After getting rained out on Friday, Heritage hit the diamond on Saturday at Central Catholic in Modesto for the March Madness Tournament, facing Oakmont-Roseville. The Patriots got a complete game from senior pitcher Bryson Kinnick, as they improved to 2-0 on the young season.
Kinnick, who picked up the win in Heritage’s season-opening victory over Drake, needed just 87 pitches to go the distance, working from ahead in the count and throwing to contact early. He walked just one and scattered five hits in the shutout performance.
“In a word, he was efficient,” said Heritage coach Kevin Brannan. “His change-up was great right away. He forced contact early in counts, and mostly weak contact, given his ability to throw all speeds for strikes early. They were guessing all game long.”
Meanwhile, a five-run fourth inning was plenty of support for Kinnick. Two runs scored on an error early in the inning, but the big blow came with one out, when Chaz Myers singled to score both Jeff Heinrich and Steve Kerr. Myers and Heinrich each drove in a pair of runs during the win.
Heritage is back in action on Wednesday when it travels to Downey-Modesto.
Tam squeaks past Maria Carrillo
Pitching was the theme of Monday afternoon’s match-up between Tamalpais and Maria Carrillo, with Tam coming out on top, 1-0, despite getting just one hit off Pumas’ starter Cade Sheets.
Maria Carrillo managed just two hits itself off Tam starter Jack Loder, who struck out three and walked just one. Meanwhile, the Red-Tailed Hawks made a winner of Loder in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Alex Bires led off the inning with a single, the only hit of the day off Sheets, who went the distance and struck out eight batters. After Bires was out at second on a fielder’s choice, Dakota Reynolds entered the game as a pinch-runner. Reynolds stole second on the second pitch of the next at-bat, and came around to score when Sheets attempted to pick him off at second base, only to have the throw end up in center field, which allowed Reynolds to race around third with the eventual game-winning run.
“We kind of got lucky on the run, with the pickoff throw going into center. I took a shot and sent him all the way home and it worked out,” said Tamalpais coach Nathan Bernstein. “Carrillo is a great team, and Sheets is one heck of a pitcher. To come out with a win against him with only one hit leaves us feeling pretty lucky.”
The single run worked out fine since Loder was on top of his game. He allowed singles in the third and sixth innings, and the lone runner in the sixth was erased on a stolen base attempt, thrown out by sophomore catcher Sean Loder. Andrew Frame entered the game in the seventh, and after allowing a pair of one-out walks, slammed the door with a pair of strikeouts to end the game.
“(Jack) Loder pitched great all day, and competed without his best stuff,” Bernstein added. “He did a great job keeping the fastball down and locating. Overall, it was just a real gutsy effort, which we have grown accustomed to getting from him.”
Tamalpais improved to 3-1 with the win, and hosts Concord on Tuesday afternoon. Maria Carrillo dropped to 0-2 with the loss, and plays at Napa on Wednesday.
San Mateo rallies for win over Jefferson
A trio of runs combined in the fourth and fifth innings lifted San Mateo past Jefferson on Monday, 4-3, with a big day for Jack Warren at the plate and on the mound.
Warren went 3-for-3 at the plate for the Bearcats, and tossed two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief for San Mateo, earning the win in the process.
Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the fourth, San Mateo tied the game on Luis Chavarin’s single to right, which scored Elijah Shih, who had just stolen second base. Tommy Ozawa’s one-out double in the bottom of the fifth scored Jorge Chavarin, and two batters later, Warren tacked on the much-needed insurance with his two-out single to score Ozawa.
Jefferson cut the lead to one run on Gio Marchany’s one-out ground out, which scored Dave Rebollini in the top of the sixth inning, but Kilmer Sanchez struck out three of the final five batters he faced to slam the door and preserve the win.
San Mateo improved to 4-1 with the win.
Pitching continues torrid start for Homestead
Sean Cheng scattered two hits over six innings, and Michael Lucas pitched a perfect seventh inning, as Homestead improved to 5-1 with a 3-0 win over Prospect on Monday afternoon.
Cheng struck out four and did not walk a batter, throwing first pitch strikes to 13 of the 19 hitters he faced. Meanwhile, a passed ball and a two-out single by Joey Davidson in the top of the second gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead. Brendan Kane added to the lead in the third inning with his one-out home run to left field.
Davidson had two hits to pace the Homestead offense. Junior Nik Ingvardsen struck out five in the complete game effort for Prospect.
Four-spot more than enough for Dougherty
Four runs in the top of the first inning were more than enough for Dougherty Valley on Monday afternoon, as the Wildcats downed Alhambra, 7-1.
Leadoff hitter Xavier Coleman set the early tone for Dougherty, singling and stealing second to get in scoring position. The move paid immediate dividends, when Philip Liu laid a bunt down the third-base line for an infield single, and Coleman scored on the throw to first. Matt Jew kept the early rally going with his single, and an error followed by a pair of sacrifices – one in the air and one on the ground – resulted in the 4-0 lead after a half-inning.
Nick Gonsalves went the first three and two-thirds innings on the mound for the Wildcats, allowing one run and three hits while striking out a pair. Isaiah Lee and Chase MacKenzie each struck out a pair in scoreless relief stints. William Brega had a pair of RBI for the Dougherty line-up.
Leigh offense supports Lonardo outing
Giancarlo Lonardo struck out seven and surrendered just three hits in six innings, as Leigh cruised past Wilcox, 6-1, in a Hazlett Tournament contest originally scheduled for last week.
Mitchell Dowd and Michael Montrezza each drove in a pair of runs, while Robbie Hamchuk had two hits, including a double, to pace the Longhorns’ offense. Jack Fowler struck out a pair in his one inning of relief on the mound.
Leigh improved to 4-2 with the win.
Palo Alto rallies past Gunn
Trailing by two runs in the top of the fifth inning, Max Jung-Goldberg took care of that with one swing of the bat, driving a three-run homer to right field as Palo Alto rallied for a 7-4 win over Gunn on Monday afternoon.
Jung-Goldberg and Aidan Berger each had a pair of hits for the Vikings’ offense, which made a winner out of Hyunwoo Roh, who struck out three and allowed five hits in six and one-third innings on the hill. Jonathan Gottlieb also doubled in a run for Palo Alto.
Mike Panitchpakdi went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBI in the loss for Gunn.
