LJ baseball 5, Brawley 0

Sophomore Johnny Meyerott (left) leads off just
before stealing second base in his first varsity
baseball game. The Vikings won their
season opener, 5-0.
(Photos by Ed Piper)

 

By Ed Piper

La Jolla right-hander Alex Monell limited visiting Brawley to one hit over five innings, then lefty Blaise Gimber came on to close out the season opener allowing only one other hit as the Vikings nailed down a 5-0 win Tues., March 6.

For the 6'5" senior starter, nicknamed "Money" by his teammates, his tight curve was particularly effective as he struck out eight while only walking one for Coach Gary Frank's youthful squad.

The Vikings (1-0), starting two freshmen and three sophomores, scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth against Wildcat starter Jonathan Gonzalez and added two more in the sixth.

With one out in the fourth, the game scoreless, sophomore Cooper McNally bounced a drive onto the cement berm supporting the fence in deep right on the Muirlands field for a double. Gavin Graff, a ninth-grader starting at third base in his first high school game, then scalded a grounder over the bag at first that curved into the right field corner for another double, driving McNally in for the first run. Graff stole third base as La Jolla got aggressive.

Jake Klimkiewicz, whose last name public address announcer Dave Ponsford hesitated to pronounce on his first at bat, singled to right for the Vikings' third straight hit and another run, plating Graff. "Klim" was another freshman playing his first high school game.

The seventh-slot hitter, Johnny Meyerott, a sophomore, singled. Klimkiewicz continued on to third and Meyerott to second on an errant throw to first on the hit by Brawley third baseman Nate Torrez.

The Vikings' lineup, featuring two freshmen
and a sophomore playing in their first
varsity games.

First baseman Aidan Suljic, one of three senior "elder statesmen" in the lineup, followed with a fly to left that got Klimkiewicz home. La Jolla led, 3-0.

In a stretch over the first four innings, Monell set down eight straight Wildcat batters as he settled down after a first inning in which Brawley threatened to score with two runners on base. Monell struck out Nick Houchin for the third out in the opening stanza, then recorded two perfect innings before inducing Jude Litrell to fly out to Sola Hope in right field to start the fourth inning.

It was an error on a bobbled grounder by Klimkiewicz in his first start at second base that broke the skein. But then Monell, after walking the next batter whom he had struck out his first time up, Houchin, then got third strikes past the next two batters, Kristian Garcia and Isaac Rios, to end the inning with runners on second and third.

Before the game, Frank said, "We're a very young team. We want the players to focus on the process rather than the results" in the opening game.

The game was the first of five scheduled in the Sweetwater Invitational over the next two weeks. The season-opening tournament is the first of three the Vikings will play in, a span stretching through the first week of April before Eastern League play begins.

Frank's squad resumes play at home Thurs., March 8, against Southwest in a 3 p.m. encounter.