Delahoya All Business for Grant, 5-2

For Javier Delahoya, it was a nine-to-five kind of day.

The Grant High right-hander had nine strikeouts--five of them on called third strikes--to lead the Lancers to a 5-2 Valley Pac-8 Conference victory Wednesday over visiting Monroe.

“He is very businesslike and that’s what we want him to be,” Grant Coach Tom Lucero said of Delahoya, who yielded just four singles and four walks. “We want him to pitch with no emotion.

“This was his best game of the year. He had his best control.”

Delahoya (4-1) spent the afternoon fooling Monroe batters with an effective changeup, set up by a powerful fastball. And he was on guard through the game’s last pitch.

With one out in the seventh inning and Monroe’s Ernesto Echeveste at first, Delahoya snared Tony Rolando’s sharp grounder--not a moment too soon before it rocketed through the box--and fired to shortstop Jim Tumbeiro, who relayed to first for a game-ending double play.

“I was a little tired at the end,” Delahoya said. “But not too much. I felt good today. I changed speeds and they didn’t know what to expect.”

The final out left an eager Tim Costic (4-1) standing in the on-deck circle holding a bat and saddled him with his first loss of the season.

“He made me look stupid in the (Holt-Goodman) tournament,” Costic said of Delahoya. “Struck me out three times.”

Monroe’s defense didn’t make Costic look much better; he was the victim of four unearned runs. In the third inning, Grant (10-3, 7-2 in league play) scored the game’s first run when shortstop Mike Enriquez, attempting to complete a double play, overthrew first baseman Sean Henson, allowing Jamey Ekerling to score.

In the fifth, Grant scored four runs, three on a bases-clearing double by Steve Pelote. Three batters earlier, right fielder Jeff Rubell dropped Delahoya’s fly ball, which would have been the second out of the inning. With Pelote on deck, Rubell caught Raul Montero’s fly ball for the second out.

“That killed us,” Monroe Coach Kevin Campbell said. “That lets the guy up to hit the double.”

Campbell also lamented the Vikings’ inability to get the bat off their shoulders against Delahoya.

“Anytime you strike out looking, it’s your fault,” he said. “Especially with people in scoring position. You gotta put the ball in play with two strikes, regardless.”

Monroe (8-5, 6-3) pressured Delahoya in the sixth, scoring twice on a one-out single by Adam Clark and a bases-loaded walk to Josh Lawrence. But Delahoya quelled the rally by striking out Henson on a called third strike with the bases loaded.