By Corey Kwok
(Temple City) – Zach Zepeda and Jason Daly crushed home runs in the fourth inning to lead Monrovia to a 3-1 win over Temple City Friday in Rio Hondo League action.
Monrovia had three hits compared to seven for TC, which scored first on an RBI single by Kevin Chavez that cashed in Paul Kosanovich. Two walks then loaded the bases with two outs, but Wildcat starter Nick Tomechko-Esparza ended the threat with a called-third strikeout. M-Town then turned a 5-4-3 double play (Miles Bryant-Devin Ayala-Daly) in the third against The Rams.
Esparza lasted six innings and struck out six against four walks to earn the victory. He was relieved by Brian McConnell after a leadoff walk in the seventh. McConnell would finish and earn a save thanks in big part to fellow defenders, as Nick Garcia gunned a pickoff from behind the plate (Daly tag) before outfielders Erik Cox (center) and Juan Quiñónez (left) each made catches to ice the Wildcats’ win.
Temple City had a runner on second in the fourth, and runners on third in both the fifth and sixth, but failed to capitalize each time, stranding a total of nine on base. The Rams were led offensively by Bobby Hubbell, going 2 for 2 with a double and a walk.
Cameron LeGrand (7 IP, 3 runs-1 earned, 4 K, 3 BB; was 1-2 with 2 BB at bat) retired Monrovia in order four times out of the seven innings while going the distance in the loss for TC.
M: 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0 — 3, 3, 1
TC: 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 — 1, 7, 2
Leave a Reply