Beamer’s No-Hitter Lifts Parker

Success can have its disadvantages. Sometimes it can lead to complacency, a malady that Will Beamer said was afflicting the Francis Parker High School baseball team earlier this season.

Francis Parker, which has won three consecutive San Diego Section 1-A baseball titles, appeared healthy Wednesday afternoon, thanks to hard-throwing Beamer and maybe a little help from the section seeding committee.

Beamer was the biggest reason Parker looked good as he threw his first complete-game no-hitter and struck out 13 in a 3-0 victory over visiting Holtville in a section 1-A quarterfinal.

Parker will play top-seeded Julian in the semifinals at Ramona High on Friday at 3 p.m.

Beamer admitted that the team may have received a little help from the committee that made Parker the fourth-seeded team in the tournament.

“I think it provided the motivation,” said Beamer, a junior. “We lacked the chemistry this year. There’s definite pressure (to win another title), but winning three titles can lead to cockiness. I think we experienced that this year.”

Parker tied Julian for the Coastal League title but lost the league’s top seeding on a tie-breaking procedure. Parker was then seeded behind the Desert and Citrus league champions.

“After they found out Saturday morning, we had out best practice this season,” Parker Coach Kerry Keehl said.

Parker played one of its best games Wednesday but didn’t have to work too hard thanks to Beamer, who had a two-run triple in the first inning. A single by designated hitter Tom Tobin, scoring Marc Sherman in the fourth, accounted for Parker’s other run.

Beamer controlled Holtville the entire game, allowing only a walk in the third inning. He struck out every batter at least once and had at least one strikeout in every inning, including seven of the the first eight batters he faced.

Holtville’s best shot at breaking up the no-hitter was on an apparent single by Kevin Kerns in the sixth. But Kerns was called out by the home plate umpire for stepping out of the batter’s box when he made contact.