Baseball Notebook: Pivotal Week Begins for Some Local Teams

Arcadia

Arcadia senior Tyler Dominguez picked up his biggest hit of the season, and perhaps biggest of his four-year varsity career, on Friday night in the form of a two-out RBI-single in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie against Crescenta Valley and help the Apaches take over sole possession of first place in the Pacific League at 14-3 (5-0). 

“I was just trying to keep my front shoulder in and find a hole somewhere,” Dominguez said. “You can’t try to do too much in a big spot like that.” 

Arcadia rode the strong pitching performance of ace KJ Edson, who went all seven innings and allowed two runs. He also induced an incredible 12 groundouts.

“I didn’t have my best stuff, but the defense was making plays behind me,” Edson said. “Tyler and the rest of the lineup came up big.”

The Apaches are clearly on a roll, having jumped their biggest hurdle in Crescenta Valley and extended their winning streak in the Pacific League to a remarkable 22 games. They have home games against Burbank on Tuesday and Burroughs on Friday.

Crescenta Valley 

As relieving as Friday’s outcome was for the Apaches, it was equally disappointing for a Falcon squad that has battled all season to be in a position to knock off the Pacific League defending champs. 

Crescenta Valley was not greatly outplayed, however, as Kyle Murray racked up seven strikeouts through four innings. But Murray battled control issues and was pulled in the middle of a fifth inning jam.

Troy Prasertsit picked up a clutch single in the fifth inning to tie the game at two. But in the end, Arcadia’s ability to rally with two-outs and extend innings cost the Falcons.

“Our guys just didn’t have their best stuff,” Crescenta Valley coach Phil Torres said. “Every time we had two outs we would walk somebody or give up a dinker.”

The silver lining in all this for the Falcons is that they will face Arcadia again in the final game of the season on May 13. But first they must take care of a formidable Pasadena team on Tuesday. 

La Salle

The Lancers endured two rough outings last week against Bishop Amat. In Tuesday’s opener, Bowdien Derby threw an impressive seven innings, allowing just one earned run, but a slew of Bishop Amat pitchers matched Derby’s production, pushing the game into extra innings. Bishop Amat picked up a game-winning hit in the ninth inning to hand La Salle a deflating 3-2 loss.

Still smarting for Tuesday’s setback, La Salle stumbled out of the gates against Bishop Amat on Friday, giving up an early grand slam to Amat centerfielder Jay Anderson en route to a 14-1 loss.

“We have to play perfect baseball to be able to beat Amat,” La Salle coach Harry Agajanian said. “It doesn’t help to play them at our small home field. The grand slam (by Anderson) was just a lazy fly ball, but it got out. The field plays to their advantage.” 

La Salle’s home field, located just west of the football field, is cramped by parking lots on two sides and property grounds on another, providing just 265 feet to the fence in right-centerfield. Agajanian suggested there has been speculation of changing the location of home games after playing at on off-field site last season.

Despite their five-game winning streak in league play coming to an abrupt end, the Lancers rebounded nicely against Bishop Montgomery on Monday to the tune of an 11-1 victory. Derby allowed one run through five innings of work and picked up four RBIs on a double and a triple.

“We were pretty upset after Friday’s loss,” Derby said. “But coach convinced us to put it behind us and we came back and got the job done today.”

La Salle will play Bishop Montgomery again on Wednesday before traveling to Downey this weekend to compete in the St. Paul Tournament. The Lancers are in group-play with Long Beach Wilson, St. Bonaventure, and St. Francis. La Salle faces the Golden Knights on Saturday.

Flintridge Prep

The Rebels face their biggest week of the season with a two-game series against perennial Prep League powerhouse Pasadena Poly. Flintridge Prep should be riding a wave of confidence after 13-4 and 15-0 victories over Chadwick last week.

With six days passed since his last outing, expect ace Royce Park to take the mound in Tuesday’s home game at the Glendale Sports Complex. Park didn’t allow a single earned run in five innings of work against Chadwick.

Monrovia

Nonleague games scheduled in the midst of league competition rarely inspire a must-win mentality, but Monrovia gave fans quite a show in Thursday’s 7-6 loss to Prep League champ Pasadena Poly.

Nick Bueno sparked a first inning rally against Poly’s Jordan Kutzer with an RBI-single and the Wildcats tacked on four more by the end of the second inning.

Poly showed they could swing the stick too by scoring four runs on Kevin Shue’s three innings of work. Chris Burkholder tried to clean up the mess, but he allowed two runs in the fifth inning and served up the game-winning hit in the seventh inning.

Adrien Velasco slugged his second homer of the season and Bueno’s three hits runs his season total to 26. Monrovia will continue its defense of its Rio Hondo League title at La Cañada on Wednesday and at Temple City on Friday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Friday’s matchup against the Rams could go a long way toward determining the league title. The Wildcats currently sit one-game ahead of Temple City, and they beat the Rams in extra innings on March 29.

South Pasadena

The Tigers have been an up-and-down team all season long, but coach Anthony Chevrier has preached patience for the inexperienced group and maintained confidence that his team can compete in the Rio Hondo League and earn a playoff bid.

Anthony D’Oro helped South Pasadena take another step in the right direction with a dominant pitching performance against San Marino last week. D’ Oro threw all seven innings and allowed just one run on five hits in a 5-1 win.

The Tigers currently stand in third place at 3-2 in league and will have an opportunity to improve on that record at La Cañada on Friday.

St. Francis

What’s happened to the Knights? After a dramatic scene just two weeks ago in which St. Francis beat Mission League leader Chaminade on a seventh-inning hit by David Olmedo-Barrera, the Knights have dropped five consecutive games, including three straight in league play.

The Knights will get a break from Mission League competition while they compete in the St. Paul tournament. They share a bracket with Long Beach Wilson, St. Bonaventure, and La Salle.

St. Francis put up a valiant effort in the month-long Chino Tournament, but lost 8-4 to Nogales last Saturday to take home fourth place.

In the Spotlight

Arcadia pitcher KJ Edson is a baseball rarity — a staff ace who doesn’t strike out a ton of batters. He threw seven innings for a 4-2 victory over Crescenta Valley on Friday, recording just three strikeouts but 12 groundouts. He has a unique, sidearm delivery, much like Dennis Eckersley, and he talked about how his pitches induce hitters to pound the ball into the dirt.

“My fastball tails into right-handed hitters and they get jammed. Most fastballs are straight so they think they know where it’s going, but when they swing the ball moves a couple inches onto their hands. It’s trickier for left-handers … they’ll try to pull an outside fastball and roll over the top of it.”

Locals talk MLB

Major League Baseball is in full swing and players from around the area continue to chime in on the pro ballplayers they admire and strive to emulate.

Bowdien Derby, shortstop/pitcher, Flintridge Prep: “I like Derek Jeter as a hitter. He does all the small things right. As a hitter, I try emulate Mark Teixeira’s swing. It’s so compact and powerful. I’m a Yankees fan in case you couldn’t tell.” 

Who do ballplayers in the San Gabriel Valley support? 17 players on seven teams weighed in on their favorite teams.

Dodgers (8); Yankees (3); Angels (2); Red Sox (2); Tigers (1); Cardinals (1).

Stat Line of the Week

South Pasadena’s Anthony D’ Oro tossed a complete game to pick up a 5-1 victory over San Marino last Wednesday. D’ Oro needed just 77 pitches to beat the Titans, allowing just five hits and striking out one. D’ Oro also picked up an RBI at the plate.

Games of the Week 

Tuesday, 3:00 p.m., Thursday, 3:30 p.m. – Flintridge Prep vs. Pasadena Poly 

Pasadena Poly has won 15 consecutive Prep League championships under coach Wayne Ellis. The Panthers are undefeated once again this year and boast an 11-2-1 record overall.

Are the Rebels up to the challenge? They’ve been crushing the baseball lately, scoring 10 runs or more in five of their last six games. A strong pitching performance from Royce Park, Tuesday’s likely starter, may be enough to push Flintridge Prep over the top.

Friday, 3:30 p.m. – South Pasadena at La Cañada

This matchup may not seem to carry a lot of weight, but this is exactly the type of matchup that South Pasadena needs to have in order to continue its playoff push. The Tigers could jump into a tie for second place with a victory couple with a Temple City loss to Monrovia.

On the other end of the spectrum, La Cañada is looking to prove last week’s 4-3 victory over San Marino was no fluke. The Spartans have showed an ability to keep pace with league’s toughest competition, but translating that effort into victories has been a difficult task.

Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – La Salle vs. St. Francis

These two private schools will face off at Downey High School in the opening round of the St. Paul Tournament. Both teams have made tremendous strides this season but are looking to rebound after scuffling last week.

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