With only 11 base hits from both sides in Tuesday afternoon’s WCAL matchup between Mitty and Serra, Monarch pitcher CJ Romero was able to take control of the game and lead Mitty to a 2-1 victory.
“It was a great game. It was a West Catholic League game, and every pitch matters,” said Mitty coach Bill Hutton. “It was high caliber, but CJ Romero did great, and he delivered.”
The Monarchs took the lead in the first inning following two Serra infield errors. With two out, Brandon Aguilera singled to make it 1-0.
Four innings later, in the bottom of the fifth, Mitty made it 2-0. After senior Eduardo Sanchez was hit by a pitch, he stole second base. Next, Wyatt Hansen sacrifice bunted Sanchez to third base. Kyle Wright then knocked home Sanchez with a single to right field.
The Padres bounced back in the top of the sixth, though, when star center fielder Jordan Paroubeck hit a long home run to right field.
“He’s aggressive and good,” said Hutton. “If you don’t pitch to the right location, he’s going to hurt you, and he hits a lot of balls hard.”
However, Romero retired Serra in order in the sixth after Paroubeck's blast and then got the final out of the game in seventh after Anthony Ramirez hit a two-out single to right field. Left-handed hitting Nick Toomey followed with a hard grounder to the right side but first baseman Tommy Hudson dived to his right to spear the ball and then out-raced Toomey to the bag for the final out.
“CJ Romero was very poised this game, and he located the ball really well,” said Hutton. “He’s worked harder than anyone out here since last season. He’s worked harder in the weight room. He’s worked hard on the mound.”
Romero threw 84 pitches, with 57 of them being strikes; he struck out two. Serra pitcher Matt Gorgolinski was also outstanding, throwing 74 pitches in six innings, with 49 strikes. He struck out one.
Mitty helped itself by stealing four bases while Serra was unable to steal a base.
With this victory, Mitty’s record improves to 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the WCAL. Serra’s record drops to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the league.
