Hart’s 7-0 Victory Puts Valencia in Its Place--Second

Dark clouds turned to clear skies in the middle of Hart High’s baseball game against Valencia on Wednesday at Hart, but that wasn’t the only thing that became clear.

Hart, dominant in a 7-0 victory, made it obvious it is the team to beat in the Foothill League.

The Indians (12-0, 5-0 in league play) and Valencia (9-3, 4-1) had defeated everyone else in the league, setting up the highly anticipated showdown between the teams that have been touted as the league’s best since the beginning of the season.

Hart’s Andy Davidson, who pitched a two-hitter with six strikeouts, wanted to remove all doubt about who is No. 1.

“My only motivation was reading all the newspapers that thought they had a chance,” Davidson said. “They’re obviously good, but I wanted this game just to shut them up.”

Valencia isn’t the only team left speechless after the first round of league play. Hart has left a lot of jaws in dropped position with its run of demolition.

The Indians have outscored Foothill League opponents, 68-11, in five games, an average score of 13-2. But not to be overlooked is the pitching staff, which has an earned-run average of 1.58 in that span.

“We’re playing real good baseball,” Davidson said. “I’m real pleased.”

He should be, especially after Wednesday’s performance.

Davidson (7-0), who leads the region in victories, needed only 81 pitches to complete the game. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before David Roberts hit a two-out bloop single to right field.

Davidson faced 25 batters, four over the minimum, and threw fewer than 10 pitches in three innings.

“He’s the best pitcher in this league,” Hart Coach Bud Murray said. “He’s grown up a lot since last year. That’s what usually happens to seniors.”

Catcher John Bourg provided all the offense Hart would need with a two-run home run in the second inning.

Valencia’s Chris Honaker (3-2) ran into control problems early. He walked six batters in his 2 2/3 innings and three wound up scoring.

“We thought this would be the year we hung with them,” Valencia Coach Dennis Mifflin said. “But we might have played this game up too much with the rivalry and with first place on the line.”