From Staff Reports: Just when you thought the La Salle graves were being dug for the 2018 baseball season, the Lancers earned their two biggest wins of the season. La Salle lost a pair of one-run games to then third-place St. Paul last week and dropped a Saturday game to Alhambra. The Swordsmen’ two-game sweep […]
From Staff Reports:
Just when you thought the La Salle graves were being dug for the 2018 baseball season, the Lancers earned their two biggest wins of the season.
La Salle lost a pair of one-run games to then third-place St. Paul last week and dropped a Saturday game to Alhambra.
The Swordsmen’ two-game sweep knocked La Salle back to third place and things were not looking good as undefeated (in league) Bishop Amat was up next.
On Tuesday, Zane Lindeman shut out Amat, 2-0, and two days later, La Salle got some timely hitting and rode the arms of pitchers Landon Smith and Jeff Daley to victory.
La Salle outlasted Amat by a score of 6-5, and all of a sudden, things are pointing north.
The good news doesn’t stop with the two-game sweep of the hated Lancers from La Puente.
Serra, who hadn’t won a game in league all season knocked off St. Paul on Tuesday and La Salle is back in second place and one-game ahead of the Swordsmen.
Back to Thursday.
Landon Smith didn’t necessarily have his best stuff.
He went the first four innings and only two of the four runs he was charged with were earned.
Smith allowed six hits, walked three and struck out one.
Jeff Daley came in and went the final three innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out one Amat batter to earn the save.
Despite throwing one less inning than Smith, Daley used 45 less pitches than his teammate.
Blake Archuleta got lit up for six runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings before the Amat pitcher was ejected.
Henry Kavanaugh went 2 for 3 with a pair of runs scored before he was tossed from the game when an ump walked over to the La Salle dugout and believed Kavanaugh had been popping off.
But multiple people in the dugout said the umps targeted the wrong guy and that coach Eddie McKiernan could potentially challenge the ejection so Kavanaugh doesn’t have to sit out their next game as protcol would dictate.
In the heat of a spirited contest, Amat coach Joe Hoggatt was also thrown out of the game.
James Barnard had a huge two-RBI double for La Salle.
Victor Scalzo added a pair of hits and RBIs for the Lancers.
Ethan Patrick singled, scored and had an RBI.
For Amat, Ben Hurst had two hits, scored once and drove in another run.
Archuleta was 2 for 3 with an RBI and run scored, and Alonso Zuniga singled, doubled and scored once.
La Salle will host Cathedral (8-9, 2-5) on Tuesday at 3:30 in the first of two next week with the Phantoms.
Quotable:
La Salle senior pitcher Jeff Daley: “We had a rough last week and everybody knows that. We had a big talk before Tuesday’s game, and we got together and decided we needed to start working harder and playing as a team. We needed to stop being selfish, me included. We know Amat is a good program and we just wanted to beat them. It was about turning our season around.
Landon had a rough start and I kept warming up from the second inning on. I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire high school career to shut down Amat. I was speechless today. To take one away from Amat Tuesday was great, but to get the sweep this week was incredible. We knew we had to continue the game plan and we’ve bonded as a team. I couldn’t be more proud of my team, and the resolve we showed this week.”
Box Score:
BA: 2-2-0-0-0-1-0-(5)
LS: 2-0-1-3-0-0-X-(6)
Win: Landon Smith
Loss: Blake Archuleta
Save: Jeff Daley
2B: Alonzo Zuniga (BA), Luke Heiberg (LS), James Barnard (LS)
Records: Bishop Amat (12-11-1, 6-2); La Salle (12-10, 6-4)
