La Mirada Baseball returns home from the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina winning two of their three games at the 2019 USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI). In a tweet after the first game Coach Zurn said “These boys played their hearts out today! Couldn’t be prouder!” The team followed up the disappointing loss with 14 runs in their doubleheader the next day.
The following is a recap from USA Baseball:
IMG Academy 1, La Mirada 0
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) came out on top 1-0 in a pitcher’s duel against La Mirada High School on day one of the 2019 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary on Wednesday.
The matchup was characterized by outstanding performances on the mound as IMG Academy’s Brennan Malone and La Mirada’s Jared Jones battled throughout the game. Malone earned the win thanks to his complete game shutout performance in which he gave up three hits and struck out eight. Jones suffered the loss despite his own stellar complete-game showing, allowing just two hits and one run with six punchouts of his own.
The lone run of the game came early when IMG Academy took advantage of back-to-back walks in the bottom of the second inning with a two-out RBI double off the bat of Tucker Mitchell. La Mirada could not break through IMG Academy’s defense though and the Ascendants came away with the 1-0 victory.
Billy Underwood (1-for-2) and Mitchell (1-for-2) collected IMG Academy’s two hits, while Jacob Sharp (1-for-3), Dominic Martinez (1-for-3) and Michael Deharo (1-for-2) led La Mirada’s offense.
La Mirada 3, Corona del Sol 2
La Mirada Baseball used a strong showing from Memo Pacheco on the mound to propel them to a comeback win over Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.) 3-2, in the consolation round of the USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary.
Corona del Sol took an early lead in the first, after Bryan Webb (0-for-2) scored on a line-drive to left-field from Kaiden Frees (1-for-3). The Aztecs extended their lead to 2-0 in the third inning, before La Mirada plated its first run of the day in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to one. Pacheco held steady after the third inning, not allowing another run in the game while striking out five in his six innings of work.
La Mirada took advantage of a Corona del Sol error in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at two-all. With two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the seventh, Dominic Martinez hit a line drive to left field to bring home Aiden Orozco and give the Matadores their first win of the tournament.
Dominic Martinez (3-for-4) led La Mirada with three hits on the day, while also recording an RBI. Corona del Sol was led at the plate by Brian Kalmer (2-for-2), who recorded two hits including an RBI.
Pacheco (1-0) earned the win on the mound for his performance, while David Utagawa (0-1) was given the loss for the Aztecs.
With the win, La Mirada moved to 1-1 in the tournament, while Corona del Sol fell to 0-2.
La Mirada 11, Christian Brothers College 5
La Mirada Baseball finished a doubleheader in style by powering past Christian Brothers College High School (St. Louis, Mo.), 11-5, on the second day of the USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary, on Thursday, April 4.
The Matadores struck first, scoring three runs in the third to jump out to an early lead. The hot bats continued in the fourth as La Mirada added three more runs to stretch the lead to 6-0. Christian Brothers College responded in the home half of the fourth, scoring four runs of their own to cut the score to within two. The Matadores extended in the top of the seventh, scoring five runs hold a 11-4 advantage. Christian Brothers College added a run in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t overcome the deficit, falling 11-5.
Jared Jones (2-for-3) led the way at the plate for La Mirada, recording two hits and scoring three runs. Sharp (2-for-4) paced La Mirada with four RBIs. Six different batters scored a run and recorded an RBI for La Mirada in the game. Cole Schroeder (2-for-2) registered a team-high two hits for Christian Brothers.
Michael Deharo (1-0) earned the win for La Mirada after punching out eight batters in 4.1 innings, while Alex Esker (0-1) suffered the loss.
La Mirada improved to 2-1 in the tournament after winning the first consolation match of the day, while Christian Brothers College fell to 0-3 at the NHSI.
Source & Photo Credit: USA Baseball