Providence Bombs Windward, 24-6 : 14-Run First Inning Advances Pioneers to Small Schools Final

In a Southern Section playoff game that was as much a trashing as anything else, Providence High beat Windward, 24-6, in Pasadena on Tuesday.

The win advanced the Pioneers (22-3) to the Small Schools Division finals, which will be played Friday.

Providence breezed to victory, as it had in three previous playoff games.

The Pioneers batted around twice and scored 14 runs in a first inning that seemed like it would go on forever. Actually, it lasted an hour.

Providence batters took advantage of the short right-center field at Polytechnic in Pasadena, dumping balls into a parking lot and bouncing long drives off the school’s wood-shingled roof.

Said Pioneer Coach Marc Saraceno: “It didn’t seem fair to play them here with a short field. It definitely helped us and hurt them. The game would have been closer had we played somewhere else.”

Wildcat starting pitcher David Hill never made it through the first-inning barrage. “Hill has carried us for three years,” Windward Coach Ken Asher said. “But he didn’t have it today. Maybe he was nervous because they’re such a good team. I was confident we could win--I think the whole team was confident, but our pitching just wasn’t there.”

Wildcat pitchers issued 16 walks and gave up 17 hits in the game.

“When they did get it over,” said Providence second baseman Steve Ross, “they put the ball where we wanted it. The ball looked big. Their pitchers weren’t overpowering.”

Pioneer starter Kevin Miller, who picked up his seventh win, didn’t exactly blow pitches past the Wildcats, either.

Windward came back with six runs in its half of the first. But Miller, who has a submarine delivery, managed to keep batters off balance the rest of the way.

“I was hanging my curveball in the first inning,” Miller said. “When I pitch, I don’t bring the heat. But I wasn’t worried.”

Not with his teammates aiming for the school roof.

Adam Grant was the first to drive a shot over the school with a two-run homer. After catcher Doug Ferrante hit a liner off the wall, Rich Campus cleared the roof with a three-run homer.

Even Miller got in on the act with a ground-rule double into the parking lot in right which scored two runs.

“I don’t think anything will stop us this year,” the senior right-hander said.

Saraceno declined to predict the outcome of Friday’s final against Linfield Christian, the 13-8 winners over Polytechnic on Tuesday. But he did say that this year’s team, which has won 12 straight games, is the best Providence has ever had.

“And the best thing,” Saraceno said, “is that we only lose four seniors off this team for next year.”