By Corey Kwok
(Monrovia) – Isaiah Ramos drove a walkoff single past the second baseman with one out and two on in the bottom of the seventh to deliver Devin Ayala (who scored two of his team’s three runs) and give host Monrovia a 3-2 win over St. Francis Friday in the Arcadia Elks tournament and season opener for both teams.
Brian McConnell at one point retired 12 consecutive outs, and was touched only once (John Bicos leadoff sungle for St. Francis in the second) through 16 batters faced at the end of the fifth stanza, but would leave with a no-decision which began to unfold as Brandon Lewis laced a single up the middle to lead off the sixth for St. Francis. Andres Kim then walked and both moved into scoring position on a balk, which prompted a pitching change to Jason Daly. A passed a passed ball moments later allowed Lewis to score. The throw from the catcher in an attempt to nix Lewis was wild, enabling Kim to also score, tying the game at 2-2.
Daly (W, 1-0, 3 Ks, 0 BB, 1 HBP) picked up the win-in-relief after retiring five of the six batters he faced (struck out three, including back to back to end the top-seventh).
Andres Kim (0-1) was tacked for a quick exit and loss during the bottom of the seventh, which was a mere blink of four batters, five pitches, a fielder’s choice, and three hits.
Kevin Baker threw six innings, struck out four and walked two for St. Francis but left with a no-decision through a quality start of his own, yielding three hits and two (unearned) runs. Baker, receiving help with stellar play from shortstop Adam Shwery, second baseman Grant Victor, and right-fielder Brandon Lewis, was walk free through 19 batters until Ramos (Isaiah) drew one with two outs in the fifth.
Five other Wildcats had one hit apiece, including Erik Cox, Nick Carino, Jacob Ramos, Eric Herrera, and Nick Tomechko-Esparza.
Leave a Reply