HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : No. 1 Montgomery Beats Castle Park

Montgomery High, a team with more sophomores (five) and juniors (nine) than seniors (four), vaulted to the top of The Times’ high school baseball poll for the first time in school history this week.

On Wednesday, the Aztecs defended their right to be there, defeating No. 5 Castle Park, 2-0, at Montgomery.

The key word was “defended.”

Montgomery turned a triple play in the fourth inning, a double play in the first inning and got seven assists from shortstop Jose Lorenzana to give sophomore left-hander Pedro Ramirez his fifth victory without a loss.

“It takes good defense, and that was the key today,” Montgomery Coach Manny Hermosillo said.

And how good is the Aztec defense?

“With this defense, it’s a sin to walk people,” Hermosillo said.

By that standard, Ramirez committed three sins. He earned forgiveness, however, striking out Castle Park’s Danny Ryan with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth inning. From there, Ramirez retired the final six Trojans on three strikeouts and three grounders to Lorenzana.

After Ramirez’s second walk in the fourth inning and a infield single by Castle Park’s Benji Gil, Montgomery second baseman Saul Rodriguez began the play of the game.

With a hit-and-run play on, cleanup hitter Kiko Palacios lined what appeared to be a sure double in the right-center gap.

Rodriguez, leaning to his right because of the movement on the basepaths, got a jump on the hit and managed to snare it above his head. He then flipped to Lorenzana for the force at second, and Lorenzana threw to first for the Aztecs’ first triple play of the year.

“Six inches either way and we got two runs there,” Castle Park Coach Bob Korzep said. “When things like that start happening, you start looking around for black cats.”

Both of Montgomery’s runs were unearned. Both came on two-out throwing errors to first base.

Castle Park outhit Montgomery, 4-3, and sophomore left-hander Vico Moreno retired 11 Montgomery hitters in a row during one stretch.

Moreno entered the game with a 5-0 record, a 0.26 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 27 innings. He left with a 5-1 mark, a 0.21 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 33 innings.

Montgomery (14-1-1, 6-0) left with sole possession of first in the Metro. Castle Park (13-4, 4-1) left with its first loss in 13 games.