After 4 Walks, Briggs Drives In Winning Run for Simi Valley

Ryan Briggs got only one good pitch to swing at Friday against Royal High, but that was all he needed to lift host Simi Valley to a 10-9 Marmonte League baseball win.

Briggs stroked a one-out single to the right-field fence in the seventh inning to drive in Jason Alcala with the winning run. The victory broke a first-place tie between Simi Valley (16-5, 8-2 in league play) and Royal (13-6, 7-3) with four games remaining.

With Royal pitchers issuing 11 walks and hitting another batter, Simi Valley built leads of 8-1 and 9-4. Britten Pond drove in three runs with a first-inning groundout and a two-run single in the second. Teammate Ryan Hankins knocked in three runs with a single and a home run.

But Shane Slayton brought the Highlanders within 9-7 with a two-run homer in the third and a three-run blast in the fifth.

Royal finally tied the score with two runs in the seventh off ace reliever Trevor Leppard. Dave Landaker started the inning with a walk, stole second and scored on two wild pitches. A walk to Slayton and a wild pitch opened the way for pinch-hitter John Glore to drive in Slayton with a two-out single to right.

In the bottom half, Briggs got his chance to win the game after Alcala smacked a one-out double off the left-field fence. Briggs had walked in his four previous at-bats and he looked liked a player with a rusty swing when he missed a changeup from Matt Goebel on a 1-and-0 pitch.

“That’s tough when you haven’t had a chance to swing,” Briggs said. “I had to keep myself loose.”

After another ball, Briggs connected on a fastball. The ball rolled to the right-field fence, allowing Alcala to score easily from second.

“He’s such a disciplined hitter, he rarely swings at a bad pitch,” Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers said. “When our players are ahead in the count, they are taught to look for the ball in one spot, one location. That’s exactly where it was, in Ryan’s spot.”

Briggs said he was pleased to win the game in dramatic fashion after the Highlanders had beaten Simi Valley, 5-4, with a three-run rally in the seventh at Royal on April 1.

“The home-field advantage is that you always have the last at-bat,” Briggs said. “That’s what Royal did to us. You always have the last say.”