More Late Inning Heroics Lift Lions Over Wildcats
It took 8 innings but Calvary Christian finished strong and pulled off a tight extra inning win against El Camino defeating the Wildcats 4-2.
Sophomore starting pitcher David Carpenter had his finest start of the year throwing 5 2/3 innings, scattering 5 hits, striking out 7 and only walking 1. He allowed 2 runs but only one was earned. He pitched well enough to earn the win but ended up with a no-decision.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 3rd inning when Calvary's nemesis, poor defense, once again reared its head. With two outs and runners on 1st & 2nd, a routine ground-ball was hit to third but the throw to first was well off-target and the runner scored from second on the throwing error giving El Camino a 1-0 lead.
Showing great character, Calvary reversed their mistake and put up two runs in the 4th to take over the lead. It started when Carpenter lofted a pop-up to right that fell between 3 players and he hustled into second with a lead-off double. Junior Caleb Whitley followed with a line single to center putting runners on 1st and 3rd. Sam Sheehan then hit a bouncer to short and El Camino attempted a double play. They got the lead runner Whitley at second but Sheehan beat the throw to first. Carpenter scored from third on the play knotting the score at 1 apiece. Sheehan advanced a to second on a wild pitch and scored the go-ahead run when Russell Harmening banged an RBI single up the middle.
El Camino came back and tied it when they loaded the bases in the bottom of the 4th and the runner on third scored on a wild pitch.
The game remained tied at 2 through regulation. In the bottom of the 6th, Carpenter ran into a jam when a two out single and an error by the third baseman put runners on second and third. Sophomore Matt Hartman relieved Carpenter and after walking the first hitter to load the bases, came up big and got El Camino's hottest hitter to chase a high fastball for a clutch strikeout preserving the tie.
Calvary threatened but failed to score in the 7th stranding the go-ahead run at third. In the bottom of the inning, Hartman got two quick outs but a single and a hit by pitch put the winning run into scoring position. Senior Harmening came in relief and pitched Calvary out of trouble getting the first hitter to pop out in foul territory.
Calvary busted the game open in the top of the 8th when pinch-hitter Gordon Nixon drew a clutch walk to lead-off the inning. Speedy Aaron Frazee came in to run for Nixon as the potential go-ahead run. Carpenter then grounded a seeing-eye single between the first and second basemen putting two on with no outs and the heart of the Lion's batting order due up. A wild pitch advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd and Wildcat coach Joe Gonzalez elected to intentionally walk Whitley to load the bases. Senior Sheehan made them pay for that decision and rose to the occasion by lining a double just inside the right-field foul line scoring Frazee and Carpenter and giving Calvary a 4-2 lead.
Then Russell Harmening did what Russell Harmening does and that is to win ball games. He threw a perfect bottom of the 8th, striking out two on only 8 pitches. The win makes him 3-0 on the year.
Calvary is now 7-3 on the year and 3-1 in the North County Tournament. However, last week's 3-1 win over Mt. Carmel was protested and the final decision has not yet been made. The head of the umpire's association is reviewing and will make the final judgment.
Calvary takes on it's toughest opponent to date, the mighty Poway Titans on Thursday. It is night game with a start time of 6:00. Come and check it out if you can.
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