Baseball: Knights Clip Falcons in Round 1

The Crescenta Valley offense had been lighting up the scoreboard all year long, leading them to a 22-4 record heading into playoffs, but you would not have known that based on Thursday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 2 first round playoff game against Notre Dame Sherman Oaks. Knight’s sophomore pitcher Jack Morello pitched six innings, allowing just one run on two hits, as the Falcons lost 6-3 at Stengel Field in Glendale.

“He did a good job he pulled the string a lot and threw a lot of changeups for strikes he did a great job,” Falcons coach Phil Torres said. “He was pumping strikes I don’t think he wanted to work from behind, and we didn’t hit it well until the last inning.”

Both teams were scoreless until the third inning when Notre Dame took a two-run lead. With runners at second and third and two outs, senior Matt Lathuras came through with a two-run single.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the third that Crescenta Valley was able to get a hit, one of just two against Morello, who dominated much of the game.

“We just didn’t play well when May came around we didn’t play our best ball for some reason,” said a disappointed Torres. “Our pitchers aren’t tired. They are all spread out. It’s not a dead arm. We just didn’t pitch very well, and in the playoffs it all starts at the mound.”

In the fifth inning, Notre Dame exploded for three more runs, seemingly putting the game out of reach. With one runner on and no outs, senior Nick Huyn crushed a two-run home run to left field.

At 4-0, Torres pulled his starting pitcher, junior Kyle Murray, who ended the game with four earned runs in four innings pitched.

Crescenta Valley finally showed signs of life in the bottom of the fifth down 5-0. After a lead-off walk, junior Cam Silva ripped a double to get runners at second and third with one out.

After drawing a pop out to earn the second out, Morello made his only mistake of the afternoon, walking back-to-back batters to get the Falcons on the board at 5-1. However, he quickly shook it off, striking out the next batter and keeping it at 5-1.

“We hit the ball on the barrel, but we kept hitting it to the shortstop,” said Torres.

Notre Dame was able to tack on one more run in the seventh, and Crescenta Valley had three outs to overcome a five run deficit against the Notre Dame bullpen.

The Falcons loaded the bases with no outs, and they appeared to have life again. Sophomore Cole Currie hit a groundout RBI, driving in one run and putting runners at second and third.

Junior Elliot Surrey picked a great time to get his first hit of the day, registering an RBI single, bringing the tying run to the plate. And the Falcons couldn’t have asked for a better batter then junior Troy Mulcahey, who led the team with nine home runs on the year.

“We got the right guy to the plate at the end of the game with a chance to tie the game,” Torres said.

After falling behind 0-2 in the count, Mulcahey battled back, forcing a full count. However, Mulcahey whiffed on a big swing, drawing the second out of the inning and the Falcons’ fate was essentially sealed.

“That’s the hard thing about high school baseball is that it’s just one and out,” Torres said. “It doesn’t wipe away 22 wins but it’s just disappointing because everyone wants to win and keep rolling onto the next thing.”

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