By Corey Kwok
(Santa Fe Springs) – Bowdien “Bubba” Derby went all the way to be king of the hill and lead La Salle to its first ever Del Rey championship by throwing a no hitter to beat St Paul 2-0 and end Bishop Amat’s long league title reign Wednesday. It was also La Salle’s first pennant since moving out of the Santa Fe league in 2005.
Derby was hardly threatened at all until the seventh when St Paul’s Aaron Pinto slap-chopped a ricochet shot off the front plate in third baseman Chris Williams’ direction. Williams, forced to attempt a no-look throw from a difficult position, appeared to have it nailed by several steps, but the ball narrowly missed its target, sizzling up foul territory for a three base error.
Williams put La Salle up 1-0 after blasting a line drive RBI double to the left corner fence, cashing in Jordan Rodgers. The Lancers’ other run came in the third when Derby drew a lead-off walk, stole a base, and scored on David Sanchez’ RBI double.
Derby, a San Diego State commit, calmly bid adios to and caught the final two batters looking for his ninth and tenth strikeouts. He hit a batter to lead off the second but La Salle catcher David Sanchez darted shortstop Antonio Ruiz to prevent that runner from taking second. The next incursion came with one out in the fifth with 9-batter Zack Ramsay drawing a walk, but the next batter drilled a laser right to the glove of second-baseman Austin Wallis, who easily galloped to first for the unassisted inning-ending double play
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