Holy Toledo! Delahoya, Grant Burn Hole in Poly

Grant High catcher Manny Toledo spent another Tuesday night sitting at home doing his version of crochet, figuring a stitch in time will save the Grant nine. For at least the third time this season, Toledo had to spend a few minutes restitching the webbing in his mitt after a Javier Delahoya fastball once again blew a hole in it.

“He can do that,” said Toledo, whose mitt was temporarily wrecked by Delahoya in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game against Poly. “This will be something like the third time I’ve fixed it. He does it like it’s nothing.”

And once again, Delahoya (8-0) pitched like there was nothing to it, blowing holes in the Poly lineup during a 4-1 victory in an East Valley League game at Grant.

The senior right-hander struck out eight, walked five and contributed two hits offensively to move Grant (14-4, 11-3 in league play) past Poly and into second place. Grant plays at North Hollywood on Thursday and at home in a possibly critical game against first-place Sylmar next Tuesday--with Delahoya scheduled to start.

“I love being in this position,” said Delahoya, whose every move Tuesday was charted by a half-dozen major-league scouts. “I want a chance to make the difference.”

The difference between Delahoya’s last start against the Parrots--a 10-9 win in which he hit the game-winning grand slam--was attributable to a potpourri of off-speed pitches that kept Poly (15-7, 11-4) from establishing any prolonged rally.

“We were anxious,” Poly Coach Jerry Cord said. “You expect to see that fastball, he throws that curve, and you swing at a lot of pitches that aren’t even strikes.”

The Parrots’ lone offensive strike came on Delahoya’s first pitch in the fifth, when No. 9 hitter Herman Murillo homered over the fence in right to make the score 4-1. Delahoya, however, then struck out the side and held Poly hitless in the sixth and seventh.

“I think last time he was trying to overpower them with the fastball,” Toledo said of the 10-9 game more than a month ago, Delahoya’s worst outing of the year. “We had to use more of the curveball, changeup and knuckleball to keep them guessing. And that made the fastball even more effective.”

Delahoya was ragged early, walking two batters in each of the first and third innings. He was able to escape damage, however, primarily because he managed not to get burned by Poly cleanup hitter Eddie Chavez.

Chavez, who entered the game with a league-high 30 runs batted in, walked with a man on in the first, grounded out with two aboard in the third and grounded out to open the sixth.

“I think any fastball is hittable,” said Toledo, who calls his own pitches. “If you know it’s coming, anybody can hit it no matter how hard its thrown. We had to mix it up--Poly is a fastball-hitting team.”

Delahoya’s blend, of course, still included the heater, which was clocked at 83 m.p.h by one scout.

The senior catcher threw a few missiles of his own. Toledo threw out thieves at second base to stifle possible rallies in the first and third innings. Over the past three games, Toledo has thrown out five consecutive baserunners at second.

Delahoya’s own mini-streak helped give Grant a 1-0 lead in the second. Delahoya led off the inning with a single to left--his sixth consecutive hit over two games--moved to second on a single by Jamey Eckerling and scored one out later on a ground out by Stan Spancer.

Poly senior right-hander Mario Gomez (6-5) was yanked after allowing three unearned runs in the fourth as the Lancers took a 4-0 lead. Jeff Boado walked with one out and moved to second when Poly shortstop Gabe Chavez threw high to first on Jim Tumbiero’s ground ball. One out later, Sean Goldman drove in Boado with a single to right.

Gomez then surrendered a two-run double to Raul Montero and was removed by Cord, whose team plays host to Sylmar on Thursday.

“Anything can happen now,” said Cord, whose chances of winning a third consecutive league title appear slim. “But if we can’t beat any of these guys, we don’t belong winning it anyway.”

Grant, on the other hand, seems to have found its blowout patch in Delahoya, who has kept any losing streaks from getting out of hand. As long as Toledo can find enough leather to keep his mitt in one piece, Grant should hold together, too. “Manny’s gonna have to keep doing it,” Delahoya said with a grin, “because I’m going to keep throwing hard.”