Hot start sparks Crescenta Valley

GLENDALE — Crescenta Valley 10-11 All-Star baseball Coach David Mulcahey couldn’t have been more pleased with what he saw in the first inning.

It was the kind of start Mulcahey had hoped for, ultimately helping his team relax and focus on reaching the championship contest of the Section 2 Tournament.

“We came in focused and we scored six runs in the first inning,” Mulcahey said after Crescenta Valley posted a 17-6 win against Quartz Hill in an elimination game called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule Monday night at El Dorado Little League Fields in Lancaster. “We had that confidence right off the bat.”

Crescenta Valley, the District 16 champion, will meet District 51 representative Quartz Hill in the championship game at 7 p.m. today.

Scott Vinceri gave Crescenta Valley a 1-0 lead with a run-scoring single. A bases-loaded walk to Jett Costibolo, who would lead the offense with two of his team’s four home runs, made it 2-0 before Jaimy Blank was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to extend the lead to 3-0. Lucas Marcos-Repath then had a three-run double to complete the first-run scoring.

Costibolo hit a solo home run in the second to make it 7-0 and Anthony Russo came through with a two-run single to extend the lead to 9-0. Costibolo hit a two-run home run in the third to give Crescenta Valley an 11-4 lead.

Crescenta Valley scored six runs in the fifth, highlighted by a solo home run by Bryan Erickson and a two-run home run by Michael Choi.

Erickson went five innings to get the victory, striking out five.

“We’ll come out and give it our best [tonight],” Mulcahey aid. “We’ll have Vinceri starting for us and we will try to force an if-necessary game Wednesday.”

Crescenta Valley suffered a 13-1 loss to Quartz Hill on Sunday. Choi had two of Crescenta Valley’s three hits and scored a run. Costibolo drove in Choi with a single in the third to cut the deficit to 6-1.