HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Grossmont Discovers a Way to Beat Mt. Miguel

Grossmont Coach Jeff Meredith picked a fine time to scour the school’s junior varsity baseball team for talent.

Whenever it was that sophomore Darren Emery actually caught Meredith’s eye, he was called up and used as the Foothillers’ designated hitter for their Grossmont 3-A League game against Mt. Miguel Wednesday.

After walking his first two times at bats, Emery’s first varsity hit was a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning, which brought Grossmont back from a one-run deficit and led the top-ranked Foothillers to an eventual 10-8 victory at Mt. Miguel.

Emery was one for two and scored twice. He hit the home run with one out, and his team trailing, 7-6.

It was only the second time this season Grossmont has trailed going into the seventh. The first was in its nonleague loss to El Capitan. Granite Hills, which upset the Foothillers Monday, rallied in the bottom of the seventh.

Emery’s antics overshadowed a interesting day for Wynter Phoenix, who was one for one--he tripled--drove in two runs, scored two runs and walked four times for Grossmont (18-2-1, 8-1).

For Mt. Miguel (9-15, 1-8), Jimmy Rodgers went two for four, including a three-run homer in the first. Shortstop Chris Green tallied two hits and drove in three runs for the Matadors.

In another Grossmont 3-A game:

Monte Vista 6, Granite Hills 5--Winning pitcher Manny Lutz (1-0) drove in the winning run with a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh as Monte Vista (15-12-1, 4-5) rallied from a 5-2 deficit to edge Granite Hills (13-10, 4-5). The Monarchs got five of their nine hits in their four-run seventh. Shane Davidson finished with two hits, and Jason Darling was three for three, including a triple. Eagle starter Tom Fordham struck out eight and had yielded only four hits until the deciding seventh. Tom Potts (5-1) was the loser.

Grossmont 2-A League

Santana 11, El Cajon Valley 4--Santana (16-9-1, 5-4) hit five home runs and moved into a first-place tie with West Hills. Jaron Ross and Robert Ervin each had two-run homers, and Doug Schultz, Shane Hobbs and Mike Romo added bases-empty homers for the Sultans. Romo, Ervin, Ross and Schultz each finished with two hits as did Eliot Watts for El Cajon Valley (11-13, 4-5).

Valhalla 9, West Hills 8--West Hills held an 8-6 lead after two innings, but Bob Hunt’s two-run double in the sixth lifted Valhalla (9-12-3, 4-5). Hunt finished with three RBIs. Rob Reid, the winning pitcher in relief, went two for four, scored twice, doubled, and hit a two-run homer. Steve Turner had two hits and scored twice for West Hills (12-11-1, 5-4).

Avocado League

Escondido 8, Oceanside 2--Senior Mark Redman made short work of Oceanside, allowing only three hits--all in the Pirates’ two-run second--as he went the distance for Escondido (14-8, 10-1). Redman (6-4) retired the last 16 batters he faced, struck out 11 and walked one. Oceanside fell to 12-12-2, 3-8.

San Marcos 11, San Pasqual 4--Teammates Matt Lentz and Charles Stringfellow were three for four for San Marcos (11-10, 8-3). San Pasqual is 6-13-2, 5-6.

Rancho Bernardo 4, Carlsbad 2--Mike Walter (7-4) struck out 10, giving him 99 for the year, and pitched a four-hitter for Rancho Bernardo (12-9-0, 8-3). Walter also went three for four with an RBI. Eric Gongola struck out four in a losing cause for Carlsbad (8-16, 2-9).

Ramona 7, El Camino 5--Ramona (6-18, 2-9) climbed into a tie for seventh place by scoring six runs in the fourth inning.

Palomar League

Poway 3, Orange Glen 2--Tied 2-2 at the top of the seventh, right fielder Jeff Wight started the top of the inning for seventh-ranked Poway with a single, advanced to second on a hit and run, and scored on left fielder Jon Butler’s two-out single to center. Brandon Marks scattered seven hits, struck out five and walked none for the victory for the Titans (15-6, 8-3). Orange Glen is 6-16-1, 3-8.

San Dieguito 4, Vista 2--A two-run double in the first inning by Cole Liniak gave San Dieguito (11-13-1, 5-6) a jump start as the Mustangs upset fifth-ranked Vista (17-4-1, 8-3). Aaron Rounsifer’s seventh-inning solo home run wasn’t enough for the Panthers.

Torrey Pines 4, Rancho Buena Vista 3--Ryan Lynch hit a two-run homer and added a double to lead Torrey Pines (6-13-1, 4-7). Teammates Anthony Napoli and Matt Tranchina also went two for three as the Falcons kept RBV (13-10-1, 7-4) out of first place.

Mt. Carmel 6, Fallbrook 2--Oscar Betancourt’s two-out, two-run double in the first inning helped stake Mt. Carmel (10-14, 4-7) to a four-run lead, and Mario Israel (6-5) shut out Fallbrook for 6 2/3 innings. After Tim Pearson doubled home two runs for Fallbrook (11-10-1, 5-6), Vince Valle struck out the final batter for the save.