Crescenta Valley 9-10 baseball squad bounces back in Section 2 Tournament
Behind strong pitching from a trio of arms and just enough offense, the Crescenta Valley 9-10 All-Stars prolonged their baseball season and run within the Section 2 Tournament.
The District 16 champions rallied from an early deficit and then just held off District 17 champ Arcadia American, 5-4, for some redemption in Saturday afternoon’s loser’s bracket game at Woodland Hills Sunrise Little League.
With the victory, Crescenta Valley not only knocked out Arcadia, put continued its push into another elimination game Sunday at 9 a.m. versus either Northridge City or Quartz Hill.
Should Crescenta Valley be victorious Sunday, then the District 16 titlist would advance to face the victor of the winner’s bracket Monday needing a victory to force a winner-take-all contest Tuesday.
“Today, our pitching was very strong and we also played much better defensively with no errors,” Crescenta Valley Coach Kevin Deitch said. “We scored all the offense we needed in one inning and we get to play again.”
The pitching combination of Rowan Respicio, Devon Medina and Kai Purdy-Burton held Arcadia American at bay, including when the District 16 representative scored two runs in the sixth to pull within, 5-4, but was unable to complete the comeback.
Arcadia American began with two runs in the second inning before Crescenta Valley did all its scoring in the third, tallying five runs thanks to doubles from Purdy-Burton and Quinn Deitch and singles from Diego Robles and Medina.
The tight win marks a reversal of fortune for Crescenta Valley, which on Thursday suffered a seven-inning 11-10 defeat to Northridge City in the opening round of tournament action.
The setback included some defensive miscues, which were not repeated Saturday afternoon.
“We got back to the basics and played our style of game, which relies on good pitching and defense,” Deitch said. “Plus, we got a little revenge today against Arcadia, which knocked us out of the tournament last year, so that was a bonus.”