Karl Gets Down and Dirty for Win No. 8 : Carlsbad Pitcher Strikes out 11 in Two-Hit Victory over San Pasqual

Scott Karl has a pretty good fastball, and he is working on something he calls “the off-the-table curveball.”

But his best strikeout pitch? Call it the dirtball.

The dirtball is no accident. Carlsbad catcher Tim Granich will put his glove in the dirt to call for it when Karl is ahead in the count. The only mistake is made by the hitter, who often swings and misses.

The dirtball was as effective as usual Friday. So were the rest of Karl’s pitches. A junior left-hander, Karl (8-0) threw a two-hit shutout and struck out 11--seven in the first three innings--as No. 7 Carlsbad defeated San Pasqual, 6-0.

By beating second-place San Pasqual (11-9, 7-3) in front of a large crowd at Carlsbad High, Carlsbad (17-4, 10-0) took a three-game lead in the Avocado League with four to play.

Karl’s bat helped, too. He was 2 for 3 with 3 runs batted in.

He did all this even though he has been sick to his stomach since Monday. And on Friday, he was sore.

“I woke up today and my lower back was sore and my neck was stiff,” said Karl, who was also 3 for 3 against Ramona Wednesday. “Maybe I’ll just stay sick.”

Karl called Friday’s game his best of the year. Maybe it was just coincidence that the dirtball was working better than ever, too.

The pitch starts as a normal changeup. Karl just aims it low in the strike zone. What fools the hitter--and causes it to end up in the dirt about two feet in front of the plate--is that the bottom drops out right before it gets there.

“It’s nothing fancy,” Karl said. “I could throw it higher and get it called for a strike down the middle. But why risk hanging one and having them hit it 400 feet the other way when I can get them to swing and miss on ones in the dirt?”

Great for Karl. But what about Granich? He has to bounce up and block every one of those pitches.

“Actually, I kind of like getting hit, keeping it in front of me,” Granich said. “Whatever it takes. We got two guys to swing on third strikes in the dirt today.”

Granich helped Karl out in the first inning, too, when he took another pretty good shot. San Pasqual’s Alfredo Amador, who had reached on first baseman Jeff Meyers’ error, tried to score on an infield single by losing pitcher Kevin Herde (4-4). Granich took Meyers’ throw and hung on to tag Amador for the third out as the two crashed to the ground.

That was the last hit off Karl until Jim Clayton doubled down the left-field line in the fourth, the first ball hit out of the infield.

“His fastball was moving better than ever,” Granich said. “I told some people before the game that even though Scott was undefeated, he had not had his best stuff. I said when he had his best stuff, he would be scary. He had his best stuff today.”

Karl had to rely on it less after giving himself a 3-0 lead in the second inning with a double to left that drove in Reed Pippen and Granich. Pippen had driven in Meyers with a single that bounced over Chris Bill’s head for an error.

Karl also drove in Meyers with a single to right in the three-run sixth.

That makes Karl 7 for 10 in the past three games. He has won two games during that stretch as well.