Roundup : Monte Vista, on a Roll, Advances to Baseball Semifinal

Monte Vista High School defeated Montgomery, 6-1, Tuesday at Point Loma High to advance to today’s semifinal round of the AAA division of the 38th Lions baseball tournament.

Monte Vista, which won just five games last season, improved to 8-5 with its fourth consecutive victory. Monte Vista will meet Mt. Carmel (7-3) today at 10:30 at Granite Hills.

“Last year, (Monte Vista) was finding ways to lose,” first-year coach Rob Phillips said. “Now, we’re finding ways to win.”

Sophomore Bern Mullis went the distance, allowing 1 run on 5 hits. Mullis was also 2 for 4 at the plate.

Sophomore Ernie Reyes was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and sophomore Darren Rucker was 3 for 3 with an RBI and scored twice for Monte Vista.

“We’re just doing the right things at the right time,” Phillips said. “We’ve gotten 38 hits in (three) tournament (games).”

In other AAA division games:

Poway 3, Mt. Miguel 1--Sophomore Dan Miller allowed only one hit--a bunt--and Greg Sorrell had a single and a triple as Poway (6-4) won its sixth game in its last seven tries. Miller (2-1) struck out three and walked four. Mt. Miguel is 1-9. Poway will play Santana today in the semifinals.

Mira Mesa 11, Orange Glen 3-- Jimmy Escamilla hit a three-run home run in the sixth and Victor Rico hit another in the seventh for Mira Mesa. Orange Glen is 6-8-1.

Granite Hills 7, Patrick Henry 2--Brian Runge went 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs and Jeff Waymire was 2 for 4, including a solo home run in the first, to lead Granite Hills (7-4). Jon Rice (1-0) got the win.

Mt. Carmel 5, Southwest 1--Derek Struhar allowed only three singles and struck out eight as Mt. Carmel (7-4) advanced. Mark King had a double and scored two runs, and Ron Kelly singled in a run for Mt. Carmel.

Point Loma 7, San Dieguito 6--David Cipranic hit a 3-run homer and was 2 for 2 with 5 RBIs to lead Point Loma (6-5-1).

Morse 9, Sweetwater 7--Winning pitcher Steve Smith singled in the final two runs of Morse’s four-run seventh as the Tigers (8-5) rallied. Sweetwater’s Juan Price hit his fifth home run of the year, a solo shot in the third.

AA DIVISION

Madison 14, Kearny 2--Mark Hallisey had 4 hits and drove in 2 runs and Andy Williams was 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs as Madison (11-1) clinched the Group D title with a win at Valhalla High. Madison will meet El Capitan in an AA Division semifinal at 10:30 a.m. at Valhalla. Kearny is 4-7-1.

San Diego 9, Valhalla 7--San Diego overcame eight errors for the victory at Valhalla. Dave Moore hit a bases-loaded double in the sixth for three runs for San Diego (8-4). Dave Angotti had two doubles and scored twice for Valhalla.

Helix 5, Serra 3--Rick Navarro (5-0) struck out 9 and Damon Chase went 4 for 4 with an RBI for Helix at Hoover. Helix (8-2) got three runs in the first inning. Serra is 4-8.

Hoover 8, Fallbrook 7--Chris Dalton hit a three-run home run with two outs in the top of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. But Hoover rallied for a run in the eighth to advance to the semifinals. Albert Canedo hit a grand slam and scored the winning run for Hoover (9-4).

Torrey Pines 9, Hilltop 5--Torrey Pines had to score four runs in the top of the eighth for the victory and a spot in the semifinals against Hoover. Bob Kennedy was 3 for 5 and Bob McGriff 1 for 3 with 4 RBIs as Torrey Pines (12-0) rallied to remain undefeated. Joe Calabria was 3 for 4 for Hilltop (1-7).

Grossmont 3, El Cajon Valley 2--Mike Ramsey hit a solo home run to lead Grossmont (7-5). Jack Kaewpalog was the losing pitcher despite allowing just two hits and striking out seven. Kevin Davis was 3 for 3 for El Cajon Valley (4-7).

Briefly--San Marcos 11, El Capitan 8.

A DIVISION

University of San Diego High School 12, El Camino 6--Gavin Millay went 4 for 5 with 2 RBIs as USDHS advanced to the semifinals against Escondido. Brent Whelan was 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs for USDHS (5-5).

Crawford 11, Coronado 5--A.J. Leighton (4-2) pitched a six-hitter and Crawford (7-5) took advantage of eight Coronado errors to win at home. Goose Heuramo had two hits and drove in two runs, and Keith Gilbert and John Edge added two hits each for Crawford.

La Jolla 13, Parker 1--Willy Barnett went 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs and Greg Ricchiuti was 3 for 3 with 4 RBIs to lead La Jolla (10-2) into the semifinals against Mission Bay. The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Oceanside 5, Mar Vista 4--Mike Luna allowed just two hits over four innings and Oceanside (5-5) hung on for the victory at La Jolla High. Kip Sosa hit a two-run homer for Oceanside, which led, 5-1, after six innings.

Mission Bay 7, Lincoln 0--Scott Kuhl and Darrin Sesslar combined on a two-hitter, and Colin Davis had three hits and three RBIs for Mission Bay.

San Pasqual 5, Marian 4--Andy Loveland’s one-out RBI double in the bottom of the seventh scored Kevin Herde and gave San Pasqual (4-6) the victory at Mission Bay. Herde pitched no-hit ball for five innings before finishing with a three-hitter, and added three hits and an RBI.

St. Augustine 9, Julian 3--Jim Bitler was 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs and Mark Jackson went the distance for the win for St. Augustine (4-6). Julian is 5-3.

Briefly--Clairemont 11, Escondido 8.