San Diego Prep Baseball : Mount Carmel Tops Poway, Improves to 6-0

Mount Carmel High scrapped for every run it could Wednesday, and Poway booted almost every chance it had in losing, 6-4, to the No. 2-ranked Sundevils at Poway.

Mount Carmel (6-0, 16-4) remained two games ahead of Orange Glen in the Palomar League. Poway (3-3, 10-7) is tied for third place, three games back.

“We hung in there,” said Sam Blalock, Mount Carmel coach. “We played aggressive and even used a squeeze play. We work on not using the squeeze.”

Things went well for Mount Carmel from the beginning.

Rich Hooper walked to start the game, stole second and reached third on a single by Ronnie Kelly. Miah Bradbury drove in Hooper with a sacrifice fly to center for the game’s first run.

In the third, Poway loaded the bases with no outs but could get only one run as Phil Plantier hit into a double play and Allen Tremble flew out.

With two out in the third, Ronnie Kelly hit a solo home run to put the Sundevils back on top, 2-1.

Sundevil John Krainock squeezed in Pete Cowen in the fourth, and two batters later Mike Limtiaco doubled in Tommy Cheek to put Mount Carmel up 4-1.

The Titans battled back in the fifth to a 4-4 tie when Dominick Johnson singled in Tremble with two outs.

Johnson, Poway’s starting pitcher, got into trouble when he gave up back-to-back doubles to Kelly and Bradbury to start the fifth. Two singles after the doubles drove in the deciding runs.

“We weren’t at the top of our game today,” said John Harmon, Poway coach. “It was a tough game. Johnson didn’t pitch poorly, but a few too many pitches were too high.”

Johnson (5-1) suffered his first loss.

In other Palomar League games:

Torrey Pines 8, Orange Glen 4--Torrey Pines (2-4, 5-12) scored six runs in the third en route to beating No. 9-ranked Orange Glen (4-2, 11-6). Steve May led Torrey Pines with three hits and an RBI. Teammate Todd Kelly was 2 for 3 with two runs scored.

Fallbrook 3, Vista 0--Joe Comer pitched a six-hitter to lead the No. 5 Warriors (3-3, 15-4) past the Panthers (2-4, 9-7) at Vista.

CITY WESTERN LEAGUE Kearny 8, University 7 (8 innings)--The Komets (5-4, 7-10) rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat the Dons (5-4, 9-9) at Kearny. Eric Takeshita singled in two runs to tie the game and with two outs Lupe Ford scored on a wild pitch by reliever Tom Stilinovich.

Mission Bay 3, La Jolla 0--Scott Vonderlieth pitched Mission Bay to its third straight shutout as the Bucs (7-2, 14-5) blanked La Jolla (4-5, 6-12). The two-hit shutout was Vonderlieth’s third of the season. Vonderlieth, a junior left-hander, also has pitched two one-hitters this season. Mission Bay’s Sean Rees was 3 for 3, including a double in the fifth that drove in two runs.

University City 7, Clairemont 0--Aaron Root allowed only one hit as the Centurions (4-5, 7-10) handed Clairemont (2-7, 5-11-1) its seventh straight league loss. Root also went 2 for 3, driving in a run and scoring one.

AVOCADO LEAGUE San Pasqual 4, Escondido 2--The defending league champion Eagles (3-3, 8-7-1) won their third straight with a three-run rally in the top of the seventh at Escondido. Keith Nichols drove in the tying run with a single and Kelly Simpson pushed across the winning run with a squeeze bunt. Escondido (3-3, 10-9) had taken a 2-1 lead on Rob Woods’ two-run double in the sixth.

Ramona 6, Carlsbad 5--David Rowe’s RBI single in the seventh allowed the Bulldogs (4-2, 11-5) to move into a tie for first with a victory at Carlsbad (4-2, 8-9). Frank Romero gave Ramona its first run with a solo homer in the fourth. Mike Cummins had a grand slam for the Lancers.

CITY CENTRAL LEAGUE Lincoln 9, Christian 8--Anthony Johnson and Keith Hill each had three hits and two RBIs as Lincoln (5-4, 13-8) came from behind to beat Christian (3-6, 9-10-1). Malcolm Glover also went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Craig Johnson and Jon Okken had three hits each for Christian. Charlton Lynch was the winning pitcher.

San Diego 7, St. Augustine 3--Ricky Guzman drove in three runs and Robert Howard had two RBIs to lead the Cavers (5-3-1, 9-10-1) past the Saints (2-7, 5-13) at St. Augustine. Byron Johnson went all the way on a six-hitter and struck out nine to gain the victory.

Hoover 10, Crawford 9--Hoover scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Colts (4-4-1) and pad their league lead. It was the third straight game in which the Colts had led by three or more runs entering the last inning and lost. Danny Clifford had a solo homer for Hoover (7-2, 10-7).

CITY EASTERN LEAGUE Point Loma 5, Madison 4--Dennis Legena, trying to score from third on a wild pitch, was thrown out at the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh as the No. 8-ranked Pointers (3-1, 14-4) held on to beat the Warhawks (2-2, 8-7) at Madison. Kelly Schlager hit a three-run home run in the third inning to help Point Loma, which is alone in first place in the City East.

Patrick Henry 6, Mira Mesa 2--Steve Plein had a solo home run and Erik Watkins hit a two-run double as Henry (1-2-1, 10-5-1) topped the Marauders (2-2, 10-12). Winning pitcher Lou Hayes gave up four hits. Mike Eicher took the loss for Mira Mesa.

Morse 8, Serra 3--Derwin Proby had three hits and two RBIs and Mike Liera had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Tigers (2-2, 11-10) past the No. 10-ranked Conquistadors (1-2-1, 13-6-1) at Serra. Paul Anderson (6-4) went all the way on a five-hitter to pick up the victory.

AVOCADO LEAGUE San Marcos 26, El Camino 4--Tino Lozano hit a home run and drove in four runs and Eric Brio had three RBIs to lead the Knights (4-2, 9-7) past the Wildcats (0-6, 3-13) at El Camino. San Marcos had 21 hits to win a game that was called after five innings.

NONLEAGUE San Dieguito 9, Oceanside 6--The Mustangs (6-10-2) scored five runs in the first inning, blew the lead, then rallied for four in the bottom of the fifth to beat the Pirates (8-9) at San Dieguito.