San Diego Prep Baseball / Lions Tournament : San Pasqual’s Adams Finishes What He Doesn’t Start in Final

Robbie Adams didn’t get the start he wanted Wednesday afternoon, but he did get the finish.

Adams had hoped to start for San Pasqual High School against Clairemont in the Division A championship game of the 35th annual Lions/Mike Morrow Invitational Baseball Tournament. But since the 6-foot 5-inch senior right-hander pitched seven innings Tuesday, Eagle Coach Bill Green started Darren Dunn.

This left Adams in the bullpen, right where the Eagles needed him.

Adams replaced Dunn in the fifth inning, with Clairemont threatening a 6-3 San Pasqual lead. Faced with runners on second and third and none out, Adams used his fastball and slider to strike out the side. End of threat, and, as it turned out, end of game.

“I wanted to start,” Adams said after the Eagles wrapped up their 8-3 victory at Hoover and won their first Lions Tournament title. “Coach didn’t let me because he didn’t think I could do it. My arm was tired.”

Adams, who has a 5-1 record, earned his first save of the season. He struck out six, to go along with the 12 strikeouts he recorded Tuesday in beating Mar Vista, 8-4. Dunn, a left-handed sophomore, is 2-1.

San Pasqual (11-1) opened the game quickly, scoring two runs in each of the first three innings. In the top of the first, shortstop Randy Green, the coach’s son, hit a two-run home run with Greg Bratten on base.

The Eagles added two unearned runs in the second, then tallied twice more in the third on RBIs by Chris Portis and Dunn. Two insurance runs came in the sixth; Todd Brose stole home for one and Dub Kruse drove in the other with a single.

Clairemont (9-5) was led by Andy Roberts, who went 4 for 4 with two doubles and a home run in the third. Jeff Sturch and Robert Cummings each drove in a run for the Chiefs. Sturch pitched the first three innings and took the loss.

“This makes the guys feel real good,” said Bill Green, the coach. “This gives them the confidence that they can win.”

Green said his players entered the tournament wanting to erase their memories of last year’s event, in which they won once, lost twice and generally didn’t play well.

“Last year we were humiliated in this tournament,” he said. “This year we have a great bunch of kids who sure didn’t want to be humiliated again. These guys love to play baseball.”

San Pasqual reached the final by edging Lincoln, 3-1, in the semifinals Wednesday morning at Hoover. Clairemont advanced after beating University City, 6-3, in the semifinals on the Centurions’ field.