
Sean Hofmann (left, with Zach Sehgal) enjoys his
water-bottle soaking by teammates after walk-off
game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh.
With the two teams knotted at one run apiece, there was discussion by LJHS coaches with their players as the no-hitter continued into the final innings to the effect that Viking batters should do whatever it took to produce the winning run and not worry about being no-hit.
Before Henry tied the score in the top of the seventh, the Vikings held a 1-0 advantage on Timmy Holdgrafer's daring steal of home in the bottom of the fourth. It looked very possible that La Jolla could be no-hit by the crafty lefty, yet win the game and move out of pool play into the championship round the following day.
But then Hofmann, coming to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, delivered the coup de grace and Coach Gary Frank's crew (now 10-2 on the season) into a semifinal matchup at 12:30 Thursday at Cathedral Catholic.
Viking lefthander Weston Clark, the number-two hurler on the staff, was the starter and gave up a booming triple to Blik on the first pitch of the game. But he went on to retire the side in the first inning, and settled in to pitch very effectively into the top of the seventh, when Holdgrafer was called in from rightfield.
Clark helped his own cause with a nifty piece of fielding in the fourth. Gathering up a sacrifice bunt to his right by Patriot Darren Henry, Clark slipped and fell to the artificial turf on the Muirlands field. He merely turned from a sitting position and fired a well-aimed strike to Noah Strohl at first base to get the out.
Weston had the opportunity to make a clean out on a popup in the second inning. As Henry's Matt Woodruff hit a little popup toward the first base line, Clark went for the ball. But Woodruff, in running toward first base, plowed into Clark, knocking him down and allowing the ball to fall to the ground in foul territory. No call was made with the plate umpire's judgment that the batter was within his rights to run down the baseline.
In another event that you don't see very often, La Jolla complained to the same umpire just prior to Clark's fine play on the bunt that an aluminum bat Henry's Jacob Hansell used was illegal. The umpire conferred with his base umpire, and removed the offending bat from play.
The fielding gem of the game came in the fifth inning on Vike centerfielder James Whelan's all-out run and leap for a flyball hit by Blik, batting in the number-one slot in the Patriots' order. Whelan was positioned fairly deep with one out. Seeing the ball hit in front of him, he sprinted to cover the ground between him and the descending ball. "I don't think, I just react," he said of his catch. He noted he was jarred when he landed, but he firmly had the ball in his glove. Frank: "That's where flyballs go to die."
Of his steal of home in the fourth to put the Vikings up 1-0, Holdgrafer said, "I noticed the catcher (not look him back to third) before that." As Patriots catcher Darren Henry threw the ball back to Blik after a pitch, Timmy broke for home and slid in safely as the pitcher wildly tried to make a return throw.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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