With regular-season action over and the CIF playoffs in high gear, local scholastic baseball and softball teams have been battling it out on the baseball diamond.
La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School was set for CIF play this past Tuesday, May 23, in a first-round contest at Calvary Christian.
In play last week, LJCD lost a heartbreaker to Francis Parker ” 8-4 in eight innings ” on May 16. LJCD was up 3-1 in the seventh on homers by Zack Kusnir and Kyle Reese, but couldn’t hold the lead.
On May 18, LJCD rebounded with a 12-6 win over rival The Bishop’s School. Kusnir got the win, giving up three runs in his six innings of work. Reese went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, three runs and five RBIs.
The win gave the Torreys a 3-3 league record and helped knot all four Coastal South teams in a first-place tie.
The Bishop’s School (14-9, 3-3 league) was to open CIF play this week versus Imperial.
“We had a good regular season,” Bishop’s Head Coach Al Gomez remarked. “We let a few games get away. The Coastal South was very competitive, with all teams going 3-3. Colin Walsh put up great numbers this year at the plate and Patrick Swan went 6-0 (3-0 in league). Andrew Fowler, Brendan Walsh and Spencer Beers-Mulroy will continue to be a big threat in the middle of the lineup.”
University City (UC) High carried a five-game winning streak into its CIF playoff Wednesday, May 24.
UC ended regular season play with a 23-5 record, en route to capturing the Western League crown for Head Coach Jeff Dufek with an 11-1 mark. The Centurions had outscored opponents 173-100 runs to date.
La Jolla High concluded its season by splitting a pair of Western League games last week. The Vikings finished the season at 13-13 overall and 4-8 in the Western League (tied for fourth).
The Vikings gave up four runs in the first inning against Mission Bay last Monday, and never recovered. All four Bucs that scored reached base via walk or hit batter.
La Jolla closed to within one when it scored three in the third, thanks to a two-run single by Matt Wiegand and an RBI single from Moose Halpern. Mission Bay shut down La Jolla after that and went on to a 6-3 victory.
La Jolla bounced back two days later when it beat Point Loma, 2-1. Billy Bright pitched a complete game and allowed only one run on four hits, while walking one and striking out six. The runs scored on an RBI triple by Halpern and a sacrifice fly by Bright. Wiegand went 2-for-3 to help lead the Vikings to victory.
La Jolla was edged out for a playoff spot by Valley Center and Steele Canyon, but that didn’t dampen coach Gary Frank’s feelings about his team.
“I’m very proud of our guys,” Frank remarked. “They worked hard all season long, and we were one of the most improved teams in San Diego County. We more than doubled our win total from last season, and matched our win total from the last two seasons combined.”
Wiegand was the offensive star for La Jolla, as he led the team in 15 different offensive categories, including a .450 batting average and 25 RBIs. Bright was the most dominant on the mound for the team and he led the ball club in 11 different pitching categories, including wins (five), ERA (1.99) and strikeouts (38).
