Falcons Take the Fifth, 5-3

Crescenta Valley High used a five-run fifth inning to spoil Glendale Coach Tony Zarrillo’s first attempt to defeat the team he once coached.

Those runs were all the Falcons needed to defeat the Dynamiters, 5-3, in a Pacific League baseball game Friday at Glendale.

After 24 years as a Crescenta Valley High employee, Zarrillo took a position at Glendale last fall. He said he approached Friday’s game like any other.

“I made the move for personal reasons,” said Zarrillo, who coached Crescenta Valley for nine seasons. “There are no hard feelings. That was never a part of it.”

The feeling was mutual on the other side of the field.

“I think for the kids it meant a lot,” Crescenta Valley Coach Phil Torres said. “But we made it clear that they weren’t playing Tony Zarrillo and that they should treat him with class, like any other coach. They did a real good job of that.”

The Falcons (4-3, 3-0) also did a good job of making timely plays.

Freshman right fielder Jared Salisbury made a sliding catch of George O’Connor’s sinking line drive to end the Glendale fifth inning with the tying runs at first and third.

In the sixth, Crescenta Valley pitcher Nathan Barber got Fernando Rios, Glendale’s top hitter, to ground out to third and end the inning, again with runners at first and third.

“They did an excellent job of taking advantage of the opportunities we gave them,” Zarrillo said. “We just made too many mistakes and didn’t capitalize enough to win the game.”

Trailing, 3-0, to start the fifth, the Falcons got consecutive hits from Barber, Bobby Donnelly and Luke Peterson against Glendale starter Jon Walton (3-2), who cruised through the first four innings.

After a strikeout and a walk, Ryan McKnight singled home Donnelly to make the score 3-2. Jason LaMotte followed with a ground ball to second base that could have produced an inning-ending double play.

But Glendale second baseman Levik Hatamaian hurried to make the play and the ball scooted between his legs, allowing Peterson to score the tying run. Mike Benedetto followed with a seeing-eye run-scoring single and Walton, who faced two batters over the minimum through four innings, walked in a run before he was pulled.

“All we did was put the ball in play,” Torres said. “We got the breaks that we needed.”

Torres was impressed with his team’s defensive effort. The Falcons made two errors, both in the sixth inning, but neither proved costly.

“Usually every play is shaky,” Torres said. “Every time they hit the ball, we hold our breath. Every time we catch the ball, we hold our breath. And every time we throw the ball, we hold our breath. But we’ve spent a lot of time on [defense].”

In the second, Hatamaian doubled in a run and scored on a single by Chris Varvas to give Glendale a 2-0 lead. The Dynamiters (6-2, 1-2) made the score 3-0 when Rios hit a 400-foot double to center field, then scored on Richard Argota’s single.

Peterson had three hits and a run batted in for the Falcons. Josh Herman pitched the fourth to pick up the victory for Crescenta Valley. Barber earned a save by pitching three innings, allowing one hit.