Freeway League : Abbott Makes a Big Hit on Mound to Send Troy Reeling Against Fullerton

Considering that 10 of 18 starters going into Friday’s Freeway League showdown at between Sunny Hills and Troy at Sunny Hills High School were hitting .400 or better, it figured to be a high-scoring game.

But pitching proved to be as important as the hitting as Sunny Hills defeated Troy, 10-5, in a game against first and second place teams.

Paul Abbott, Sunny Hills’ senior right-hander, gave up a three-run HR early but settled down to scatter five runs and four hits to raise his overall record to 6-1, 5-0 in league play.

The win also gave Sunny Hills (13-3 and 7-0) a commanding 2 1/2 game lead over second-place Troy (8-6 and 4-2) in the league standings.

Abbott also struck out eight in the game and threw a one-hitter over the first four innings--but the hit was a three-run homer by Troy designated hitter Jeff Roaro-Jasso that gave the Warriors to a 3-0 lead.

Roaro-Jasso had the two hardest hit balls off Abbott in the game--the first-inning home run and a fifth-inning line drive up the middle that Sunny Hills’ shortstop Mike Lutz speared and turned into a double-play by catching Troy’s Tony Godfrey off of first base.

“Both pitches were fastballs and he’s a good fastball hitter,” Abbott said of Roaro-Jasso. “He takes a mean cut.”

Following Troy’s first-inning outburst, Sunny Hills rebounded to score five runs in the first. Once Abbott had the lead, his confidence grew but he tired late in the game.

Abbott struck out five batters in the first three innings, but only got three more the rest of the way. And for the first three innings, Troy’s mostly right-handed hitting lineup had trouble getting around on Abbott’s fastball. In the last three innings, they were taking him to left field.

“Abbott’s curveball was working a lot better today,” said Ddough Elliott, Sunny Hills’ coach. “He was tiring at the end of the game but he said he could finish so I left him in.”

Abbott pitched seven innings Monday in a 4-0 shutout over Fullerton in which he allowed only two hits. Abbott’s pitching has attracted many major league scouts recently.

“Some of the scouts had him throwing between 87 and 92 miles per hour on Monday,” Elliott said, “but I don’t think he threw near that today. He’s our best pitcher, though, and when we need a clutch win that’s who’ll be on the mound for us.”

Though he walked five, the only time it caused Abbott any real problems was in the first inning when a walk and an error put two men on base. Roaro-Jasso then got around on a fastball that sailed over the left field fence as Troy took a short-lived lead.

The Lancers wasted no time in overtaking the Warriors as they sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs on three hits, an error, and a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.

The Lancers added three more in the second to give Abbott a comfortable 8-3 lead.

Russell Fredericks opened the inning with a double to left center and scored when Adrian Schicker hit a sharp single to right. Abbott then doubled off the left field wall, scoring Schicker, and took third on the throw to the plate.

Abbott then scored on Tim Byrnes sacrifice fly to right field to close out the scoring in the inning.

Fredericks led the offense going 3 for 4 with an RBI and Abbott was 2 for 3 and knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly.