Royal Puts It on the Line, Secures Win

One line drive after another describes Royal High’s 11-0 rout of visiting Crescenta Valley on Friday in the opening round of the Southern Section Division I baseball playoffs.

The Highlanders stroked 13 hits--several of them through the mound and past right-handers Brian Bishop, Billy Huddleston and Jason LaMotte.

Zack Gordon and Kevin Mellinger had back-to-back home runs to highlight a four-run first inning, and Gordon capped a five-run fifth with a grand slam. Aside from Dorian Stitt’s double in the fourth, the remainder of the Highlander hits were sharp singles.

“They didn’t seem to fool us,” Royal Coach Dan Maye said. “A fastball pitcher in the Marmonte League doesn’t usually survive. We had a good week of practice, did a little bit at a time and stayed focused.”

Royal (24-2), champion of the Marmonte League, plays Crespi (20-7), a 1-0 winner over Lakewood, in a second-round game Tuesday.

Crescenta Valley (12-11) managed only three singles off senior left-hander Adrian Mendoza (8-1), who struck out six in six innings.

Reliever Bryant Leppard recorded two strikeouts while retiring the side in order in the seventh. The Falcons, who finished third in the Pacific League, advanced only one runner to third base.

“We’ve seen enough left-handers that we felt we had a pretty good idea of how to go about this, but it just didn’t work out,” Crescenta Valley Coach Tony Zarrillo said.

“Boy, they hit the ball.”

Six of Royal’s first seven batters hit safely during the fourth inning. Gordon’s smash to left field off Huddleston closed out the scoring.

At one point, a voice from the Royal dugout jovially exclaimed: “B.P!”

Indeed, the contest resembled a round of batting practice for Gordon, who had yet to homer this season.

“In practice, we have contests,” Gordon said. “A guy hits a line drive and it’s like, ‘Beat that!’ And then a guy hits two line drives. It just carries over into the games.”

Gordon finished three for four and drove in six runs, and Matt Pitstick had a pair of run-scoring singles. Mendoza, who entered the game among regional leaders with a .512 batting average, joined the hit parade with three singles and scored two runs.