Alemany Romps to 10-4 Win

It began as a baseball game, turned into a rout, and ended peacefully as host Alemany High defeated Bosco Tech, 10-4, in a Del Rey League game Friday. For Kevin Armstrong, there was an unaccustomed workout. For Brian Rosselli, there was unaccustomed relaxation.

Armstrong, the team statistician, went through a blizzard of statistics: 14 hits and four errors and a seven-run first inning that included two home runs.

“It’s the most runs, or hits, or errors we’ve had this year,” Armstrong said. Then he lamented: “It will probably take me a half-hour to total all this up.”

Rosselli, the loser of two one-run decisions this year, loosened up when the Alemany bats livened up. Pitching a no-hitter for 4 innings, Rosselli (4-2) eventually gave up four hits but went the distance.

“With a 7-0 lead I just relaxed and didn’t worry about anything,” Rosselli said. “I still stayed tough, though, by pretending the score was 0-0.”

The win turned the upper echelon of the Del Rey League standings into a jumble, with Alemany moving into a tie for third place with Bosco Tech (3-2), a half-game behind Notre Dame (3-1) and a game behind Loyola (4-1). The Indians, who started league play with two one-run losses, have posted three consecutive wins and are heating up at the right time. A year ago, Alemany won 13 of its first 15 games only to go 5-7 in league play and miss the playoffs.

“We should have been somewhere else last year,” Alemany Coach Jim Ozella said, alluding to the playoffs. “We’ve got eight guys back and they know what it takes to get there.

“We’ve talked and talked about last year. It was frustrating. But now we’ve got to forget about it and go out there each game and rope the ball.”

Friday, the Indians roped, smashed, and thrashed the ball. Perhaps the upheaval was inspired by a pregame dugout ritual in which each player touched a gold plaque, a memento from the school’s most recent Del Rey League championship, in 1969. Or perhaps it was inspired by hard work. A sign next to the plaque asks: “Are we practicing hard enough yet?”

Something worked--and immediately. Bosco Tech’s Jesus Ibbarra walked leadoff batter Greg Biley, Bill Horvat reached on an error and John Lite homered. Joe Cupa doubled and Ray Cano reached on an error before Mike Sims drove both in with a single. Mark Scott followed with a two-run home run.

Lite, who stretched his hitting streak to 11 games, was 3 for 4.