5-A PLAYOFFS : Mater Dei Scores 10 Quickly in 14-0 Rout of Riverside Poly

The only thing missing from Mater Dei’s 14-0 victory over Riverside Poly in the second round of the Southern Section 5-A baseball playoffs Tuesday was a 10-run mercy rule.

It certainly would have ended the agony earlier for a good, but on this day overmatched, Riverside Poly team.

Mater Dei scored four runs in the first inning on two-run homers by David Knuff and Don Mattewson, then added six runs in the second to put the game out of reach.

The Monarchs (23-4) advance to the quarterfinals, where they will play El Dorado, a 6-3 winner over Simi Valley Royal, Friday.

Riverside Poly, the Citrus Belt League champion, ended its season 20-7.

“They’re a good team, but we just had our hitting shoes on today and that was the difference,” Mater Dei Coach Bob Ickes said.

Riverside Poly Coach Rich Graves started right-handed pitcher Brad Kelvington Tuesday, but Kelvington didn’t make it out of the first inning and the Bears were in a 4-0 hole right away.

Graves emptied the bullpen trying to slow Mater Dei’s relentless hitting attack, but none of the six relievers he used emerged unscathed.

“I was surprised he (Graves) went with the right-hander,” Ickes said. “We thought they would go with (left-hander Jason) Clark right away.”

If Graves intended to cross-up Mater Dei, his plan didn’t work. Leadoff hitter Cale Carter greeted Kelvington with a line-drive double down the left-field line. After Keith Frankel grounded out, Knuff hammered a curveball over the fence in left.

“That ball Knuff hit was a great curveball,” Ickes said. “He just pulled it over the left-field wall.”

And the rout was on.

With two outs, designated hitter Billy Blanton singled to center and Mattewson followed with a home run to center. Graves pulled Kelvington in favor of Ralph Soliz, who got the third out, but it was only a matter of time before Mater Dei got to him, too.

A six-run second inning pretty much sealed things for Mater Dei. Monarch starter Mike McDonald (8-0) stayed ahead of the batters and gave up only four hits in six innings before yielding to Andy Castro.

“Early in the season, we were hitting like that,” Ickes said. “When a couple of players start hitting, it really gets contagious. When we get going, we really catch fire.”

The Monarchs added solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings and got two more runs in the sixth. Mater Dei had 14 hits, including three singles by Blanton, who also scored three runs. Carter had two singles and a double, Knuff had a homer and a single and Mattewson had a homer and a single.

Catcher Howard Newman had doubles in the third and fifth innings for Riverside Poly.

In the fifth, the Bears had runners on first and third with two outs, but Mel Motley grounded into a forceout to end their only scoring threat.