After falling in an intense game at La Costa Canyon on Wednesday, the Falcons rallied to overcome their rivals 5-3 in a tough battle Friday. | Torrey Pines Baseball |
Two days after battling on the field in an hours-long, 13-inning game that ended in a 7-6 victory for the Mavericks, Torrey Pines and La Costa Canyon found themselves on opposite sides of the diamond once again Friday.
This time, the Falcons were able to edge their rivals 5-3 in seven. Pitcher Tucker Pike and a solid defense made it difficult for the Mavericks to score many runs throughout the game.
“We battled, we gave a couple runs in the first inning but we didn’t give in,” head coach Kirk McCaskill said. “Our pitcher Tucker Pike really battled hard and pitched really well.”
La Costa Canyon opened the game with a hard drive into left-center field by Chris Neveau, putting runners on second and third base. Blake Miller hit a grounder between second and third to bring a runner home, and Brandon Bay hit the same shot for the Mavericks’ second run.
But Torrey Pines countered immediately back in the bottom of the inning, with Jake Boone getting the Falcons started with a single. Robbie Schlesier hit a grounder down the center of the diamond, and Bennett McCaskill was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ryan Dill’s hit a single that proved tough for the Maverick shortstop to field, bringing Boone home. A deep fly ball into left field was caught but gave enough time for Schlesier to tie the game before the third out.
According to McCaskill, despite a few defensive errors, the Falcons played “solid baseball all the way around.” In the top of the third inning, freshman third baseman Kevin Sim caught a hard hit from the Mavericks batter and quickly whipped the ball to second baseman Ty McGuire, who tagged the base and threw to first baseman Gus Patrick for a rapid-fire double play. Pike struck out the next batter to put a quick stop to the inning.
“We didn’t capitalize on all our chances, but we did capitalize on a couple of them today,” McCaskill said. “We got a couple of two-out base hits that scored some runs, so that was big for us.”
The Falcons took their first lead in the fourth inning, when Schlesier’s grounder down toward second base brought Sim to home plate. In the fifth, La Costa Canyon was able to tie the game again, but once again Torrey Pines regained the lead in the very same inning. One more run in the sixth was secured when Bennett McCaskill crushed the ball almost over the left-field fence for a double.
“We’re just going to try to keep doing our thing, try to stay fresh,” coach McCaskill said. “At this point, especially the seniors, it gets really hard in the end of the year to keep that really intense motivation going because of graduation and everything, so we’re going to stay fresh, shorten up our practices and be ready to go next week.”
The Falcons will play Canyon Crest Monday, Tuesday and Friday of next week. Their final season game will be another away-game rematch against La Costa Canyon on May 17 at 3:30.
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