Baseball: JSerra roaring loudest in Trinity League
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Mater Dei is in an unusual position in the Trinity League: looking up.
The Monarchs are in second place after JSerra overtook them last week and moved into first place with a two-game sweep of Orange Lutheran that stretched the Lions’ winning streak to eight games.
This is the same school that Mater Dei pummeled, 42-0, in football and by scores of 82-33 and 90-54 in boys’ basketball.
Those Lions didn’t have ‘Jumbo’ Joe Kurrasch, the California-bound pitcher who’s 7-1 with an 0.83 earned-run average and one save--against Mater Dei.
JSerra had dropped its first two games against the Monarchs before Kurrasch pitched the final two innings to close out a 6-4 victory over its league rival earlier this month.
‘When you beat them, it’s kind of sweet,’ said JSerra Coach Brett Kay, a Mater Dei alumnus. ‘If you want to be one of the top teams in Southern California, you have to go out and beat the best.’
Still, Kay said it’s too early to celebrate, and he’s right.
The Lions (16-5, 7-2), ranked No. 11 in the Southland by The Times, are only one game ahead of the No. 2 Monarchs with six league games remaining. They play St. John Bosco today and Saturday.
‘It doesn’t mean anything to us,’ Kay said of leading the league at this point in the season. ‘Our goal wasn’t to be in first place in league with six games left; it’s to be in first place at the end of the season and win a league title.’
Kay attributed his team’s success to tightening up its pitching and defense, which includes one of the top infields in Southern California. In addition to Kurrasch, the Lions’ pitching staff features Grahamm Wiest (4-2, 1.24 ERA), who recently signed with Cal State Fullerton.
Offensively, the Lions moved Austin Hedges into the leadoff spot earlier this month and watched him immediately become a table-setting catalyst. He homered on the first pitch he saw during the victory over Mater Dei and finished that game two for three with a walk. JSerra has seven players who have driven in more than 12 runs.
‘One through nine, it’s a total team effort,’ Kay said.
That’s apparently what it takes to get the best of mighty Mater Dei.
--Ben Bolch