Schulhofer Arms Canoga Park, 15-5 : Right-Hander Pitches on Two-Days’ Rest and Homers in Win Over Reseda

Adam Schulhofer’s teachers at Canoga Park High shouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t raise his hand in class today. He may know the answer to a question, but the effort to raise his right arm probably isn’t worth the recognition.

Schulhofer pitched his second game in three days to lead Canoga Park to a 15-5 victory over Reseda in a West Valley League baseball game Thursday at Reseda.

With staff ace Mike Kerber unable to pitch because of tendinitis in his pitching (right) elbow, Schulhofer made his first career start on two days’ rest. On Tuesday, he threw 100 pitches in a 9-0 loss against El Camino. In 4 innings against Reseda, Schulhofer (2-1) threw 83 pitches and allowed three runs on five hits. He allowed an unearned run in the first and two runs in the fifth.

“I generally felt tired the whole day,” Schulhofer said. “But my arm wasn’t that stiff and I could still throw hard.”

Schulhofer’s adversary, Reseda right-hander Donnie Grant, never got the chance to get tired. He was ripped for 10 runs and nine hits in three innings by fast-starting Canoga Park (2-2).

Grant (1-1) was greeted in the first inning by Scott Strickland, who opened with a single. Aaron Marks doubled to put runners on second and third before Schulhofer staked himself to an early lead with a three-run homer.

Reseda (1-3) picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the first to make it 3-1, but Grant struggled with his control. He gave up three runs on four hits in the third inning, then couldn’t get anybody out in the fourth. When Mike Urman hit a three-run homer in the fourth, Grant was gone and Reseda trailed, 10-1.

“Donnie was just off today,” Reseda Coach Mike Stone said. “He was getting everything up and it was going, going, gone.”

Matt Gilmore replaced Grant and retired Canoga Park in the fourth, but the Hunters solved him in the fifth. Strickland led off with a walk, Marks singled and Schulhofer walked to load the bases.

Mickey Snook then lined a single to right, scoring Strickland to make it 11-1. Reseda got a break on the play when the home plate umpire called Marks out because he was touched by a base coach while holding at third. That got a brief argument from Canoga Park Coach Doug MacKenzie, who forgot the incident when Kerber stepped up to the plate and got his first hit of the season--a three-run homer to extend the lead to 14-1.

“We’ve always been one of the league’s top teams in scoring,” MacKenzie said. “Many people were surprised when we had only one run in our last two games but we had 12 total hits and were hitting the ball good. Today, we just got our hits in bunches and that was the difference.”