The South rose again Saturday evening to salvage a doubleheader split at Santa Clara University’s Schott Stadium.
Its comeback occurred in the California Baseball Coaches Association Junior Showcase. The series is for the top rising seniors in the state and has featured such noteworthy players in the past as Alan Trammell, Eddie Murray and CC Sabathia.
On a day when graduation was held at SCU, a bunch of kids a year away from high school graduation battled in front of a medium-sized crowd and 20 or so scouts.
The North won the first game 6-1 in the scheduled nine innings. The second game was limited to seven innings and the South waited until there were two out in top of the seventh to score three runs en route to a 4-2 victory.
The teams meet at 10 am Sunday at SCU to determine the series winner.
“This is awesome,” said Kansas University-bound outfielder Matt McLaughlin from Leland High. “I’ve grew up wanting to play in this because it has such a great tradition, so it’s obviously an honor.”
McLaughlin had one hit in each game and hit the ball sharply all day.
The North took a 2-1 lead in Game 2 on a sixth-inning triple to right field by Clovis West’s Christian Funk and a run-scoring single by Bullard’s Chris Smutny and seemed poised to capture the game and the series.
But the South rallied in the top of the seventh after a two-out infield single by King High School's Shane Mardirosian. Simi Valley’s Matt Campbell then walked and San Dimas’ Daniel Millwe hit a looping single to left field to tie the game.
Next up was Coltin Gerhart, quarterback of the Norco High football team and the brother of former Stanford Heisman Trophy candidate and current Minnesota Viking Toby Gerhart. Gerhart pounded a double down the left-field line to score two runs and give the South the eventual victory.
Despite watching the series victory fall through its hands at least for the time being, the North did not seem frazzled. San Benito (Hollister) outfielder Josh George and Valley Christian pitcher Theron Kay described their thoughts about playing in the venerable series.
“It’s fun,” George said. “It’s a privilege. I get to make a statement for my team and my city and my family. Not a lot of people know who I am and where Hollister is. It’s just fun being with a bunch of guys who I don’t really know and playing baseball on a beautiful field.”
George committed in April to play in 2015 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Added Kay, who will pitch the first three innings of Game 3 on Sunday: “It’s an honor to play in this. To be representing my school is really exciting.”
Kay, who has attracted the attention of Cal and Stanford with his strong pitching and 4.2 grade point average, said he is not nervous about starting the pivotal third game after surviving the pressure of the West Catholic Athletic League.
“I think I’m past that,” he said. “I have a really intense coach (John Diatte), so I’ve gotten used to it. I like pressure situations, so it should be fun more than anything.”
Smutny paced the North in Game 2 with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate.
Turlock’s Austin Bush was the hero for the North in Game 1 with a 3-for-4 effort including a solo home run to right field in the fifth inning that touched off a three-run rally. Bush had four hits on the day.
Outside of Bush’s smash, the North didn’t wear the cover off the ball in the fifth, but found the holes in collecting five hits. Davis’ Brett Bloomfield also had an RBI single to left field in the inning as the North took a 3-1 lead.
The North put the game away in the sixth with four hits and three more runs. A two-run triple to center field by Buchanan’s Korby Batesole and an RBI double by Davis’ Brett Bloomfield did most of the damage.
Besides Bush’s three hits, Batesole and Bloomfield each had two hits for the North.
The South scored its only run in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Kaiser’s Chris Mathewson, knocking in Foothill of Santa Ana’s Randell Kanemaru who had doubled to left field.
South starting pitcher Campbell looked sharp, throwing four scoreless innings while Bakersfield’s Mason Perryman did the same for the North.
Shortly before the end of Game 2, former Santa Cruz High coach Bill Dodge was honored along with Durham’s Bill Wells as the retired coaches were welcomed into the CBCA Hall of Fame. The players left the dugouts between innings to surround the longtime coaches as they received plaques for their contributions to the game.
“I’m happy,” said Dodge, whose Cardinal teams won 515 games over 30 years. “But I was just a facilitator. People (in the stands) say ‘Oh, that was a good move.’ But what a lot of people don’t understand is it’s the players who make the moves work.”
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Reach John Murphy at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com. Follow him on Twitter @PrepCat.
