Angelenos slog past Gold Coast, 17-2
NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Four-hit games don’t come around often for Nick LaFace.
The Glendale Angelenos catcher said he’s not necessarily searching for them.
LaFace celebrated a rare four-hit performance, as he hit two home runs and drove in five runs Thursday night to lead Glendale to a 17-2 victory against the Gold Coast Braves in an independent summer collegiate game at Stengel Field called after eight innings because of curfew.
“I’ve been struggling the last couple of games, so I had to go up there and be aggressive,” said LaFace, who also collected a single and double and scored three runs to help Glendale improve to 27-7. “I had to go out there and put together some good swings.
“I wasn’t trying to go four for four.”
Glendale finished with 25 hits in a game delayed by 25 minutes because of rain. Matthew Tellesco finished with six hits, four runs batted in and three runs for the Angelenos.
La Face’s second home run came in the fifth, when he hit a three-run home run to left center field to give the Angelenos a 14-2 lead. John Schwer followed with a solo home run.
The Angelenos, a second-year program, scored seven runs in the first inning.
Scott Hong scored on a single by Ellis Whitman to make it 1-0. Whitman advanced to third on a two-base error by the right fielder and scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 2-0.
Sako Chapjian and LaFace followed with back-to-back home runs to extend the lead to 4-0. Tellesco and Edgar Montes had back-to-back run-scoring doubles to make it 6-0. A fielder’s choice by Hong made it 7-0.
John Salazar of Gold Coast cut the deficit to 7-2 with a two-run home in the second.
The Angelenos scored twice in the second. A groundout by Schwer made it 8-2 and Tellesco followed with a run-scoring single to make it 9-2.
A run-scoring single by LaFace gave the Angelenos a 10-2 advantage. Ruben Padilla had a sacrifice fly to make it 11-1 in the fourth.
The Angelenos will meet the visiting Montebello Stars at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Stengel.
