San Diego Section Baseball Playoffs : Valhalla Coach Overruled as Bonita Vista Wins

The Bonita Vista High School baseball team overcame Valhalla and the CIF rule book to post a 4-2 victory in the first round of the San Diego Section 3-A playoffs Tuesday at Bonita Vista. The victory is Bonita Vista’s for now, anyway.

Valhalla Coach John Marlow, his rule book in hand, protested the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with Valhalla leading, 2-1. Marlow later said he filed an official protest with the CIF office. It will not be known whether the protest will be upheld until today.

Here’s what happened:

Bonita Vista’s Billy Miller started the sixth with a one-out infield single. David Woodhouse followed with a lazy fly ball to center field. Bobby Runeborg got a late start on the ball and it fell in for a double, putting runners at second and third.

Marlow sent Jon Perez into center field to replace Runeborg. But Marlow had failed to list Perez on his lineup card. Tom Wall, the plate umpire, disallowed the substitution saying that a player must be listed on the lineup card in order to play.

Marlow disagreed and lodged the protest.

“I searched the rule book and I found nothing that says a player has to be listed on the lineup card,” Marlow said.

There was more controversy to come. The next batter, Jerry Foncerrada, hit a two-strike pitch over a drawn-in infield to score Miller and Woodhouse and give Bonita Vista a 3-2 lead.

In attempting to score, Woodhouse (who is a linebacker on the football team) barrelled into Valhalla catcher Eric Yetta, who was standing in the base line five feet in front of home plate waiting for the ball. Woodhouse then scrambled across to the plate to give Bonita Vista the lead.

As soon as Woodhouse scored, Marlow came charging out of the dugout again--rule book in hand again.

“It says in the book that a runner must be out and then must be thrown out of the game if there is malicious contact with the catcher,” Marlow said after the game. “You can’t tell me that he didn’t he hit him (Yetta) maliciously.”

Wall ruled otherwise, saying afterward: “The catcher was standing five feet in front of the plate without the ball. If he stands out there, he’s fair game. The running-into-the-catcher rule only comes into play if the catcher has the ball at home plate.”

Marlow did not officially protest that call. But, after the game, Bonita Vista Coach John Gibbs did some protesting to the media.

“It’s just a shame that a great game has to be ruined by all of this crying,” Gibbs said.

Bonita Vista’s rally made a winner of Woodhouse (11-0), one of the county’s top pitchers. Woodhouse allowed single runs in the first and fourth but shut down Valhalla from there, finishing with a five-hitter.

In other 3-A playoff games:

Mount Carmel 8, Point Loma 3--At Mount Carmel, Point Loma Coach Bill Hall protested the game in the fourth inning saying that a Sundevil player illegally re-entered the game. According to Hall, Miah Bradbury, taken out for a pinch-runner in the fourth, could not re-enter because he had been told to remove his jewelry earlier in the game by the umpire. CIF rules say that a player may re-enter only once. Leading 3-2 at the time of the protest, Mount Carmel (24-4) scored four runs in the fourth to put the game away. Hall said he would file his official protest with San Deigo Section officials today.

Mira Mesa 9, Fallbrook 7--Mark Robert hit home runs his first two times up to lead the defending champion Marauders (16-13) past the Warriors (20-6) at Mira Mesa. Robert hit a two-run homer in the first and added a three-run homer in the second to give Mira Mesa a 5-2 lead.

Santana 2, Sweetwater 1--Dale Henson’s RBI single in the sixth inning snapped a 1-1 tie and gave the No. 1-ranked Sultans (24-2) the victory at Santana. Mike Hook (11-1) went the distance, striking out 11. Santana will play Mira Mesa Thursday at Grossmont College in the semifinals.

In the 2-A playoffs:

University 9, San Diego 4--Mike McElroy and Mike Gonzalez delivered two-run singles in the top of the fifth inning to erase a 4-1 deficit for the Dons (15-10) at San Diego. Tom Stilinovich pitched 3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the victory.

Mission Bay 6, Hoover 1--Rusty Filter (8-1) pitched a two-hitter to lead the Buccaneers (20-6) at home. Mission Bay scored four unearned runs in the third to give Filter all the support he needed. Mission Bay, seeded first in the 2-A playoffs, will play University in the semifinals Thursday.

Escondido 9, Southwest 6 (eight innings)--Rob Woods, Alan Brown and Bob Esposito delivered two-out singles in the top of the eighth inning to break a 5-5 tie and send the Cougars (16-11) to a victory at Southwest. Andy Martin pitched the final three innings to get the victory.

San Marcos 8, Castle Park 2--Travis Beasley had three hits and drove in two runs to lead the Knights (15-9) past the Trojans at San Marcos. Robert Griffin pitched a complete-game for San Marcos, which will meet Escondido in the semifinals Thursday.