SCOTT GIORGIANNI
Prep2Prep Adult Contributor

April 16, 2023

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – At the end of the fourth, the Diablo Athletic League game between Miramonte and host Las Lomas looked all but over. The Knights had put up a crooked numbers to take an 8-0 lead. The Mats, however, rallied back, making it a game right down to the last pitch. Las Lomas ultimately eked out an 8-6 win to take the season series, 2-1.

The Knights rattled Miramonte starter Luca Gamboa with 11 hits and all eight runs, seven earned, in 3.2 innings.

Jonah Simkin-England went 3-for-3 with two RBI, and Daniel Downes and Brady Wright each had a pair of hits and a pair of runs scored for Las Lomas (7-5, 3-2 DAL). Zach Lazzarini and Sam Lapping provided further offensive punches with a couple of RBI apiece.

“This was a huge game not only for the series but league implications, Division III NCS, down 8-0 they could have easily folded." Las Lomas coach Scott Tully remarked. "We knew all along they were going to compete and come back."

Las Lomas plated its first run in the second, when Noah Sison reached on an error, stole second, and scored on Simkin-England’s single. The third saw a hit parade with a lead-off double by Downes, a sac fly by Lapping, and then – all with two outs – four consecutive hits with a walk sandwiched in between. The last of the hits, another single by Simkin-England, brought home Charles Kruger, but Sison was tagged out on his attempt to score.

The following inning, the Knights were back at it. Downes started things off again, singling with one out. After Noah Lathrop doubled, Lapping again hit a sac fly. Lathrop crossed home on a single by Wright, who stole second and scored on a Lazzarini single.

Brody Bornstein came in to stop the bleeding, scattering two hits and a strikeout in the remaining 2 1/3. He caught a break in the sixth, when Lathrop was erased on a fielder’s choice to the pitcher after he had singled and reached second on an error and then was advanced to third on a groundout.

On the mound for Las Lomas, starter Caleb Garrison breezed through the first three innings, allowing one hit and striking out three through the first four. But in the fifth, he quickly ran into trouble. Gamboa drew a one-out walk, and Jordin Rodino also came aboard a base on balls. They moved up a base on a wild pitch, and another wild pitch moved them up again – but Gamboa was thrown out at the plate, one of five instances between the two teams of a runner being thrown out at home.

“This was our best game of the year in terms of composure, executing at-bats, really some amazing plays defensively,” Tully stated.

The good fortune was short-lived: Garrison hit Max Friedman with a pitch, Preston Rguem singled home Rodino, and Gardner Dunne slapped a triple to right to bring in two more. Jack Foscalina entered the game and allowed a run-scoring single to Finn McManus.

Tully praised Garrison’s outing but cited the weather’s impact on the schedule as a factor midway through the game.

“In a normal year by mid-April guys have worked their stamina up,” Tully said. “I think he just hit a little lag because he hasn’t been able to extend it with opportunities.”

Miramonte (5-9, 2-4 DAL) squandered a scoring chance in the sixth when Lazzarini fired a bullet from right field to nail John Williams, who was attempting to score Rodino’s fly ball. The Mats scored two more off Downes in a tension-filled seventh. McManus got aboard on a fielder’s choice and got to third after a wild pitch, a walk, and an infield single by Joe Shallat. Williams’ flyout to center was not deep enough to plate him, but a hit batter was, and another infield single, this one by Rodino, gave the Mats their sixth run of the game and kept the bases loaded. Friedman then hit a shallow fly that was caught by Simkin-England.

The two teams had certainly seen plenty of each other over the past five days. Las Lomas routed Miramonte 12-1 in Orinda on Tuesday, but fell at home to the Mats 6-2 on Thursday. Both teams are looking up to Alhambra (5-1 DAL) in the standings. The Bulldogs will face the squads back-to-back in four games from April 25th through May 4th.

“I’m super proud of how well our guys bounced back,” Miramonte coach Sean Hennessy said. “I like to think Tuesday’s game was kind of an anomaly. (Las Lomas) jumped out on us and they held us off at the end.”