Trenton Fudge scores on Garrett Brown's single after
tripling to start the sixth inning. (Photos by Ed Piper)
The La Jolla express collided with a bigger locomotive, Desert Oasis of Las Vegas, and experienced a temporary derailment in its season, taking a 10-3 defeat in the semifinals of the Lions Tournament 6A Division Thurs., April 2.
The Vikings, speeding ahead on the arms of Timmy Holdgrafer, Luke Bucon, and Weston Clark in wins in pool play the previous three days, found their pitching staff game but wanting in this High Noon duel with the D-backs at Cathedral Catholic High School.
Starter James Whelan, the regular centerfielder, battled for three innings but surrendered four runs before retiring to his familiar defensive position. The bullpen wasn't any more effective, as Bucon came on in relief to give up two runs in two innings and Viking lucky man Trenton Fudge three runs in one inning, including a 370-foot bomb over the fence in right-centerfield by Caeden Marin.
Desert Oasis went on to smash Bullard of Fresno 9-3 in the title game that followed on Cathedral's diamond.
La Jolla, 10-2 before the semifinal game, was looking for more hardware to add to its trophy collection on the heels of a championship in the Bully's East Tournament. But in a four-day tournament like the Lions, a team's pitching staff gets extended to the maximum. Desert Oasis' number-four, Keanu Van Kuren, checked the Vikings batters with four hits. The 5'9" right-hander struck out three, walked one, and hit a batter in going the distance.
Vikings' Nate Gibfried gets hit by the pitch in
the seventh inning. He was retired on a forceout.
Van Kuren was the little fish in the Las Vegas team's pond. Much bigger fish, Nolan Kingham, who occupied centerfield against the Vikings, threw 96 mph in a 1-0, three-hit loss to La Jolla Country Day in the first day of pool play Monday. Country Day scored its only run against Kingham on an error in the sixth inning. Two other D-back hurlers throw in the 90's. Versus LJHS, Kingham, a 6'4", 200-pound senior, patrolled centerfield ably and drove in Desert Oasis's first two runs in the third inning and scored in the fifth after getting aboard with a bunt.
La Jolla, after giving up four runs in the top of the fourth, came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to get back in the game. Clark smashed a drive over Kingham's head to the fence in centerfield to bring in Thomas Zlatic, who had the sole walk given by Van Kuren, for the first run. Then Clark, who leads the team with five doubles, scored when Noah Strohl's groundball to short was bobbled by the D-backs' Bryson Stott.
Once the Vikings went down 6-2 in fifth inning, coach Gary Frank made wholesale changes to his lineup, giving his subs a chance to play and air it out a little. Ben Wintringer pitched the seventh inning, hitting a batter but giving up an unearned run when Rey Morales, filling Zlatic's slot at third base, dropped a grounder.
Sophomore Garrett Brown went in as catcher and drove in the Vikings' third run with a solid single to left in the top of the sixth. Nate Gibfried got aboard by being hit in the side by a Van Kuren pitch in the bottom of the seventh.
Holdgrafer, who rarely misses an inning of play, played multiple positions, which is not uncommon for him, before giving way to Frank's substitutions in the final innings.
Junior Ben Wintringer pitched the seventh
inning for La Jolla.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
No comments:
Post a Comment