Southern Section Baseball : Dream Comes True for Fillmore’s Edmonds in 1-A Win

Brad Edmonds, Fillmore High School’s second baseman, came to bat in the fourth inning of Friday night’s 1-A championship game in his personal dream situation--the bases loaded, the game on the line.

And what did he do?

He hit himself on the head with his aluminum bat, and then he hit Santa Monica Crossroads, sending a curveball to center field for a single that scored two runs, Fillmore’s winning margin in a 4-2 victory at Blair Field.

“I started thinking in the batter’s box, ‘I can do it! I can do it!’ ” Edmonds said. “I just prayed, I had to believe. And it came through.

“I hit my helmet to keep me up.”

Fillmore, which scored three runs in the fourth inning--two resulting from Edmonds’ single--gave starter Willie Leighton all the support he needed.

“All I need is insurance runs,” said Leighton, who looked shaky early but settled down to strike out five, including the side in the sixth.

Crossroads, the Delphic League champion, scored both its runs in the second inning. Leighton walked Rudy Freeman to open the inning, and DJ Sutton followed with a sharp single to left-center. Leighton struck out Andrew Bernstein before Ian Schulman singled to center, scoring Freeman.

Leighton walked Tim Alexander, then shortstop Kurt Yokota flied out to center, scoring Sutton and giving the Roadrunners a 2-0 lead.

Crossroads pitcher Steve Solomon blanked illmore until the fourth, when he walked the first two batters he faced, then gave up a single to Jamie Alamillo, loading the bases.

Anthony Chessani flied to center, scoring Jessie Lechuga, before Solomon walking Leighton to reload the bases. Edmonds took the count to 2-and-2 before hitting a curveball over second base, scoring Jaime Sandoval and Alamillo and giving Fillmore the winning run.

Edmonds celebrated by pumping both arms in the air, much to the delight of the Fillmore fans.

“What I’ve always dreamed about happened,” Edmonds said. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. It felt great.”

Fillmore scored an insurance run in the sixth. Chessani, who had doubled to left with one out, went home on Tony Cervantez’s RBI single to center.