LJ g lax: DeMaio named league Player of the Year

By Ed Piper

Scoring a hat trick in the title game, to help build up a three-goal lead, Viking senior attack/midfielder Luca DeMaio was rewarded with being named the Western League Player of the Year after helping lead La Jolla (16-4) to a loss-avenging 9-8 triumph May 21 over third-seed Scripps Ranch for the Open Division championship.

In fact, Scripps (17-4) had won the last two titles over La Jolla. So the satisfaction of DeMaio, and teammates and coaches Kitty Cullen and Sam Farrell had to be immense when the Vikings "scaled the mountain" and finally put their championship yearning to rest with the 2022 title.

The Falcons' Dahlen Vilbrandt scored four goals in the championship game. Teammate Kayden Williamson scored two more, setting school records for goals and assists this season. Amanda Griffin scored two goals as well.

La Jolla won both regular-season matches between the two teams as a lead-up to the postseason playoffs.

For her part, DeMaio, who committed to Towson, a D1 college lacrosse program, scored 152 goals during her high school career, including 84 her senior year.

Leading up to the finals, Luca propelled the Vikes' offense with five goals and nine draw controls in the semis against Cathedral Catholic in a 20-7 win.

Sonia LaMonica is the head women's lacrosse coach at Towson University, a public university with an enrollment of 20,000 which plays in the Colonia Athletic Association (CAA).

DeMaio's teammate, Hailey Dommers, is a UC Davis commit. She plays defense for the Open Division winners.

Dommers scored the Vikings' first two goals of the title match.

LJ FB: Diehl highlights

By Ed Piper

In doing some research on this Fall's roster, quarterback Jackson Diehl's highlights posted on HUDL from his JV season last year and his freshman season in April 2021 come up.

"Early on, he's the frontrunner" at QB, La Jolla High head coach Tyler Roach said Thurs., May 26. Diehl will likely play during the Vikings' Spring Game next Fri., June 3, from 6 to 7 p.m. That will precede an Alumni Flag Football Game at approximately 7 p.m.

One gathers the following from viewing the videos:

--Diehl can throw a pass. That's not such a stupid statement. This sportswriter, who has covered La Jolla since 2004 (18 years), has witnessed football seasons in which the designated quarterback could not throw a pass consistently.

As adept passers, we think of Collin Rugg (All-CIF in 2013-2014). Jackson Stratton tore it up in 2019, before COVID hit, to help lead the Vikes to the CIF Southern California championship. That's about it for the past 18 years, not to be cruel but to be honest. There were a lot of strivers, but not a lot of succeeders especially in the pre-Rugg years.

--In the videos, the newer Jackson can make various throws:

     --He leads off the first video, against Point Loma JV's last Fall, with a long TD connection.

     --Diehl throws the short completion over the middle (a couple of those), another of medium distance the unidentified receiver runs with after the reception.

--JD shows he can run, when needed, in the same highlights.

--Diehl identifies as a quarterback. Again, in my experience, there were years when the "best athlete" got put into the QB position and didn't completely identify as a quarterback. Again, that's not to knock anybody. There some pretty lean years in there, after Dave Ponsford retired in 2008-2009. He later faced a dying program that barely stayed on life support.

--According to the videos posted on HUDL, Diehl and the freshmen played four games in April 2021 as COVID let up a little after all sports were cancelled from March 13, 2020, until the Spring the next year. The LJHS freshmen played at Orange Glen. Jackson connects on a long touchdown play, among other highlights.

One new to viewing the highlights is struck by the constant (and justified) ads against vaping on the website.

None of this is written to attempt to force Roach's hand in who he chooses for quarterback. It wouldn't be successful, anyway. We'll know more after watching the Vikings play their Spring Game scrimmage next week, Fri., June 3.

LJ FB: Diehl deals

By Ed Piper

In early work, Jackson Diehl is the frontrunner in the quarterback race for next fall at La Jolla High, according to head coach Tyler Roach in a conversation Thurs., May 26.

The Vikings play in their annual Spring Game next Fri., June 3, at 6 p.m. at Edwards Stadium. An Alumni Flag Football Game will follow at roughly 7 p.m., Roach said.

"Sixty-five days until our 'go-date'--helmets on, July 30, 2022," said Roach. "85 days until game day." 

Otherwise, the main point of the chat with Roach was firming up exactly what is the Viking schedule in 2022. It has been made available, and it is as follows:

2022 LA JOLLA HIGH VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

All Friday night games

Date   Opponent           Location     Notes

8/12   University City    Away            Scrimmage

8/19   Bishop's               LJHS            Non-league

8/26    Scripps Ranch    Away            Non-league

9/2      El Capitan          Away            Non-league

9/9      Del Norte           Home           Non-league

9/16    Morse                 Location TBD   Non-league

9/23    Point Loma        Away            Non-league

9/30    San Diego High   Home         Eastern League

10/7    Patrick Henry   Away             Eastern League

10/14  Bye week

10/21  Christian           Home            Eastern League   Senior Night

10/28  Mira Mesa        Away             Eastern League

11/4    CIF Playoffs

LJ g lax: Open Division title

Photos by Ed Piper

In celebration of La Jolla High's girls Open Division lacrosse championship Sat., May 21, here are some photos of action from the past season.

April 13 vs. Scripps Ranch at home

March 18 vs. St. Ignatius (SF)

LJ track: CIF Finals meet

By Ed Piper

Sophomore speedster Payton Smith doubled in the 200 and 400 meters at the CIF Finals Sat., May 21, winning each of the Division 3 races, respectively, in 24.89 and 56.33 seconds.

Her older teammate, senior Maddie Lyons, likewise pulled her own version of a double, finishing second in the 100 and 200 meters in 12.21 and 25.62, respectively.

Kirra Fisk, who broke in on the local running scene last year as a freshman during COVID restrictions, took the Division 3 race in the 1600 meters in 5:14.63. She also landed a third place in the 3200 meters in 11:24.85.

Long-distance teammate and fellow 10th-grader Daphne Mayer busted out a time of 5:28.67 in the 1600 for sixth place, and fifth in the 3200 at 12:09.30.

In the 4x100 relay, Division 3, La Jolla placed second behind Madison in 49.59 seconds: Lyons, Elena Farrar, Ebony Crandle, and Smith.

LJ FB: Tentative partial 2022 schedule

By Ed Piper

I have been able to access part of the Fall 2022 Viking varsity football schedule. Someone told me the rest is posted on Twitter. Help!

I have not been able to access that part of the schedule, so here is what I have to the moment. Please contact me at lalopiper@san.rr.com to inform me of the rest, if you have it. Thanks.

Partial 2022 La Jolla High Football Schedule

Fri., Aug. 26   At Scripps Ranch

Fri., Sept. 2    At El Capitan

Fri., Sept. 9    Home vs. Del Norte

Fri., Sept. 16

Fri.,, Sept. 23  At Pt. Loma

Fri., Sept. 30   Home vs. San Diego High

Fri., Oct. 7     At Patrick Henry

Fri., Oct. 14

Fri., Oct. 21   Home vs. Christian High

Fri., Oct. 28   At Mira Mesa

Fri., Nov. 4

LJ baseball: What a ride

Catcher Cole Duffy, returning after pneumonia

waylaid him, tries to reach first after

a dropped third strike in the top of the second. 

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's baseball team, coming off two tattered years of COVID delays, postponements, and cancellations in 2020-2021, entered a 2022 baseball season that began in a rough way: four straight losses to initiate the schedule.

Over time, as Coach Gary Frank has emphasized, different players contributed in different ways. At one point late in the City League season, the Vikings won 10 of 11 games and with it clinched a share of the league co-championship with rival Mission Bay.

Which leads us to the CIF playoff game Fri., May 20 at Rancho Buena Vista High. Not only were the host Longhorns the champions of the Avocado North County League, but they also received the number one seed in the Division 3 playoffs.

"It was an odd game," someone on the RBV side said at Friday's game. RBV stumbled in losing its first-round game to Mar Vista.

Every school had to deal with the turmoil COVID-19 presented, and every team has injuries and ups-and-downs, so I'm not going to argue that point for the "poor, old Vikings".

What they brought to the game Friday, facing their second loss and the end of their stay in the double-elimination tournament, was a devil-may-care attitude that got them to the brink of a 5-4 win.

Kevin Steel, 6'5" and 9-2 on the mound this season, peppered a bomb beyond the 320-foot sign in left in the top of the fifth, a two-run shot for a temporary 4-3 lead. Spirits were rising on the La Jolla side, looking ahead to the possibilities of another playoff game the following day.

The entire dugout was loud, and encouraging as each batter came up and took their licks. Spence Carswell, closer deluxe, had to go three innings instead of his normal shorter stint at the end of a game. His first inning relieving Cole Roberts, the bottom of the fifth, went well.

The rest, you can read about in my game story. (See other entry.) But my point is that many moments in this playoff game were riveting, bringing someone who had substitute-taught all day without a break earlier, to pay attention and track each bunt, each passed ball, all of the excitement.

We wish, of course, that the result had been different. But this moment, this day seemed to bring all the energy together and put the '22 Vikes at the edge of some more glory.

As I said, the strongest point of the whole season was the 10-wins-in-11-games streak to wipe out most of the rest of their opponents in the City League. The first league title since 2014 is a credit to the present stable of Vikings who stuck through a season, the first one back from two years of mishaps due to COVID.

Belated though it was, I was glad to connect especially some of the younger team members with their names, having missed most of the last two seasons due to restrictions on exposure and movement.

LJ baseball 5, RBV 6 - CIF D3 playoffs - 2nd round

Cole Roberts went the first four innings

for the Vikings, keeping them within

range at 3-0. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

In their quest to stay alive in the CIF Division 3 baseball playoffs, La Jolla--winners of a 7-2 triumph over Hilltop at home Wednesday--travelled the long way to Rancho Buena Vista Fri., May 20 for a second-round matchup.

Both league champions, the Longhorns and Vikings battled all seven innings, with La Jolla coming from behind 3-2 on a Kevin Steel long home run to straight-away left field in the fifth inning, landing on the aluminum roof of an auxiliary building behind the fence. As a result of that shot, La Jolla temporarily took a 4-3 lead.

Sophomore lefthander Cole Roberts, fresh from the JV season, went four innings and stayed within himself. He gave up the first of two home runs to shortstop Christian Hill, a similar clout to Steel's, in the bottom of the second. Another two runs scored when Max Hurley let a single get by him in left field.

The Vikings, 18-13 on the season, came back to knot the score 5-5 in the top of the seventh on Steel's sacrifice fly, bringing Declan Kelly in from third base.

Spence Carswell, toiling in his third inning after taking over from Roberts, gave up a leadoff single to Jack Solari, who came in as the Longhorns' closer on the mound, in the bottom of the seventh. Solari moved up to third on two wild pitches, and scored on Matthew Bates' solid single to left to end the game and the season for the Vikings.

LJ baseball 1, Mt. Carmel 4 - CIF D3 1st round

Third baseman Spence Carswell made two nice

defensive plays in the bottom of the fourth inning,

one in which a hard-hit grounder turned him around.

He threw out the batter at first.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's bats went silent as Mt. Carmel senior righthander Ernie Snyder held the Vikings to a base hit by junior Max Hurley in the fifth inning, the Sun Devils prevailing 4-1 in the CIF first-round game Wed., May 18.

La Jolla now travels to Rancho Buena Vista Fri., May 20 for a second-round game that they must win to stay alive in the postseason tournament.

The Vikings scored their sole run when Hurley came around and scored on a wild pitch in the same inning.

LJ baseball: House in the house

Renowned throwing coach Tom House

attended La Jolla's playoff game

Tues., May 17.

By Ed Piper

Tom House, a well-known throwing coach for football and baseball players alike, attended La Jolla's play-in CIF baseball game Tues., May 17.

House, renowned for working with Tom Brady and Nolan Ryan, among others, was introduced before the game.

The lefthander pitched in the major leagues, five seasons for the Atlanta Braves, two for the Boston Red Sox, and two for the Seattle Mariners, and meanwhile studied and applied his knowledge of mechanics and so forth. House consulted with Viking players several years ago, and that is where Howard Frank, a long-time friend of his, invited this sportswriter to talk with and observe House chatting with La Jolla High throwers.

LJ baseball 7, Hilltop 2 - CIF play-in game

Senior Dillon Hopkins (6),

who had a two-run ground-rule

double to drive in two runs

in the third inning.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Rightfielder Dillon Popkins drove in Nicky Reynolds and Kevin Steel, all seniors, with a ground-rule double that took one hop and bounced over the fence in the bottom of the third inning, and La Jolla rode a 5-run inning to a 7-2 win over visiting Hilltop Tues., May 17, to reach the Division 3 postseason double-elimination tournament beginning today.

The Vikings (now 18-11), the fifth seed, travel to Mt. Carmel, seeded fourth, to play a 3:30 p,m. game. They have the cushion of being able to lose without the immediate sudden-death play-or-go-home situation of yesterday's play-in CIF qualifier.

Steel, the ace righthander, allowed only three hits in going six innings before giving way to closer Spence Carswell in the seventh inning. Steel ups his record to 9-2. He got out of some jams after giving up two runs in the top of the first, including stabbing a liner back to the mound with the bases loaded in the sixth and throwing over to first for an inning-ending double play.

La Jolla's offense, besides the early 2-0 deficit, got off to a slow start. Hitters made the necessary adjustments against Hilltop starter. senior righthander Christian Andrews, and erupted for the game-changing five-run third inning.

"Just like we have done all year, we got several contributions from everyone on the team," said La Jolla coach Gary Frank after the game. "To be missing two more starters (in addition to senior centerfielder Connor Hobbs to an ACL injury two weeks ago) due to illness (first baseman/pitcher Beau Brown and catcher Cole Duffy) and have so many role players step in and lead us to a come-from-behind playoff win is a great example of the depth and heart of this 2022 baseball team."

LJ baseball: Must-win game

Catcher Cole Duffy, shown working behind the plate

April 27 against Mira Mesa, is one of the senior

leaders for the Viking baseball team this season.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's baseball team, with a good 17-11 record this season, must win today's 3:30 p.m. game versus Hilltop at home, or go home.

Viking coach Gary Frank realized the urgency of the moment Mon., May 16. "Tomorrow is a win-or-go-home situation," he said. "If we win tomorrow, then we will be in the double elimination tournament."

So there are no guarantees, and no soft spot for La Jolla to start the postseason, despite the 2022 Vikings having won a share of the City League championship with Mission Bay. Their league record was a scintillating 8-2, but all of that is put aside for today's contest.

LJ baseball: CIF play-in game vs. Hilltop - Preview

Senior righthander Kevin Steel (8-2) pitches at home

against Mira Mesa April 27 in a 7-3 win.

Tuesday's play-in starter yielded five hits

and struck out six in that winning effort.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Seeded fifth in the CIF Division 3 playoffs, La Jolla plays host to Hilltop, the 12th seed, Tues., May 17, at 3:30 p.m. in a play-in game for the postseason at the team's complex on the campus of Muirlands Middle School.

The Vikings (8-2 in the City League, 17-11 overall) will go with senior righthander Kevin Steel, the 6'5" starter who carries an 8-2 record this season, with a 1.81 ERA. Steel pitched last week's co-championship clincher at Mission Bay, when La Jolla secured a share of the league title with the Buccaneers for their first league title in eight years. 

In that game May 11, "QB1" (Coach Gary Frank's nickname for the quarterback, who shared time with Jackson Stratton at the position last Fall) went the distance, giving up five hits and one run, striking out nine while walking one and hitting one batsman. You would think that Steel's stats this season would put him in the running for all-league as well as All-CIF honors.

"We are looking forward to putting Friday's (May 13) disappointing loss (at home to Mission Bay for sole possession of the City League championship) behind us," said Frank Sun., May 15, "and bouncing back with a much more competitive effort.

"We are very confident with Kevin Steel on the mound, and are excited to continue competing as a team, and make a run at a CIF title."

The 2022 edition of the Vikings carry a .280 team batting average, with Steel, freshman Hank Hansen, and senior Nicky Reynolds leading the way in the lineup packing, respectively, season averages of .370, .333, and .314.

Which is not taking anything away from fellow hurler Beau Brown, a senior lefthander, who compiled a workman-like 5-4 win-loss record on the mound in a team-leading 57 2/3 innings, alongside a .308 batting average. Third baseman Spence Carswell led the Vikings in RBI's with 18 during the regular season, but Brown, who will enter UCLA in the Fall, drove in 16 just behind Steel's 17 RBI's.

"Brownie" was brilliant for 6 1/3 innings Friday in a 2-0 loss to Mission Bay. His fastball was effective, as well as his "slurve" (slider/curve) in limiting the Bucs to four hits. Unfortunately, with a scoreless duel until then, Mission Bay chipped him for a couple of hits. When he was pulled by Frank for closer Carswell in the turbulent seventh inning, a bunt disputed by Frank led to Brown's being run into by the batter/runner, who ran near and possibly inside the foul line to first base on the play.

The runner already on base scored, and La Jolla was left with a hard-luck try at attempting to win the City League outright. Instead, with the defeat, the Vikings had to lick their wounds and settle for sharing the championship with their league rival.

Mission Bay enters the Division 4 playoffs as the second seed, enjoying a day off Tuesday during the play-in round before taking on the winner of High Tech High Chula Vista-Calexico on Wednesday.

LJ baseball: Senior Day - Photos 5/13

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ baseball: Vikings win 10 of 11 to clinch share of title

Viking players go through their paces before

a 13-1 win over Bishop's at home May 2.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

"It's been a fun year," said La Jolla head coach Gary Frank Thurs., May 12. "We have gotten substantial contributions from every member of our team."

After an 0-4 start, the Vikings have been on a tear of late, winning 10 of their last 11 games prior to Friday's (May 13) final regular season game against Mission Bay. If La Jolla takes home a victory, they will gain the City League outright, without sharing it with anybody else. Right now, they are co-champions.

Frank was waxing eloquent in his comments on his 2022 team. "The things the team had against them--COVID, the first full year coming back from that, less time for home, less time for friends... It's very inspiring to a coach."

In the blaze of this latest streak, the Vikings have completely transformed their won-lost record from a mediocre 7-9 to 17-10 atop the league standings. It also is the third league title in the Gary Frank era, book-ending championships in 2007 and 2014.

"There was a time when the team was trying to decide what kind of team it wanted to be," recalled Frank, who starred at La Jolla as a high-batting-average second baseman in the late 80's before going on to the pros. The team's record wasn't spectacular, and players could have just folded then and played out the year.

But no, that wasn't going to be enough. Team members, led by starting pitchers Kevin Steel and left-hander Beau Brown, put things in gear and commenced to terrorize City League opponents.

"Our pitchers have been lights out," noted the long-time coach. "Kevin and Beau have carried the team through much of it."

But other players have made substantial contributions, which Frank took pains to point out.

Early in the year, starting catcher Cole Duffy went down with a left-hand injury that required doctors to remove a bone from the hand. "I still have the scar," said the senior Thursday.

With him out, backup John Hartford did a yeoman's job in filling in at the backstop position.

But also, during his time off the playing field, Duffy was encouraging teammates and planting seeds. "That senior leadership injected our team with confidence," said the head coach.

Hartford got hurt, putting both catchers out. Big Jett Thomas broke a bone in his hip the second game of the season.

Senior centerfielder Connor Hobbs tore his ACL a couple of weeks ago, not his idea of a great senior season.

Another contributor, senior Spence Carswell, "being a three-sport athlete, has been in CIF football and soccer. He's unflappable."

But with a nice mix of seniors and younger players, the Vikings set up very well for next year as well. The cupboard won't be bare. "We've got youth up the middle in Corey Druse (a sophomore) at shortstop and Hank Hansen (a freshman) at second base," pointed out Frank.

To illustrate the contribution of underclassmen, the coach cited a game April 22. "We had a game against Canyon Hills. You want games like that. You're going to need them later. (Junior) Max Hurley had the game-tying hit. (Junior) Nicky Jamieson-Cacalano got the game-winning hit (in the bottom of the sixth inning)," Frank related.

"If we win (Friday, May 13), we should go to number two in Division 3, setting us up for a game Wednesday, May 18, in the CIF playoffs," Frank said. That would launch the Vikings further and give them a break on starting pitching.

LJ baseball: Vikings clinch co-championship

Viking Beau Brown (8) holds a Buc runner

on in the bottom of the fourth inning

Wed., May 11. La Jolla went on to secure

a 7-1 win to clinch at least a City League

co-championship. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's baseball team, starting slowly this Spring as students and society emerged out of the two-year COVID-19 quagmire, fulfilled its potential and clinched at least a City League co-championship with a convincing 7-1 win at Mission Bay Wed., May 11. Ace righthander Kevin Steel showed a strong fastball and a good slider/curve, going the distance with a five-hitter, striking out nine and issuing three walks.

Another senior, first baseman Beau Brown, provided the big blow on offense with a three-run double. A third 12th-grader, Spence Carswell, crossed the plate with two runs scored.

Team record-keeper Howard Frank said it was the Vikings' first league title since 2014.

La Jolla (8-1 in league, 17-10 overall) meets the Buccaneers again Fri., May 13--Friday the 13th, two years and two months after the coronavirus pandemic closed school down in this part of the U.S.--at home to close out the regular season before CIF playoffs, and can win the league title outright with a victory.

LJ track - Eastern League finals

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's 4x100 girls relay team is not unknown around the county. The four runners--in order of their run--Maddie Lyons, Elena Farrar, Ebony Crandle, and Payton Smith--walked across the infield at Canyon Hills High with their newly-won medals around their necks. It was a vivid display of the talent and performance exhibited throughout the 2022 Spring season.

Crandle, in the third leg, delivered the baton to Smith for the anchor leg so far ahead of runners representing Morse High and OLP (whose times counted for the City League) that realistically Payton could have run a very pedestrian time and still have triumphed by a lot.

Of course, she wasn't going to do that, and the Vikings burned another good time in the end, 48.35 seconds.

Junior Isaac Chu and senior Ronald Way ran well in the 3200 meters. They finished one-two among Eastern League runners, with times of 10:03.09 and 10:17.78. In the two-league field (Eastern League competitors ran with City Leaguers), they had to contend with St. Augustine's Jimmy Markowicz, who topped them both.

Abigail Plezia, a sophomore, had to be pleased with winning the triple jump event with a distance of 34 feet, 10.50 inches, half an inch farther than her nearest competitor.

LJ b tennis @ CIF - Doubles - Photos 5/10

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ track @ Eastern League Finals - Vikings zoom at finals - Photos 5/6

Photos by Ed Piper

Payton Smith at start of 400-meter win

La Jolla baseball 13, Bishop's 1 - Game story

Cole Duffy (14) beats out a high throw to first

after a dropped third strike in the bottom

of the first inning. The Vikings scored

two runs in the inning on their way

to a 13-1 win over visiting Bishop's.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to break open what was then a 3-0 game, on their way to a resounding 13-1 home non-league win over crosstown rival Bishop's Mon., May 2. Starter Dillon Popkins kept the Knights off-balance, holding them to two hits over 4 2/3 innings for the win, giving up only a single run while striking out five and walking one.

Popkins and the two Viking relievers who followed him, Justin Graff and Ethan Miller, yielded only those two hits, both singles by senior Rhett LaRocca in the second and fourth innings, alongside the lone run Bishop's could muster.

In the decisive fourth inning, with La Jolla batters facing Knight senior starter Hunter Kates for the third time around in the order, third baseman Spence Carswell led off with a sharp double to left, sliding into second base safely. It was his third hit of the day.

Carswell moved to third on teammate Kevin Steel's equally sharp single to center. Then, rightfielder Beau Brown, Friday's winning pitcher at Mira Mesa with a complete-game four-hitter, lashed an RBI single to left, driving in Carswell with the first of the five runs plated in the stanza.

After two outs were recorded, freshman Hank Hansen hit a drive to right-center that rolled to the fence for a triple. Some teammates in the dugout anticipated his going home when the ball wasn't sharply handled--Bishop's committed eight errors on the day--but he held at third. Popkins, who reached base on a fielder's choice, scored on Hansen's three-bagger.

After leftfielder Max Hurley was hit by a pitch, Declan Kelly doubled Hansen and Hurley home. In all, the Vikings employed five hits to drive in the five runs they scored in the inning. La Jolla led, 8-0. It was Kates' last inning on the mound.

A dugout meeting called just before the

fourth-inning explosion.