No. 1 Valhalla Rallies Again to Beat Granite Hills

That Valhalla High School rallied in the late innings to win another baseball game Thursday should come as no surprise.

“It’s really nothing new,” said Valhalla Coach John Marlow after the Norsemen scored a run in the seventh and two in the eighth to beat Granite Hills, 3-1, in a Grossmont League game at Granite Hills. Valhalla, ranked No. 1 in San Diego County, has come from behind in five of its seven league victories. Earlier this season, the Norsemen (7-1-1 in league and 14-4-1 overall) beat Granite Hills, 10-9, by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Those two Valhalla wins have impressed Granite Hills Coach Gordy Thompson.

“Every once in a while a team like Valhalla comes along,” Thompson said. “They’ve done it so many times, they’re always confident they can come back.”

Said Marlow: “If we’re within three runs going into the last inning, look out.”

Valhalla’s win was even more impressive considering the fact that Granite Hills had won three straight.

The Eagles led Thursday after six innings, 1-0, thanks to George Bishop’s RBI single in the second inning.

Granite Hills sophomore Mark Raskind had shut out Valhalla on three hits before the Norsemen rallied to send the game into extra innings.

Jim Jacobs opened the seventh with an infield single deep in the hole at short, and Joe Crisci followed with a single to left.

Aaron Petrich came in to relieve the tiring Raskind and walked John Ace to load the bases. Thompson again made a pitching change, replacing Petrich with left-hander Dan Nerat.

On a 2-2 pitch to designated hitter Mark Anderson, Nerat threw a wild pitch and pinch-runner Jon Perez scored to tie the game. Nerat worked out of the inning by striking out Anderson and getting pinch-hitter Steve Gomez to line into a double play.

But that didn’t discourage Valhalla.

Ted Gilmore opened the eighth inning with a single to center and moved to third on Scott Dennison’s single down the right-field line.

Rob Sharp, the next batter, won it for the Norsemen with a two-run double to right center.

The rally helped Steve Phoenix (3-2), who pitched a complete game and allowed only four hits to a Granite Hills team that had scored 34 runs in its last three games.

“You have to give a lot of credit to Steve Phoenix,” Marlow said. “They have a good hitting ballclub and he did quite a job of shutting them down.”

The Granite Hills’ loss badly hurt the Eagles’ chances of repeating as league champions. Granite Hills (5-4, 9-8) trails league-leading Valhalla and Santana by 2 1/2 games with seven to play.