Baseball Notebook: Flintridge Prep Sweeping, Monrovia Struggling and South Pasadena Rising

Flintridge Prep

What a difference a week can make. Back on April 21 the Rebels lost a second consecutive game to CIF-Southern Section Division 6 powerhouse Pasadena Poly, slipping into fourth place in the Prep League heading into a three-game series with second-place Rio Hondo Prep.

Having to “win at least two of those games,” according to Flintridge Prep coach Buzz Cook, the Rebels’ bats got hot and they swept the series — 14-7, 7-6, 11-10.

Junior All-League pitcher Royce Park was huge in Friday’s series opener. He struck out seven batters through six innings, allowing three runs. His only troubles came in the third inning when the Kares’ rallied and Nick Preciado delivered a two-run single with two outs.

Park did even more damage at the plate. In the fourth inning he swatted a fastball from Rio Hondo’s Dave Drain over the centerfield fence at West Covina’s Big League Dreams replica Angels stadium for a three-run homer.

“After the bad inning on the mound, I wanted to get a big hit,” said Park. “I wasn’t really thinking about anything. His first pitch was over the plate and I swung hard. It felt good.” 

The Rebels faced Rio Hondo Prep ace Preciado in an exciting first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Preciado threw 118 pitches in eight innings for the Kares, while Flintridge Prep’s Alex Sierra matched him through six innings, allowing five runs. 

Trailing 5-3 in the sixth inning, Brendan McKiernan picked up a two-run single with two outs to tie the game. McKiernan relieved Sierra on the mound and pitched a scoreless seventh, but surrendered a run on a pair of Kare hits in the eighth.

McKiernan was quickly back in the spotlight in the bottom half of the eighth when he picked up another two-out hit with a man on and advanced to second base when Park was hit by a pitch.

With two-outs and the bases loaded Karlsen Termini hit a shallow flyball to center field where the Kares’ outfield was playing the right-hander with a pull-hitter’s shift. The shift allowed the ball to drop and McKiernan came across to score the winning run, while picking up the win as the pitcher of record. 

Saturday’s second game ended with a similar result (one-run victory for Flintridge), but took a messier route to get there. 

Clayton Weirick walked six batters while the defense committed six errors (zero in Game 1). The Kares’ were equally inept defensively and Flintridge managed to eek out a win behind a two-run sixth inning.

“We both didn’t have it in the second game,” Cook said. “Offensively we simply took advantage of their mistakes and inability to throw strikes.”

Most importantly, the Rebels have jumped ahead of Rio Hondo Prep into second place the league standings. And with just two league games remaining, they have clinched a spot in the postseason. 

The team will get a well-deserved week off before a doubleheader with Windward on Saturday. The next league game is May 10 at Chadwick.

Monrovia

It’s “put up or shut up” time for Monrovia, a team that’s won five straight Rio Hondo League titles but finds itself in third place after a rough April. 

Since winning a tournament game against Nogales back on April 4, the Wildcats have gone completely cold, losing seven straight games and falling to 4-4 in the RHL after a 4-0 start to league play.

Chances at a sixth consecutive league title for the Wildcats are grim. They would have to win all four of their remaining games and hope that first place Temple City loses at least three of its remaining four games.

“We’ve put ourselves in a tough spot,” said Monrovia co-head coach Brad Blackmore. “We need to make plays defensively and get some hits when we need them.”

Monrovia’s latest loss came Wednesday against South Pasadena. The Wildcats managed just five hits off the Tigers’ Tony Veiller and fell 6-1.

Monrovia will get another shot at second-place South Pasadena on Wednesday and will play La Canada on Friday.

Arcadia

Twenty-six and counting. That’s what the Apaches’ current winning streak in the Pacific league is up to, dating back to the 2009 season.

The streak was on the line once again when ace KJ Edson toed the mound against Pasadena on Tuesday. Edson outdueled Bulldogs starter Rob Lain to pick up his seventh win of the season and fourth shutout.

“I didn’t really have my best stuff at the start of the game,” Edson said. "The defense helped me out, and I found a groove as the game went on.” 

The right-handed submariner lowered his ERA on the season to an incredible 0.71 through 59 innings with the effort. He beat Burbank 1-0 in his previous outing.

“I can’t control the score of the game, so I just focus on doing my job and trusting the defense behind me,” said Edson.

The Arcadia bats had a chance to get healthy in Friday’s matchup with last place Muir. Darren Kerfoot went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs, while Haram Park added two more RBIs en route to a 19-1 Apache victory.

Arcadia travels to Glendale to face Hoover on Tuesday and will host Pasadena on Wednesday. They play third place Burbank on Friday.

Crescenta Valley 

Two blowout victories last week against Glendale and Hoover capped an extraordinary month for the Falcon pitching staff and defense. In 13 April games, Crescenta Valley allowed 14 runs, totaled seven shutouts and allowed two runs or fewer 10 times. To say the pitching staff consisting of Elliott Surrey, Troy Mulcahey, Kyle Murray and Kyle Pomeroy has been dominant would be an understatement.

It was Mulcahey’s turn on the mound against Glendale and he delivered with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out nine. He also cracked his ninth home run of the season, a new Falcon record.

The Falcons will look to improve on their already gaudy 2011 numbers this week against Glendale on Wednesday. They host third-place Pasadena on Friday.

South Pasadena

The surprising Tigers just continue to roll. They picked up two wins last week, including a 6-1 victory of defending Rio Hondo league champ Monrovia, to take sole possession of second place.

“The senior class has completely bought into what’s expected of them and how to play the game,” said second-year coach Anthony Chevrier.

Tony Veiller outdueled Monrovia’s Chris Burkholder last Wednesday to pick up a complete game victory. Conor Bednarski went 2-for-3 with a RBI and runs scored in the game.

The Tigers beat San Marino on Friday behind a 4-for-4 performance from Dylan Trimarchi. Trimarchi scored four runs including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh inning.

It wasn’t a perfect week for South Pasadena, however, as the team lost to first place Temple City 11-4. Ace pitcher Anthony D’ Oro didn’t have his best stuff and allowed six runs (two earned) in six innings.

South Pasadena will look to improve on a 6-3 league record Wednesday when the Tigers host Monrovia. They also have a difficult nonleague matchup with Pasadena Poly on Friday.

“We need to catch some breaks, but we still think we can win league,” said Chevrier.

In the Spotlight

Who do ballplayers in the San Gabriel Valley support? 19 players on nine teams weighed in on their favorite teams.

Dodgers (9); Yankees (3); Angels (2); Red Sox (2); Tigers (1); Cardinals (1); Orioles (1). 

Games of the Week

Tuesday, 3:15 p.m., Friday, 3:45 p.m. – St. Francis vs. Alemany

It should be an exciting week for the Knights, who have two must-win games on the docket against Alemany. Alemany sits in third place in the Mission league, currently playoff-bound at 5-5, while St. Francis is in a four-way tie for third place at 3-5.

Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. – Monrovia at South Pasadena

Monrovia is desperate to snap a seven-game losing streak, while the Tigers hope to prove last week’s 6-1 victory over the Wildcats was no fluke. Expect South Pasadena ace Anthony D’ Oro to face either Joe Mata or Chris Burkholder.

Friday, 7:00 p.m. – Pasadena at Crescenta Valley

The Falcons (9-1) will try to distance themselves from the third-place Bulldogs when they host Friday’s evening matchup. It should be an excellent opportunity to watch one of Crescenta Valley’s multiple ace pitchers take on one of the best batting orders in the Pacific league.

Stat Line of the Week

Crescenta Valley junior Troy Mulcahey struck out nine batters through 5 2/3 innings in last Tuesday’s 10-0 victory over Glendale. Mulcahey also hit his ninth home run of the year, breaking a school record held since 2005.

Also last Tuesday, KJ Edson threw his fourth shutout of the season, defeating Pasadena 2-0. It was Edson’s seventh win of the season and he lowered his season ERA to 0.71.

Joe Morrison's "Baseball Notebook" appears weekly across all Patch sites in the San Gabriel Valley.