Franklin, North Hollywood show a shortage of arms

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

North Hollywood won a wild one over Franklin, 9-8, in its last at-bat Thursday. And it was the kind of game that, once North Hollywood gets past its euphoria and Franklin its despair, will give each manager some sobering thoughts about their pitching -- or lack thereof.

Huskies starter Manny Gutierrez threw strikes. But if the ball got a few inches above the batters’ knees, it was raked. The Panthers punished Gutierrez for six runs and nine hits, including four doubles and a home run, in three innings.

Reliever Sean McGrier was ineffective the other way, walking six and giving up two runs in 1.1 innings of relief. If freshman reliever Jonathan Linares didn’t calm down the Panthers’ bats, North Hollywood wouldn’t have gotten off the field until midnight.

But Franklin Coach Sergio Galvez had more to be upset about. He could have endured the four errors and base-running blunders -- not to mention the wildness of starter Angel Velasco who walked four, hit three, and unleashed a wild pitch -- if his relievers could have held an 8-3 lead with two innings to play.

But his first reliever, Serio Luna, gave up five runs in the bottom of the sixth. His second reliever, Fernando Lopez, gave up the winning run on three straight hits in the bottom of the seventh.

No win is ugly, but this one was close. And if all losses are bad, this one was hideous.

-- Mike Terry

-- Image from alwaysrightusuallycorrect.blogspot.com