Ponchak’s Grand Slam Helps Fountain Valley Pound Simi Valley

Kary Kozlowski said the fateful pitch he threw to Fountain Valley High’s Chris Ponchak was “up and away,” a reference to the ball’s location in the strike zone.

He was right. And then some.

“I thought it was an OK pitch,” Kozlowski said. “I didn’t even think it was a strike.”

Up, up and away also described the ball’s trajectory after Ponchak muscled it over the right-field fence for a grand slam. Fountain Valley’s ascent likewise continues.

Ponchak’s slam sparked a five-run first inning and right-hander Luke Hudson pitched five scoreless innings as Fountain Valley pounded Simi Valley, 12-1, in a Southern Section Division I quarterfinal Friday at Simi Valley.

Fountain Valley, the top-seeded team in the division, will face La Crescenta Crescenta Valley in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Blair Field in Long Beach. Crescenta Valley (19-5) beat El Dorado, 4-3.

Ponchak, a burly junior, couldn’t help but think about the long ball when he walked into Simi Valley’s cozy ballpark.

“I tried to keep (the size of the field) out of my head,” Ponchak said, grinning. “Sometimes, when you get in a little park, it gets to you and you try to hit everything out. That can mess you up.”

Kozlowski (8-1) entered the game with eight consecutive scoreless innings in postseason play. Fountain Valley (25-3-1) messed that up in a hurry. The first three batters singled to load the bases and a one-out single from Dan Hoppie gave the Barons a 1-0 lead.

With two outs, Kozlowski threw a 2-and-2 fastball to Ponchak, who hit it onto the Simi Valley football field. Before the blast, Kozlowski was one pitch from escaping the jam with minimal damage.

“Yeah, I was 400 feet from getting the third out,” Kozlowski said, dejectedly.

A five-run lead didn’t seem all that large when Hudson (8-1) wobbled through the first inning. The junior right-hander walked two and threw three wild pitches to put runners at second and third with one out.

Clean-up hitter Bryan Wall then sent a fly ball to medium right field, but Tim Nykoluk was thrown out at the plate on a 9-3-2 relay for an inning-ending double play.

“It’s the thing to do in the first inning,” said interim Simi Valley Coach Russ Stephans, whose team lost for the first time in seven games since he took over for the suspended Mike Scyphers. “No question, with your leadoff hitter (Nykoluk) on third, you send him.”

Fountain Valley added two runs in the second and three in the third to take a 10-0 lead. Hudson He allowed three singles, walked five and struck out four in five innings before he was replaced.