Stellar pitching, speed send La Cañada baseball to quarterfinals
A dash of stellar pitching and a superb display of speed proved to be the perfect formula for the La Cañada High baseball team Tuesday.
It’s got the Spartans moving along in their quest to win a CIF Southern Section Division V championship.
Matthew Sox and Tristan Kalnins combined on a shutout and La Cañada stole nine bases to register a 6-0 win against visiting Templeton in a second-round contest.
Second-seeded La Cañada (23-5) will meet Campbell Hall, which defeated Garden Grove, in a quarterfinal road contest at 3:15 p.m. Friday.
“We have a very strong starting staff and they give us a chance to win,” said La Cañada first-year coach Matt Whisenant, whose team won the Rio Hondo League championship. “We have three guys who can go out there and Matthew gave us a great effort. He got into a rhythm and got good defense behind him. It’s a luxury to have three gifted starting pitchers, something you don’t often have.
“We also have speed and that played a big factor today. You put pressure on the other team and good things will happen, especially in the playoffs.”
Sox went six innings, striking out five and yielding four hits. Kalnins gave up one hit in the seventh after earlier giving the Spartans a boost with the bat.
La Cañada took a 1-0 lead in the first. Conner Schulz led off with a walk and advanced to second on a balk before stealing third. Kalnins then had a run-scoring single to open the scoring. The Spartans stole three bases in the first, including one each from Sox and Schulz.
Kalnins had an RBI single to score Sox to make it 2-0 in the third. Sox stole second to get in to scoring position.
“We do have quite a bit of speed and it put our guys in a good position early in the game,” Kalnins said. “It’s such a big thing when you are able to execute in those kind of situations.
“It was big to get out to the early lead and then get the good pitching.”
La Cañada scored three runs in the third to make it 5-0. Ryan Graves stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher to extend the lead to 3-0. Tai Walton made it 4-0 with a run-scoring single to bring home Kyle Mysliviec and the Spartans capped the inning with an RBI single by Sox to score Schulz.
La Cañada wrapped up the scoring in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Mysliviec to drive in Tanner Barge.
Sox frustrated Templeton (20-11), which finished second in the Los Padres League. The right-hander got a 6-4-3 double play to end the first inning. He struck out two in the fourth.
“I went with what the coaches were calling and I got ahead of a lot of the batters,” Sox said. “I was able to keep the ball in play and the defense did a great job of finishing.
“There’s a lot higher intensity when you are playing in a playoff game. I took a deep breath after we scored the first run early on. “
The Spartans finished with nine hits, including two apiece from Walton and Kalnins.
Templeton received two hits from Justice Gibbons.
“We’ll just try to keep it going,” Whisenant said. “We have a lot of options and we try to make it difficult for the other team.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
