Agoura Takes A Hard Hit In The Valley Invitationals

The Agoura High baseball team lost to St. Francis 7-2 on Monday in a Valley Invitational Baseball League game at Brookside Park in Pasadena, done in by errors and miscues in a decisive five-run third inning.

The Chargers made three errors in helping St. Francis blow open the game, and after the inning Agoura coach Dennis Reitz pulled his team together and delivered a two-pronged message. He told his players this was their opportunity to show how well they can respond to adversity. He also told them it was time to corral their emotions and use them in a productive manner.

"Go out and make things happen," Reitz said. "Don't let the game beat you up."

His messages got through to sophomore Preston Rosemont, who went out in the top of the fourth and led off the inning with a single. Rosemont then stole second base, reached third on a wild pitch and came into score on an error by St. Francis catcher Brennan Boyack, who dropped strike three against Jordan Shulman and then hit Shulman in the back trying to throw him out at first base.

Rosemont was 1 for 3 and scored a run – the hit one of only three in the game for Agoura (0-6).

"I just wanted to put the bat on the ball," Rosemont said. "I wanted to be aggressive. I definitely didn't want to strike out looking."

St. Francis (4-3) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, scoring both runs without a base hit.

Dave Hubinger reached first on an error with two outs. The next batter, Jeff Caravaglia, was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Hubinger scored when Tei Vanderford reached on an error, and Caravaglia scored on a wild pitch.

Hubinger said his team approaches each at-bat trying to reach base by any means possible."Just battle every time you're up at the plate," he said. "Don't worry about what (the other team is) doing."

Agoura starter Blake Sack struck out the side in the bottom of the second inning and had seven strikeouts through three innings, while giving up only two hits. None of the seven runs he surrendered were earned.

"He threw really well for them," Hubinger said. "He battled through it."

Despite giving up five runs and hitting a batter in the third inning, Sack struck out the side again.

Meanwhile, St. Francis starter Chris Longo was cruising. He was perfect for the first three innings, striking out the side in the second. He pitched a complete game, didn't walk a batter and struck out seven.

"He was hitting his spots inside," Rosemont said. "His off speed was all right. It wasn't anything spectacular."

Agoura's Jack Quina led off the fifth inning with a single, but was picked off first base.

The Chargers' only other hit was a one-out double in the seventh inning by Shulman. He came around to score on a passed ball for Agoura's second run of the game.

Reitz said the errors his team made were too much to overcome, but there were a few good lessons for his players to learn in the game.

"First things first, I don't think you make errors because you want to make errors," Reitz said. "It's time for you to grow in your baseball life."