LJ baseball 3, Calexico 12 - Pirate Baseball Classic 3/8

Junior Reed Turner (14) hits a single to center

in the bottom of the second inning to get on base

as the Vikings scored two runs in the frame.

The infielder went 4-for-4 on the day.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Junior infielder Reed Turner went four-for-four, including a double, but La Jolla dropped a 12-3 decision to Calexico at home Sat., March 8, before a good-sized crowd for both teams. The game was the third one for Coach Gary Frank's Vikings in the Pirate Baseball Classic (Oceanside High).

The hosts opened up scoring in the bottom of the second inning as sophomore Brady Wilson, batting in the eighth slot, beat out a grounder to Bulldog third baseman Kenneth Calderon for a basehit with one out.

Senior Luke Cripe, starting in left field, drove in Wilson with a sharply-hit single to right to put the Vikings on the scoreboard.

After leadoff batter Carter Strauss--a rarity as a catcher hitting at the top of the order--lined out to Maximo Gonzalez in right field, keeping him busy, Turner lined a single to center, putting runners at first and second.

Then big Charlie Martin, recovered from a troublesome thumb, drilled a groundball to Diego Martinez. The second baseman threw it away, allowing Cripe to continue from his progress at third and score La Jolla's second run.

It was to be the second-to-last run the Vikings scored on the day.

Martin's reaching on error and the additional run scoring knocked Calexico starting righthander Joshua Apodaca out of the game. The senior left the mound, but Coach Luis Briseno's team was able to regroup and score a ton of runs as the game developed.

Turner, who started at shortstop, is hitting a torrid .462, on 6-for-13, in the Vikings' first four games.

It was, undoubtedly, a happy two-hour drive back to the border town after the victory, Calexico's fifth against one loss in the early season. La Jolla falls to 1-3.