Michael Robinson, Edgar Montes key Glendale Angelenos win

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — With every groundball out Michael Robinson recorded, he became more confident.

The Glendale Angelenos starting pitcher put himself in line for a victory by mixing up his pitches consistently.

In the end, Robinson tossed a one-hitter over six innings and Edgar Montes hit a pair of home runs Thursday night to lead Glendale to an 11-4 victory against visiting Team Victory in a summer collegiate independent game at Stengel Field.

“I normally throw a lot of off-speed pitches and I had my curveball working real good,” said Robinson, a right-hander, who got 11 groundball outs and five strikeouts. “It’s my best start this season.

“I got a lot of grounders, which is a good sign for me. Now, I want to take what happened and learn from what I did and try to duplicate it the next time.”

Robinson helped the Angelenos improve to 32-8. He retired the first eight batters he faced before walking Brian Ebert in the third inning.

Robinson lost his no-hit bid when Brett Piper singled to center with two outs in the sixth.

Glendale Manager Tony Riviera said Robinson had excellent command of his pitches.

“It was very good,” Riviera said. “He’s getting ready for Glendale college and he should be their ace next year.

“He’s got to do it here first.”

Montes gave the Angelenos, a second-year club, a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a solo home run to left-center field.

Matt Tellesco made it 2-0 with a groundball single to center to score Hector Gomez in the third. Tellesco then stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher to extend the lead to 3-0.

Montes then lined a 2-2 pitch over the left-center field fence to make it 4-0 in the fourth. Later in the inning, Pedro Aldape hit a run-scoring double to drive in Danny Casey to give Glendale a 5-0 advantage.

Casey hit a two-run home run to left to make it 7-0 in the sixth. Moments later, Sako Chapjian had a bases-loaded single to left to score Aldape to give the Angelenos an 8-0 lead.

Montes, who recorded his first multiple home-run game of the season, said he’s been consistent at the plate recently.

“I’m seeing the ball a lot better and I’m not chasing after bad pitches,” Montes said. “Robinson threw a great game and he set the tempo.

“I just wanted to get him some run support.”

Team Victory trimmed the deficit to 8-1 in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to Mikal Hunter by reliever Sam Frakes. Niko Garcia then sliced an opposite-field double down the left-field line to make it 8-3 with one out. Hunter scored on a wild pitch by Frakes to pull Team Victory to within 8-4.

Gomez hit a towering three-run home run to left to give Glendale an 11-4 lead in the seventh.

The Angelenos will meet the Long Beach Legends in another home game at 6:30 p.m. Friday.