Thrills Continue for Mt. Carmel’s Kelly as South Wins, 14-4

Ron Kelly, in four years at Mt. Carmel High School, had a chance to play in some pretty important baseball games. The Sundevils reached the San Diego Section final three times and won once.

But Kelly said that compares little to the thrill he had last week when he heard that he had made the roster for the North-South All-Star baseball series, which continued at Smith Field Saturday night.

Game 2 was a rather long affair--3 hours 15 minutes--and it must have seemed longer to Kelly, who was replaced in center field after the third inning.

But before that, he added a memory or two, with two hits and three runs batted in. The South went on to a 14-4 victory to make it two in a row over the North, with the final game of the series scheduled for noon today.

“Maybe winning the (San Diego Section) CIF was bigger than this, but this means a lot,” Kelly said. “In this series, you’re getting to play with a lot of great athletes. Plus, it’s interesting to see how the San Diego area players compare with the rest of the state.”

So far, so good. In Friday night’s first game, Mission Bay High’s Sean Rees pitched five innings of two-hit relief and picked up the victory as the South won, 6-5.

Then Saturday, Kelly came through with a two-run double to cap a four-run second-inning rally that helped carry the South to another victory. He walked with the bases loaded in the third, and by that time, the South led, 6-1.

“I’ll remember these games for a long time,” Kelly said. “It’s not easy to make it. At the tryouts (last Sunday at Rancho Santiago College) there were 100 pitchers.”

Only the best made it, of course, even though at times Saturday it was hard to tell.

John Bently of Trinity High in Weaverville, who started for the North, and Eric Stoll of Beyer High in Modesto, who relieved him, both had trouble finding the strike zone.

Bently walked six in 2 innings and allowed eight runs, and Stoll walked four in 2 innings and allowed five.

South pitcher Tony Darden of Diamond Bar High had his troubles early as well, but he settled down to combine with La Habra’s Matt Lipscomb on a six-hitter. Darden allowed only two hits over his final five innings.

The South took a 4-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single by Joe Arredondo of Bellflower, an RBI double by Doug Saunders of Esperanza and Kelly’s two-run double, a shot that turned North left fielder Norman Montoya around before landing on the warning track.

In the third, the South added four more runs with the aid of only one hit. Randy Graves of Riverside Poly singled in one run and Kelly, Saunders and Mark Smith of Arcadia all walked with the bases loaded.

The North scored three runs in the bottom of the third to trail, 8-4, but the South put the game away in the fifth.

Smith doubled in one run, and Eric Brooks of La Mirada capped a five-run rally with a grand slam to left. Brooks is now 4 for 4 in the series with five RBIs. Friday, he drove in the winning run with a ninth-inning single.

Saunders, who had three hits in Friday’s game, had a single, double and triple Saturday and is now 6 for 8 in the two games.