Many of you were wondering why I had not yet sent a recap of Saturday's game versus the Mt. Carmel Sundevils despite the fact that we walked off the field that day with a nice 3-1 win.
Well, the game was officially protested by Mt. Carmel because the 3rd run we scored was aided by the umpires who were found to have misinterpreted the rules (I will provide the details below). The good news is that I received word today from Mt. Carmel coach Chachi Mueller that he is withdrawing their protest and the game is now final. Calvary is now officially 7-3 overall and 3-1 in the North County Tournament.
The game felt as if Calvary had dominated the entire game but had nothing to show for it. They started quickly by putting up a run in their first at bat when Sophomore David Carpenter showcased his speed by beating out an infield hit and promptly stole second. He scored when Calvary RBI leader Russell Harmening hit a soft single to left giving the Lions a quick 1-0 lead.
They added another run in the second inning when senior Isaac Conover drew a two-out walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. He scored when Brock Bentley launched a ball deep over the rightfielder's head for a run-scoring double.
Sam Sheehan, in his first start of the year, kept the Sundevils at bay and picked up his second win throwing 4 solid innings allowing only 1 hit, walking 3 and striking out 6. The Sundevils scored their lone run in the 3rd inning when a lead-off walk eventually scored on a sacrifice fly.
The game remained at 2-1 with Calvary nursing the slim lead going into the 5th inning. That's when it got interesting. With one out, Carpenter drew a four-pitch walk. Caleb Whitley followed, and with a 2-0 count and Carpenter stealing second, he was hit by a pitch and the home plate umpire awarded him first base, moving Carpenter to second. After a few moments, play resumed and the Mt. Carmel catcher appealed to the base umpire who judged that Whitley swung at the pitch turning the hit by pitch into a strike. Whitley, who was hit on the forearm near the elbow, clearly never began the swing and photographs and video of the alleged swing proved the umpire made the wrong call. But it is a judgment call and it is irreversible. The controversy arose when the umpires elected to keep Carpenter at second base. Because it was declared to be a swing, but could not be a foul ball because it hit Whitley 18 inches from the bat, they allowed Carpenter to remain at second with a stolen base. However, the rule book clearly states that if a batter is hit by a pitch, whether a ball or strike, the ball is dead. A runner cannot advance in that situation and Carpenter should have remained at first base. At that point Mt. Carmel protested to the plate umpire who is required to announce to the opposing coaches and official scorer that the game, from this point on, was being played under protest. The announcement was never made. It was later discovered that the home plate umpire never even told his partner the game was being played under protest.
When play resumed, Whitley grounded out to first and Carpenter advanced to third on the out. A wild pitch then scored Carpenter extending Calvary's lead to 3-1 where it remained for the duration of the game.
The Sundevils mounted a threat in the bottom of the 6th inning when Carpenter, who had relieved Sheehan, hit the lead-off hitter with a pitch. A double down the left field line put runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs and Calvary's slim lead was in jeopardy......
Paging Russell Harmening.....paging Russell Harmening....
Once again Russell Harmening saved the day. Knowing that he needed strikeouts to get his team out of the situation, he stepped up and blew away the next 3 Sundevil hitters, fanning all three while throwing only 10 pitches.
He finished off the game throwing a perfect 7th inning and securing the win for the Lions - picking up his second save of the season.
The Lions, who defeated El Camino on Tuesday in an extra-inning 4-2 win, now face the tough Poway Titans in a rare night game under the lights at Poway High School. Game time is 6:00 pm. Come join us if you can. I hear they have a great snack bar so come out, have dinner and watch a ball game!
No Calvary team has ever played a school as prestigious as Poway so it should be a fun challenge.
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