San Diego High School Baseball : Sophomore Catches Attention in Santana Win

The lure was Eric Helfand, the Patrick Henry catcher who is said to have the strongest throwing arm in San Diego County high school baseball.

And the fans, players and coaches did get a glimpse of Helfand’s talent as he threw out two runners trying to steal in the first inning.

But the player who had the most effect on Tuesday’s San Diego Section 3-A first-round playoff game between Santana and Patrick Henry was the other catcher.

Paul Newark, a sophomore who had never played in a varsity game, had an RBI and threw out a runner. And he made two important decisions late in the game that led to Santana’s 4-3 victory on Patrick Henry’s home field.

Santana (19-7), the defending 3-A champion, will play second-seeded Orange Glen in a quarterfinal Thursday. Patrick Henry finished 15-8-1.

Nobody, not even Santana Coach Jim Saska, would have imagined Newark playing an important role in the victory. Raul Padillo, Santana’s regular catcher, was written on Saska’s original lineup card, but Padillo arrived late to the game, and Saska was forced to start Newark.

Santana scored three times in the fifth inning to take a 4-3 lead, but starting pitcher Tim Barry ran into trouble in the sixth.

He hit Corey Powell with a pitch to start the inning, and Saska replaced him with reliever Bill Reed.

Mike Miller bunted out in front of the mound and Reed fielded the ball. Newark yelled for Reed to throw to second and Reed nailed Powell by a step.

“A gutty call,” Saska said later.

Miller took second on a wild pickoff throw by Reed and then tried to steal third. Newark threw him out to end the rally.

“I think that was the game right there,” Reed said.

Not exactly. Reed walked David Schiff to start the seventh and again Patrick Henry tried to sacrifice.

Jeff Suhl’s bunt was out in front of the plate and again Reed fielded the ball. Newark again called for the play to go to second.

Reed’s throw was in time and umpire Terry Love called an automatic double-play, saying that Schiff slid too hard into Santana shortstop Barry O’Gorman.

That was the game.

Patrick Henry led, 3-1, after four innings but Santana came back in the fifth. A two-out single by Reed scored one and a two-run single by Barry put the Sultans ahead.

“I’ll tell you that Helfand is quite a player but my guy (Newark) played a great game,” Saska said. “We put him on the JV this year to build up his ego . . . I guess it worked.”

In other playoff action:

3A PLAYOFFS

Grossmont 11, Mira Mesa 2--Lance Dickson allowed one hit and struck out 11 of the 15 batters he faced to lead No. 3 Grossmont (21-7) at home. The Foothillers scored five times in the first inning.

Mike Rendina hit a solo home run in the second inning and Doug Davis added a solo homer in the third for Grossmont. Victor Rigo hit a two-run home run with one out in the seventh for Mira Mesa’s (15-11) only runs.

Mount Carmel 10, El Capitan 4--Mt. Carmel scored six times in the first inning in the victory at home. Ronny Kelly was 3 for 4 with three doubles and leadoff batter, Rich Hooper scored four times to lead Mount Carmel (20-6). Jerry Aldridge had a two-run home run in the fifth for El Capitan (14-12).

Fallbrook 6, Hilltop 5--T.J. Flynn singled home Eric Larsen with the tying run in the seventh for visiting Fallbrook (19-8). Hilltop (11-11) committed two throwing errors on Flynn’s hit, allowing Matt Corcoran to score the winning run. Flynn hit his 16th home run, a solo shot in the first inning and Bill Dunckel followed with another home run.

2A PLAYOFFS

San Diego 3, Mar Vista 1--Sean Tucker struck out seven and allowed two hits to lead San Diego (18-8-1) at home. Tony Farrell went 2 for 3 and scored twice and Joe Deno and Mel Diaz added RBI singles for San Diego.

La Jolla 3, Coronado 1--Blake Ellis doubled in the tying run with two outs in the seventh and Mark Ulrey and David Jennings had RBI singles in the eighth to lead La Jolla (16-10-1) at Coronado (16-9). Coronado’s run was scored in the first on a double play with the bases loaded an not outs.

Clairemont 4, Carlsbad 3--Jamie Brunelle doubled off the outfield fence to score Dan Moran, who walked, with one out in the eighth to lead Clairemont (14-11-1) at home. Carlsbad finished 13-12.

University of San Diego High School 1, San Pasqual 0--Tom Stilinovich doubled in the winning run in the top of the sixth and also shut out San Pasqual on four hits to lead USDHS (18-8) at San Pasqual (15-10).