Falcons continue to roll
NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Day or night, there’s been no stopping the Crescenta Valley High baseball team’s lethal lineup.
The Falcons have proven to be a juggernaut with the aluminum bats, whether it’s competing in a Pacific League game in the afternoon or evening or participating in a Babe Herman Tournament contest at night.
It’s been the same result for the Falcons, who banged out 16 hits in a 15-2 win against Oak Park on Monday night in a National Division game of the 45th rendition of the Babe Herman Tournament.
The Falcons (11-1) have grown accustomed to big innings in the early stages of games recently, and the Eagles (2-11) witnessed it firsthand Monday. Taking batting practice the morning of games has also proved to be a built-in advantage for the Falcons, who have won the tournament a record seven times.
“They’ve been able to take batting practice in the morning for about an hour and they are swinging the bats well at night,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Phil Torres, whose team last won the tournament in 2005 and is ranked No. 8 in the latest CIF Southern Section Division II poll. “It’s been conducive.
“The top of our [batting] order has been very good lately. They can swing.”
Crescenta Valley, which opened the tournament Saturday night with a 5-4 division victory against Santa Monica and is now likely two more victories removed from winning the tourney, scored three runs in the top of the first inning against Oak Park starting pitcher Garrett Stanton. A sacrifice fly by Kyle Murray gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Crescenta Valley made it 2-0 on a throwing error by the catcher and 3-0 on a run-scoring double by Kyle Pomeroy.
The Falcons didn’t stop there. They scored four runs in the second, highlighted by a towering home run over the left-field fence by the red-hot Troy Mulcahey. Mulcahey’s two-run home run extended Crescenta Valley’ advantage to 7-0 and was his seventh roundtripper of the season.
After Crescenta Valley scored three runs in the third to make it 11-0, Torres removed most of his starters to give many of the reserves an opportunity to showcase their skills. By that time, Elliot Surrey had three hits and had driven in two runs and Mulcahey collected two hits and drove in two.
“We haven’t had a lot of blowouts, so it was good to get some people in who haven’t played all that much,” Torres said.
Starting catcher Cam Silva finished with two hits and drove in a pair of runs for Crescenta Valley, which extended its winning streak to 11 after beginning the season March 5 with a 3-2 loss against Claremont in a Glendora Tournament contest.
Three Crescenta Valley pitchers combined to limit the Eagles to one hit, a leadoff infield single in the fourth by Jackson Hall.
Pomeroy started on the mound for the Falcons and struck out three in three innings. Pomeroy was followed by reliever Josh Cook, who worked the fourth and fifth and struck out three to get the victory. Chas Turansky went the final two innings and recorded five strikeouts.
Turansky, a right-hander, struck out the side in the sixth and got the final two outs on strikeouts.
Torres said Murray will start in another division game against North Torrance at 7 p.m. tonight. In Murray’s last start March 29 in a league game against host Burbank, the right-hander struck out a career-high 15.
The tournament is presented by the West Glendale Gateway Kiwanis Club and the Crescenta Valley Baseball Program.
