BASEBALL: Upstart Scots Ousted in Heartbreaker

Three days removed from pulling off arguably in Central Coast Section baseball history, Carlmont High lost a heartbreaker.

But by the time the Scots walked off the field after a tough 2-1 loss to Salinas in a Division I quarterfinal at Hartnell College in Salinas on Saturday afternoon, the game’s outcome was practically an afterthought, with the health of a player who left the field in an ambulance with a head injury weighing heavily on players and coaches.

Carlmont’s Willie Baroncini was chasing a fly ball in the leftfield corner in the sixth inning of a 1-1 game when he crashed into a fence post. Though severely shaken up, Baroncini crawled to retrieve the ball and was able to reach a cutoff man on a play that went for a leadoff triple.

“He wanted to go back in the game,” Carlmont coach Rich Vallero said. “He was dizzy, but he was like, ‘I’m not coming out, I’m leaving everything on the field.’”

A CT Scan at a local hospital revealed no serious brain injuries – which the Scots found out well after the game ended. Baroncini was diagnosed with a concussion, and is expected to make a full recovery.

“It puts things in perspective,” Vallero said. “I have a (baby) daughter, and there’s more important things (than baseball).”

No. 8 seed Salinas (19-9-1) was unable to capitalize on the sixth-inning threat. Carlmont starter Bradley Levine got the next hitter to ground out to second with a drawn-in infield. Catcher Colton Hicks ran down the base runner when Salinas botched a suicide squeeze on the next play.

Salinas had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh when it scored the game-winning run on a walk-off single.

No. 16 seed Carlmont (19-9), which shocked top-seeded St. Francis 4-3 on Wednesday, trailed 1-0 in the sixth when Nic Bongi singled in the Scots’ only run.

The Scots had seven hits but were unable to capitalize on several scoring chances.

“It’s unfortunate when you have an offensive club that you know can swing the bat,” said Vallero, whose team notched the program's first playoff win since 1996 on Wednesday.

But Vallero believes his players learned some valuable life lessons on their wild playoff journey.

“They played with all the heart and passion that they possibly could have, one of them did it so much that he got carted off in an ambulance because he was willing to do whatever it took to catch a ball,” Vallero said.

“If these kids approach life the way they approached that game, they’re all going to be successful, and at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about. How many of these guys are really going to the big leagues anyway?”

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Salinas 2, Carlmont 1

C -- 000 001 0 -- 1 7 0

S -- 000 100 1 -- 2 9 0  

WP: Vasquez.  LP: Bongi (3-1).

3B: White (S). 2B: Belnick 2 (C). 3 hits: Ontiveros (S). 2 hits: Hicks, Belnick (C).

Records: Carlmont 19-9. Salinas 19-9-1.