Lauenstein, Buchanan help La Cañada baseball earn share of league title
LA CAÑADA — With runners on first and third in the bottom of the sixth inning, La Cañada High’s baseball team looked to break a deadlock against Monrovia in a tight Rio Hondo League contest Friday.
Spartans designated hitter Michael Lauenstein stepped to the plate and belted a two-out triple to right field to drive in two runs for the lead.
The timely hit proved to be the difference, as La Cañada shut out Monrovia through the final four innings behind pitcher Connor Buchanan and recorded the series sweep with a 4-2 victory that earned the host Spartans a share of the league title.
“[La Cañada outfielder] Liam Hartman told me I was going to hit a triple that at-bat, so I just kind of went in confident,” Lauenstein said. “I knew he was going to throw a change-up because he had thrown so many fastballs before, so I knew I was going to kill it. He was leaving it over the middle a lot.”
The victory gives La Cañada (16-6, 9-2 in league) at least a share of the league title with one league game left. It is the program’s second title in the last three seasons.
The Spartans, ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Division III, close out the league campaign with a home game against Temple City (10-10, 5-5) on Thursday.
“Last year, there was a lot of transition with some guys that don’t normally play that had to step up because of the injuries from guys that were important to us like Connor Buchanan and Tai Walton,”La Cañada coach Matt Whisenant said. “Then, we have a pretty good freshman class that is helping us out right now like Luke Fogarty who’s in left field. We just have a good balance and mix of guys that can play different roles really well.”
After a shaky start, Buchanan settled down and pitched a complete game, striking out 10, scattering seven hits and giving up two runs (one earned).
“Early on, I was struggling to find my curveball a lot, so I was relying a lot on my fastball,” Buchanan said. “They could hit that, obviously. From the third inning on, I found my curveball and served up the spot a little better.”
San Marino (9-8, 7-3) is positioned right behind La Cañada in second place, but holds the tiebreaker against the Spartans, two games back from the league-leader.
Monrovia (13-10, 5-6) opened the scoring at the top of the first, when lead-off batter Sennet Schultz scored on a passed ball.
The Spartans responded at the bottom of the second when Fogarty streaked home as Monrovia tried to catch Spartans catcher Jacob McCubbing in a steal of second.
With the score tied at 1 in the top of the third, the Wildcats tallied a run when Jacob Ayala scored on one-out single from Nathan Thompson to take a 2-1 lead.
After consecutive 1-2-3 innings, the Spartans loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth before Buchanan lofted a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Zach Feehan and tie it at 2.
The Spartans led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and a double to put runners on second and third. Feehan followed with a line drive past third base, but the Wildcats were able to make the throw to home to tag out Fogarty to keep it knotted at 2.
“We just pulled them aside and told them we just got to play the last three innings like we can play,” Whisenant said. “I thought the in first four innings we gave a lot, but then, in the same token, we were still in the game. Then I said if we could just play clean baseball, we have a good shot at this.”
Lauenstein struck his two-out, two-RBI triple on the 1-0 pitch into right field and scored Feehan and pinch-runner Ryan Kiessling to give the Spartans a two-run lead.
Twitter: @ReporterVince