HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : San Dieguito Puts Squeeze on Poway

Following open heart surgery in February, San Dieguito Coach Jerry Clements figured it wasn’t such a good idea for him to coach third base anymore.

But on Tuesday, Clements said, “Things had been going so bad I figured I better get out there again.”

Clements did, and he wound up calling a successful squeeze bunt in the bottom of the sixth inning that pushed across the winning run in a 5-4 upset of second-seeded Poway.

Eric Talbergs had the game-winning squeeze, which scored Isaac Jones, and teammate Mark Vanhooser was two for three with an RBI.

San Dieguito, last in the Palomar League, won for only the fourth time in 21 games and third in 13 league games.

Poway (19-6, 9-4) had a chance to tie Vista, which lost to Torrey Pines.

Matt Schaffer (1-7) pitched four innings of three-hit relief for the victory. Sophomore Justin Liniak started his third game this season and pitched well until allowing two home runs to Poway’s Brock Marsh and Donnie Jones in the third inning.

In other Palomar games:

Torrey Pines 7, Vista 1--With Poway’s loss, Vista had a chance to win its first outright league title since 1980, but the sixth-ranked Panthers (15-9-1, 10-3) managed only three hits off Torrey Pines’ Chris Lang, who improved to 6-5.

Rancho Buena Vista 5, Fallbrook 2--Jimmy Perez gave up a pair of homers but went the distance for the victory, allowing four hits. The Longhorns (10-13, 4-9) rallied for four runs in the first. Travis Wilson drove in two runs with a single and Scott Lyons singled in another. Fallbrook slipped to 12-9, 7-6.

Mt. Carmel 6, Orange Glen 1--Travis Prentice (4-1) pitched a three-hitter as Mt. Carmel (15-9-2, 8-5) snapped its four-game losing streak. Todd Power, Kelley Taggart and Miller each went two for three for the Sundevils. Orange Glen, which was once 9-1, fell to 10-12, 3-10.

Grossmont 3-A League

Granite Hills 8, Helix 3--Left fielder Mike Smith put on a hitting show, and Granite Hills (14-9-1, 6-1) clinched a tie for the league championship. The Eagles and can win it outright with a victory over El Capitan at home on Thursday. Helix (14-9, 5-2) needs to win at home on Thursday against Mt. Miguel and Granite Hills to lose to tie for the title.

Monte Vista 5, El Capitan 1--After Mark Sabala threw four innings of one-hit ball, twin brother Chris Sabala (two for four) broke open the game with a two-run single in the top of the fifth for Monte Vista (10-12, 3-5). El Capitan fell to 12-12-1, 2-4-1.

Grossmont 2-A League

Grossmont 10, Santana 9--The Sultans (15-6-1, 4-3) outhit No. 1 Grossmont, 16-10, but found themselves down, 7-0, in the second inning before they scratched back. Mike Spears’ two-run single keyed a four-run first inning, and Todd Cady’s two-run homer highlighted a three-run second for Grossmont (24-1, 7-0).

Valhalla 7, El Cajon Valley 0--Jimmy May (three runs scored) and Rob Reid (two RBIs) were each three for three and paced an 11-hit attack for the Norsemen (15-9, 4-4). El Cajon fell to 4-16, 2-5.

Avocado League

San Marcos 5, Escondido 2--No. 5 San Marcos (19-3, 13-0) won its 13th in a row and 16th of 17 as Eric Morton went two for four with two RBIs, and Ryan Dunne (7-0) struck out seven. Second place Escondido fell to 11-12, 8-5.

San Pasqual 4, Carlsbad 2--Ben Duncan was two for two with a RBI, Chris Hancock two for four with an RBI and Curtis Marsh three for three for San Pasqual (10-12, 7-6). Winning pitcher Ernie Silva (3-2) struck out eight. Carlsbad fell to 9-15-1, 6-7.

Coastal League

Army-Navy 7, Julian 6--Rodolfo Herrera, who was two for three with two RBIs, singled over the right fielder’s head with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, as the Warriors (2-13, 1-12) surprised Julian. Axel Valdez homered for the winners.

La Jolla Country Day 5, Santa Fe Christian 1--Noah Katsell (2-3) pitched a four-hitter and had 10 strikeouts for La Jolla Country Day (7-9, 5-6). Teammate Chris Grasso was two for four with three RBIs.