In a spirited rivalry game between crosstown baseball teams, La Jolla Country Day came back from an early deficit to beat La Jolla High School 7-4 under the lights at LJCD on April 9. “It was a good game all-around,” La Jolla head coach Gary Frank said. “It was a close game that could have gone either way, but they got that big play when they needed it.” Early-on, things looked good for the Vikings as they took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. La Jolla got on the scoreboard first when Max Strohl knocked in Kevin Usselman with a long single off the centerfield fence. Jake Linsky scored later in the inning on a wild pitch. The Vikings continued to pour it on in the top of the third when Robby Ortiz scored on a RBI single to left field by Usselman to make it 3-0. They added one more run in the inning when Strohl walked with the bases loaded to push in Usselman from third for a 4-0 Vikings lead. With the bases loaded and two outs, La Jolla (5-7-1) was poised to put the game out of reach but a sensational diving catch by La Jolla Country Day left-fielder Connor Gerhart kept the game close and ended the inning. “It was a tough read in the lights,” Gerhart said. “But I got a good jump and made the play. Momentum change is huge in games and that proved to be it.” In the bottom of the third, LJCD (12-3) started to chip away at the lead when outfielder Frank Brown tripled to right, scoring shortstop Tommy Edman and making the score 4-1. The Torreys did their most damage an inning later. LJCD infielder Austin Rooke got it started with an a RBI single to make it 4-2 and then Edman knocked in two more with a single to right, tying the score at four. Jason Gilberg followed with a double to left, bringing in Gerhart and Edman and giving the Torreys their first lead, 6-4. Brown finished off LJCD’s offensive outburst with an RBI single to make it 7-4. “They just hit them where we weren’t,” Frank said. “That’s the name of the game and that happens some days.” Gilberg pitched three scoreless innings in relief to earn the win for the Torreys. The southpaw is now 4-1 in six appearances this season. “They swung at pitches I wanted them to swing at and my fielders did a great job behind me and made some plays,” Gilberg said. Despite the loss, Frank is eager to continue the rivalry and showcase high school baseball in the La Jolla community. “We we’re excited for this crosstown rivalry. It was a lot of fun under the lights,” he said. “We’ll bring them over to our place next year and hopefully we’ll have a different outcome.”