The
Valley Center varsity baseball team is off to a great start
this season after a pair of wins in the first three games of
the year.
The Jaguars lost their opener in the Mission Hills tournament
last Tuesday by one run that scored late in the game, but then
recovered to win another close game in their home opener on
Thursday and take a big win on the road on Saturday to close
out the week’s action.
The Jags started out the season at Mission Hills, and after
a solid start by senior fireballer Eric Brothers, couldn’t
hang on to the lead late in the game in a 3–2 loss.
Brothers took the loss, giving up two earned runs on seven hits
in six innings pitched, while walking seven but striking out
eight in his first start for the Jaguars.
On offense for the Jags, Stanton Upson had a pair of hits, while
Ryan Bracken had a hit and an RBI, Brothers had a hit and scored
a run, Shonta Chaloux had an RBI, Ricky Eldridge had a hit and
Patrick Preston scored a run.
But the Jaguars responded to the tough loss with a fundamentally-solid,
hard-fought, one-run win over Mt. Miguel in the home opener.
Valley Center celebrated the season’s first home game
with a ceremonial first pitch thrown out by four honorees: Three
members of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians; DeLisle
Calac, Tukuut Sass and Paul Mazzetti, along with VCHS principal
Ron McCowan.
The Matadors took an early lead when the game’s first
hitter ripped a double into right field and came in to score
on a single two batters later.
But the Jags came back with the tying run in the third, when
Upson drove a two–out single into center field, stole
second, then scored on a single by Austin Burke. The Jaguars
took the lead in the fourth, when Eldridge singled and scored
on a first–and–third double steal with Cody Beukelman.
Mt. Miguel tied the game up again in the sixth when a walk and
a double set the Matadors up with second–and–third
with no outs. The Jaguars got the first out on a grounder to
shortstop, as Colton Campbell fired the ball to Bracken, who
had the ball knocked out of his glove by the Mt. Miguel runner,
who was ruled out on the interference.
With one out and still two runners on, the Matadors looked to
be in for a big inning. But on a deep fly ball to right field,
Beukelman took off for the fence and made a fabulous over–the–shoulder
catch. The Mt. Miguel runners took off when it appeared that
the ball had dropped in, so Beukelman alertly popped up, spun
and fired the ball back into the infield. The Jaguars appealed
at third base, but the runner had tagged up and scored, so they
appealed at second and recorded the third out of the inning.
With the scored tied, the Jags took the momentum from the big
play on defense and came through with the game–winning
run in the bottom of the sixth. Preston led off with a double
to right, then was sacrificed over to third on a bunt by Eldridge.
Beukelman came through again with a double and the game–winning
RBI.
Jeff Allen pitched a gem of a complete game, allowing one earned
run on seven hits and one walk, with three strikeouts in seven
innings.
Beukelman had two singles and a double with an RBI and three
stolen bases, while Upson had two singles, a run scored and
two stolen bases, Preston had a double and a run scored, Eldridge
had a single, a run scored and a stolen base, and Burke had
an RBI single in the win.
The Jaguars finished off the week with another comeback that
resulted in a 7–3 win over Francis Parker on Saturday.
The Lancers scored once in each of the first two innings, but
the Jaguars came back with three runs in the third, another
run in the fourth, two more in the fifth and one more for good
measure in the sixth.
Upson and Allen led the way on offense with a pair of hits and
an RBI each, while Preston had a double, two RBIs and a run
scored, Bracken had a double, a single and a run scored, Tom
Aguilar had a hit, a run scored and an RBI, Burke and Brothers
each had a hit and a run scored, and Garret Crispi scored a
run.
Beukelman got the win on the mound, going the distance with
no earned runs allowed on five hits with four walks and three
strikeouts in seven innings.
Valley Center is 2–1 to start the season, with action
in the Bully’s Tournament continuing this week with a
game at home on Thursday against Serra at 3 p.m.
