High School Roundup : Ball Pitches Sylmar Past Monroe

Sylmar High pitcher Tom Ball took the mound at Monroe on Thursday with a simple plan.

“I was just trying to stay within myself, take deep breaths and think about every pitch,” Ball said.

The plan worked to perfection as Ball, who had 20 strikeouts in six previous starts, struck out 10 while scattering five singles in a 2-1 Valley Pac-8 Conference victory.

Ball escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth and improved his record to 6-0 with his fifth complete game.

“He’s been a big surprise for us,” Sylmar Coach Gary Donatella said. “If you told me he was going to be 6-0, I would have been elated, then I would have told you you were crazy.”

The Spartans (13-3, 10-2 in league play) scored the winning run in the seventh inning when Phillip Moreno singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third and scored when Bruce Gomez grounded out.

Sylmar took a 1-0 lead with two out in the first when London Woodfin singled to right field, scoring Gomez from second.

Monroe (9-7, 7-5) tied the score, 1-1, in the sixth when Tim Costic scored on Josh Lawrence’s single to left.

The Vikings were without the services of catcher Adam Clark and second baseman John Langley. Clark, who leads the team in runs batted in, suffered a compound fracture in his right index finger while playing Whiffleball and Langley, who is batting .330, is out with tonsillitis.