Roundup : University City Hits Stride, Wins : Centurions Come Back to Beat Depleted Clairemont, 13-8

There were encouraging signs for both teams Friday when University City High School played Clairemont in a Crawford tournament baseball game.

For visiting University City, there was, most important, a comeback victory.

For Clairemont, the loss wasn’t as lopsided as the 13-8 score indicated and occurred with three starters on the bench.

“We came over a little flat,” said Allan LaMotte, University City’s coach. “We were taken back a bit when we were down, 5-1. But we started hitting the ball and came back. I think that’s the mark of a good team, to come back like that.”

Clairemont Coach Hugh McMillan kept two players on the bench for disciplinary reasons, and another was out with strep throat.

Just the same, he said: “I saw some things I liked. We came out swinging the bats. We had been timid. It’ll be a long year, but we can be in any game.”

In the first, University City (4-2) scored once but then fell behind quickly when Clairemont strung together six hits for five runs in the bottom of the inning. All six Clairemont hits off right-hander Brad Ledwith went to right field, and only one was hit very hard.

Ledwith (2-0) cut Clairemont off after that, surrendering just three more hits in his remaining four innings. He also helped get University City going offensively.

In the fourth, with University City trailing, 6-1, Ledwith led off with a deep drive to left-center field that resulted in an inside-the-park home run.

University City scored twice more that inning, thanks in part to Chad Hall’s triple, and added another run in the fifth to trim Clairemont’s lead to 7-5.

In the sixth, the Centurions went ahead, 8-7. Steve Woodard and Hall opened with doubles, and Dave Beck and Jim Shafer added singles to supply three runs.

They scored five more in the last inning off a tiring Brandon Garland (0-1).

Hall and Shafer went 3 for 4, and Ledwith was two for three. Shafer and Ledwith drove in two runs each.

Clairemont (2-4) was led by Vic Beltran and Jeff Davis, who each went 2 for 3 and drove in a run.

In other Crawford tournament games:

Mira Mesa 17, Crawford 9--Catcher Albert Domingo went 4 for 4 with 5 RBIs to lead Mira Mesa (5-1). Center fielder Ricky Hastey added 3 hits and 2 RBIs. Catcher Josh Neil was 3 for 4 with an RBI for Crawford (3-3).

Serra 8, Christian 7--Gary Fadden allowed just 4 hits over 5 innings of relief as Serra (3-3) rallied to beat visiting Christian. Shawn Wilson, called up from the junior varsity before the game, drove in three runs for Serra, including the game-winner on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.

La Jolla 10, Morse 6--John Tribolet drove in four runs and Brent Woodall added two RBIs to lead visiting La Jolla (5-1). Morse (2-3) took a 2-0 lead but La Jolla rallied by scoring four runs in the second and five runs in the third. Tribolet knocked in runners from second and third with singles in both of La Jolla’s big innings.

WARHAWK TOURNAMENT

Monte Vista 4, Sweetwater 2--With two outs in the ninth inning, Monte Vista scored 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks for the victory. Sweetwater (4-3-1) rallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a home run by Jesus Ortega, but was unable to come all the way back.

Hoover 5, Orange Glen 1--Mike Wahlstrom drove in two runs and Albert Canedo hit a solo home run to highlight Hoover’s victory at Orange Glen. Ken Seistel went all the way for Hoover (3-4). Scott Coleman of Orange Glen (5-3-1) took the loss.

Point Loma 6, Grossmont 5--Israel Stanley hit a pair of two-run homers, and David Cipranic snapped a 5-5 tie with a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning to lead Point Loma (4-1-1) at Grossmont. Jamie Anglin pitched four innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win.

Bonita Vista 5, Kearny 2--Frank Castro had two hits and drove in a run and Ted Ehrhardt drove in another run with a double to lead visiting Bonita Vista (5-2). Jeff Bogle pitched two scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win.