HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ROUNDUP : El Capitan Gets Nearer to Grossmont Title

It has been a long time since El Capitan has won a Grossmont League baseball title. So long that El Capitan Coach Steve Vickery would rather not bring it up.

But if his Vaqueros keep winning, he just might have to mention it. After a come-from-behind, 7-5 victory over host Granite Hills Wednesday, eighth-ranked El Capitan (16-7, 4-0) needs to win just two of its final four 3-A league games to clinch its first Grossmont title since 1975. Granite Hills (15-8-1, 2-2) and Helix (13-8-1, 2-2) are two games back.

“We’re just trying to take care of business right now,” Vickery said. “We want to put the pressure on somebody else. We’ll talk about what we’ve accomplished June 10th at our banquet.”

If El Capitan does wind up as champion, a good topic of conversation might be the six-run sixth inning Wednesday.

With El Capitan trailing, 3-1, catcher Jeep Tharp tied it with his first home run of the season, a hit that cleared the center field fence some 370 feet from home.

Two walks and an error by first baseman Rob Sharkey loaded the bases for ninth-place hitter Ryan Ransom, who grounded a single to right to score two runs. Sid Melero’s RBI single and Mike Farrell’s sacrifice fly scored the other two runs.

El Capitan starter David Rios (7-1) allowed a two-run double to Granite Hills designated hitter Tom Koontz in the sixth.

Rios, who was victimized by five errors, struck out four and gave up eight hits before he was replaced after six innings by Jason Reed.

“We kind of kicked the ball around early, but we kept ourselves in a position to win the game,” Vickery said.