HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Poway Wins; OG Pitcher Sets No-Hit Record

It was the bottom of the first--which in itself was a bit twisted, considering the visiting team was batting--and Chula Vista Coach Dick Barcus was yelling at his hitters not to swing at Poway pitcher Danny Miller’s breaking pitch.

“That’s the only pitch he’s going to get us out with. He’s not going to get us out with the fastball, so wait for it,” Barcus barked.

Perhaps his players didn’t listen. Because six innings later, Miller had struck out 11 Spartans, four with that breaking pitch, a split-finger “fastball.” He had allowed only two hits. And Poway went on to win, 8-0, in a Hilltop-Moose tournament game at Poway.

“He was just trying to get to me,” said Miller (1-0). “I tried not to listen to what he was saying.”

Barcus seemingly wasn’t offering the best advice, anyway. Guess that’s why they call it chatter . Miller was as impressive with his fastball as he was with his split-finger pitch.

“I like to think my fastball is my authority pitch,” Miller said. “But I like to throw off-speed stuff to keep them off balance.”

Miller has now struck out 19 batters in 14 innings and has allowed only five hits and one run.

As far as offense goes, Poway (3-0-1) scored two in the first, both on ground-ball outs, and did not get to Chula Vista starter Jason Cross again until the sixth when they pushed across two more runs thanks to a two-run single from Rob Plarski.

The Titans scored four more times in the seventh on just two hits as pitchers Chris Montelongo and Art Castro combined to walk four batters and hit another.

As to why the visiting Spartans were batting second: The game was originally scheduled for Chula Vista, but renovation work on the field there caused the switch to Poway.