Calvary vs. Horizon 5/29/12 CIF D-5 Play-offs Semifinal Game

                                    Calvary Comeback Earns Spot in CIF Finals!
The Calvary Christian Lions advanced to the CIF finals in dramatic fashion, overcoming a 5-0 deficit to beat Horizon 7-6 in the CIF semi-finals.

Caleb Whitley was the offensive hero of the day with three clutch RBI singles, including the game winner in the bottom of the 6th inning.

Calvary's starting pitching has been tremendous, putting up a 0.89 ERA in the month of May. That was not the case however as David Carpenter struggled allowing 5 runs before recording the first out of the game. Horizon pounded out 5 hits to go with 2 walks and a wild pitch before a blown squeeze bunt attempt cleared the bases and allowed Calvary to get out of the inning.

Down 5-0, the Lions had an extremely difficult task to overcome. In the second inning, Carpenter finally settled in and threw a scoreless frame setting the stage for the comeback. In the bottom of the inning, Russell Harmening got things rolling when he lead off with a line single up the middle. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored when Whitley banged a single to left. Seniors Connor Kollenda and Sam Hebert each singled and the second run scored when David Flores hit a lazy fly ball to right that was dropped for an error. Carpenter helped out his cause by singling in another to cut the score to 5-3.

Calvary could have tied the game at 5-5 had they not made two costly base running errors. A runner was thrown out trying to advance to third when down by 5 runs and the potential tying run did not advance into scoring position on a throw to the plate. In all, Calvary's unusually poor baserunning cost them 3 runs over the course of the game and made their comeback attempt much more difficult than it should have been.

The Lions gave back a run in the top of 3rd when 2 errors led to a run giving Horizon a 6-3 lead.

Calvary battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the 4th inning when Sam Hebert lead off the inning by doubling into the right field corner. Kallin Iwasaki, pinch running for Hebert, scored for the fifth straight game when Flores doubled him in. With two outs, Matt Hartman hit a dribbler that he beat out for an infield single putting runners on first and third. An errant pickoff throw to first scored Flores and moved Hartman to second putting Calvary within one. Horizon elected to intentionally walk the red-hot hitting Harmening to put runners on 1st and 2nd, but Whitley made them pay for their decision as he tied the game by lining the first pitch he saw to deep right center to tie the game at 6-6.

Senior Isaac Conover relieved Carpenter and threw a scoreless 5th inning to keep Calvary in the game. They threatened to score in the bottom of the inning but stranded a man in scoring position.

Hard throwing Sam Sheehan relieved Conover and struck out the side in the top of the sixth keeping the score knotted at 6 all.

Sheehan then led off the bottom of the sixth by nearly undressing the pitcher with a line shot up the middle. The ball was hit so hard the centerfielder charged and attempted to throw Sheehan out at first. The throw was high and left the playing field allowing Sheehan to advance into scoring position. With one out, Harmening was hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Whitley's game winner. With a 2-2 count, he stayed on a tough down-and-away change-up and lined a ball over short to score Sheehan giving the Lions the lead.

Sheehan then closed the door by striking out the leadoff hitter. Brock Bentley made a gold-glove level play when he harnessed in a one-hop shot to third turning a potential double into an out. The final out was recorded on another groundball to Bentley who threw wide to first but Hebert made a nice play coming off the bag to tag the runner for the game-ender.

Calvary now sits at 27-5 on the year and is in the CIF finals for the first time in school history. In fact, no Calvary team in any sport it's 20+ year history has ever played in the CIF finals.

Calvary will be taking on The Rock Academy on Friday 5/30 at Eastlake High School. Game time is 4:00.

The Rock is 23-4-1 on the year and has won their last 18 straight games. Their last loss was at the hands of Calvary when the Lions shut them out 3-0 in the first game of the Lion's Tournament.

It should be a great game! Come out and see it if you can.

Calvary vs. Horizon 5/25/12 CIF D-5 Play-offs Round 2

Lions Outlast Horizon to Advance to CIF   Semi-Finals

The Calvary Lions advanced to the CIF semi-finals with a 10-3 win over a tough Horizon Panther squad in a a game that was much tighter than the final score indicates.
Horizon jumped ahead early when they took a 1-0 lead in the second and they held their slim margin until the bottom of the third when senior Sam Sheehan changed the momentum by blasting a 3-run home run to dead center to give Calvary the lead. Calvary added 2 more in the 5th to increase their lead to 5-1 but Horizon battled back in the 6th scoring two and putting the tying runs aboard before a big, and very unusual, defensive play ended the threat and swayed the momentum back into the Lion's court. Calvary capitalized by following with a 5-run outburst in their final at bat to put the game out of reach.
Calvary's ace Russell Harmening got the start and pitched 6 effective innings while picking up his 9th win of the year. He allowed 6 hits and 3 runs, walking none and striking out 10 Panther hitters. Sheehan finished the game off by tossing a scoreless 7th inning allowing one hit and striking out the side.
After Horizon took the early one run lead, Horizon's #1 pitcher John Lee struggled with his control and threw 8 straight balls to the first two hitters of the inning. He made the most of his control problems by picking off one of the Calvary baserunners but sophomore David Carpenter lined a single to left-center to keep the rally going putting runners on 1st and 2nd to set the stage for the Sheehan home run. With two outs, he lined the first pitch he saw deep over the center field fence to give Calvary the lead that they would never surrender.
They added their 4th and 5th runs when Sam Hebert fought off an inside pitch and fisted a pop-up over first that dropped for a one-out single. Junior outfielder David Flores, now almost fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered playing basketball for the Lions, launched a drive over the centerfielder's head for a double putting runners on second and third. Carpenter followed by rocketing a hard liner to center scoring both runners.
But Horizon was not to be outdone. Trailing by 4, they mounted a two-out, nobody-on, rally when sophomore Kalani Nakamura hit a liner just out of shortsop Connor Kollenda's diving reach for an infield single. 3rd hitter Lane O'Dea made it a game when he hit a Harmening fastball over the centerfield fence for a two-run shot tightening the score to 5-3. They got their 3rd hit in-a-row when David Case lined a hard single to left bringing the tying run to the plate in sophomore Brad Horkan who had already singled earlier in the game. He kept up his hot hitting when he hit an 0-1 pitch to right center that hit high on the outfield fence. The ball hit a pole and ricocheted away from centerfielder Sheehan. Carpenter hustled all the way from right field and picked up the ball and heaved it home from deep center to catcher Caleb Whitley. The throw was short and Whitley was forced to abandon home plate to retrieve the ball. Harmening, who was backing up home on the play, moved to the plate when Whitley went after the ball. Out of the corner of his eye, Whitley saw the runner stumble and without hesitation, he alertly fed the ball to Harmening who tagged the runner out for the third out of the inning, saving a run and ending the threat. It is not often when a catcher is the cutoff man to a play at the plate.
If the play had not been made, Horizon would have cut the lead to 5-4 with the tying run on second. But that wasn't the case and knowing they dodged a bullet, a fired-up Calvary returned to the dugout and put the game away by answering back with 5 big runs in the bottom of the 6th.
Matt Hartman started the rally with a short pop to right that fell for a lead single. Harmening then hit a hard liner directly to the rightfielder who dropped it for an error putting two runners on board. Following a deep lineout to left by Whitley and a strikeout, pinch hitter Alex Nurding laced a single to right for a 2-out clutch RBI knock. Sam Hebert blooped a single just inches from the shortstop's outreached glove for another run-scoring single. Back-to-back errors by the Panther shortstop on two Flores and Carpenter ground balls allowed two more to score giving Calvary a 10-3 lead.
The win puts Calvary at 26-5 on the year and gurantees them a spot in the CIF semi-final game for the second straight season.
Last year was a different story because Calvary had one loss and had to win the loser's bracket and beat Santa Fe Christian twice to advance to the finals. They eliminated Tri-City Christian in the loser's bracket and won the first game against Santa Fe 6-2 but lost a heartbreaker when, after battling back to tie the game at 3-3, Santa Fe won in the bottom of the last inning on a walk-off hit. Santa Fe won the CIF title the next day.
This year the cleats are on the opposite foot, Calvary is in the winner's bracket and their competition must go through the loser's bracket and then come back and beat Calvary twice.
Horizon and Foothills are the two remaining teams in the Calvary's bracket.
NOTE: Horizon beat Foothills by a score of 11-5. They will play Calvary on Tuesday at 4:00 at Calvin Christian in the semi-final game. If Horizon wins, they will play again on Thursday, same time and location. The CIF championship game is Friday, June 1st.

Calvary vs. San Diego Jewish Academy CIF D-5 Play-offs 5/23/12

Home run to center

   Power Surge Propels Lions in Playoffs
The Calvary Lions put on an offensive performance scoring 10 runs in the first two innings and adding another 8 in the 4th to lift them to an 18-1 victory over San Diego Jewish Academy in the first round of the CIF playoffs.

The top seeded Lions pounded out 19 hits including 8 for extra bases. Sophomore designated hitter Matt Hartman hit his second home run of the season, a two run shot over the centerfield fence in the second inning and sophomore Sam Athas and senior Connor Kollenda each hit their first career home runs, Athas a 2-run pinch-hit blast to dead center in the 4th inning and Kollenda added an opposite field solo shot two batters later.

Hartman and Russell Harmening each collected 3 hits to lead the attack. Hartman added a double and a single to his home run and Harmening singled, doubled, and tripled. Sam Sheehan and Caleb Whitley each had two hits, one of Whitley's a double.

In all, 13 different Calvary players got base hits as all 20 on the roster participated in the game. David Carpenter and Sam Hebert each hit doubles and Alex Nurding, Andrew Cummings, David Flores, Chase Kollenda and Anthony Martin all pitched in hits.

Starter David Carpenter was nearly flawless in 4 innings pitched. He gave up only 1 hit, an opposite field bloop single and he hit a batter. He allowed no runs, walked none and struck out 8.

Isaac Conover threw the 5th walking one and striking out two. Senior Brock Bentley threw the 6th and accomplished the rare feat of striking out 4 batters in the inning. Despite a stellar outing by Bentley his defense unfortunately let him down allowing an unearned run, spoiling Calvary's bid for their 13th shutout of the season.

The win advances the 25-5 Lions to the second round of the CIF playoffs where they take on a very tough Horizon squad on Friday. Horizon, the tournaments #4 seed, is coming off a first-round 5-0 victory over Foothills Christian.

The game will once again be at Calvin Christian, first pitch at 4:00. Be there if you can!

Calvary @ La Jolla Country Day 5/17/12

                                                   More Harmening Heroics
Led by co-captain Russell Harmening, the Calvary Christian Lions won a nail-biter beating the La Jolla Country Day Torreys 4-3 in the final regular season game.

Calvary led for the majority of the game until the Torreys fought back and tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Their comeback set the stage for some Harmening heroics when, in the top of the last inning, Harmening belted a solo shot over the left field fence that recaptured the Lion's lead which they never relinquished.

Harmening started on the mound for the Lions and threw 5 solid innings allowing only 4 hits, no walks while striking out 7. His only mistake came in the 4th inning when he elevated an 0-1 changeup to MLB prospect Sam Ayala who launched it deep over the right field fence. It was the first run Harmening has given up in his last 30 innings pitched.

He left with a 3-1 lead but failed to get his 9th win of the year when the Torreys tied it up after his departure.

After a scoreless 1st inning, Calvary managed to load the bases in the second inning but failed to get a run across. They got on the board in the 3rd when David Carpenter led off with a walk, moved to second on a Sam Sheehan groundout, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored when Matt Hartman bounced a ball to short that was misplayed for an error.

They made it 3-0 in the 4th when Isaac Conover singled up the middle to start the inning and Sam Hebert walked putting runners at 1st & 2nd. A David Flores ground ball forced Hebert at second putting runners at first and third. With two outs, Carpenter then singled to score Kallin Iwasaki who was pinch-running for Conover. Sheehan followed with a line single to right scoring Flores who would have been out easily at the plate but a wide throw to home allowed him to score Calvary's third run.

Ayala's home run in the bottom of the inning made it 3-1.

Both teams failed to score in the 5th and Harmening, who was at 86 pitches, was relieved by Carpenter.

Normally a starting pitcher, Carpenter, who had not walked a batter in his last three outings, struggled with his control. He managed to get two outs on a strikeout and sacrifice bunt, but a single and two walks loaded the bases and Carpenter was relieved by Sheehan.

The Torrey's brought in pinch hitter Ian Lutz who singled through the 5.5 hole scoring two to tie the game at 3-3. He got out of the inning when he got the final hitter to fly out to left.

With the momentum now clearly in the Torrey's court, Harmening snatched it back when he hit the first pitch he saw deep over the wall to reclaim the lead. It was Harmening's third home run of the year.

Sheehan settled in and threw a scoreless bottom of the 7th to secure the victory. Sheehan was the winning pitcher of the day improving his season mark to 5-1.

The game marked the end of the regular season for the Lions who finished with a 24-5 overall mark. They won the Citrus-West championship as well putting up their second straight undefeated league season at 8-0.

They move on the CIF playoffs where they were awarded the number 1 seed in Division 5. They will take on the winner of the play-in game between Julian and San Diego Jewish Academy. They will play Wednesday at 4:00 at Calvin Christian.

Calvary vs. Lutheran 5/15/12

              Seniors Celebrate with No-Hitter
On senior day, four Calvary Pitchers combined to no-hit the Lutheran Knights leading the Lions to their second straight undefeated league season in the Citrus-West conference.

Senior pitchers Isaac Conover, Brock Bentley, Connor Kollenda and Sam Sheehan held the Knights to no hits or runs, 3 walks and struck out 13 batters.

The four senior pitchers along with co-captains Russell Harmening and Sam Hebert, were honored in a pregame ceremony where they threw out the first pitch of the game with their mom's by their side on the mound and their dad's catching the pitch behind the plate.

The pre-game ceremonies, which delayed the normal start time of the game, put Calvary starter Conover a bit out of sync. He struggled with his release point and walked the first 3 batters he faced. But fortunately he settled in and two stellar defensive plays bailed him out of a potential disastrous situation.

After a failed bunt attempt, catcher Caleb Whitley picked the runner off first who was eventually put out as he attempted to advance to second. With two outs and two runners on, an apparent run-scoring single was hit to right, but home field advantage played a role because Calvary plays the right fielder shallow due to the short porch in right field. Because of the positioning, rightfielder David Flores saved the run by charging hard and throwing the batter out at first to end the inning with no damage done.

Calvary was held scoreless in the first but took the lead in the second when Harmening led off the inning by lining a deep double over the left fielder's head. Conover was hit by a pitch and with two outs, Kollenda made the most of senior day by lining a double into the left-center gap to score both runners giving Calvary a 2-0 lead.

Conover recuperated from his first inning control problems and struck out the side in order in his second, and final, inning of work. From that point on, Calvary pitchers were perfect, retiring 16 straight hitters before an infield error allowed a baserunner in the last inning.

Bentley pitched a very impressive 3rd and 4th innings working very quickly and striking out 4 of the 6 hitters he faced. Kollenda threw a 1-2-3 inning striking out one and Sheehan closed it out by throwing the last two innings and striking out 5. Sheehan threw 22 pitches in his outing and did not throw a ball. 22 pitches - all strikes.

Calvary added their third run in the 4th inning when Whitley reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and scored on a Hebert single.

They added their final two runs in the 6th when Whitley hit a hard liner deep to left that was dropped by the left fielder for an error. Once again he stole second scoring this time on a Conover single. Freshman Kallin Iwasaki came in to run for Conover and he promptly stole second and scored on another Hebert RBI single to finish the Lion's scoring.

The Lion's finished the Citrus-West with an 8-0 record. Including last year's undefeated 9-0 season, they have now won 22 consecutive league games dating back to the 2010 season.

The win was their 7th in a row and third shutout in a row. Their pitchers have now thrown 25 consecutive scoreless innings.

The 23-5 Lions play their final regular season game taking on highly ranked La Jolla Country Day on Thursday. The Torreys are the defending CIF Division 4 champions.

Calvary vs. Guajome 5/11/12

    Another Shutout, Another League Title
The Calvary Christian Lions clinched their second straight Citrus West League title by shutting out the 2nd place Guajome Park Academy Frogs 6-0.

Russell Harmening and Brock Bentley combined for Calvary's 11th shutout of the season. Harmening threw the first 6 innings and Bentley threw the final frame to close out the game. Combined they allowed only 2 hits, 2 walks and struck out 8. The shutout lowered the Calvary pitching staff's season ERA to a microscopic 1.19.

It was an historic day for Harmening because when he struckout Frog hitter Connor Roys looking in the 4th inning, it was his 300th career strikeout. He finished the game with 303 career strikeouts which puts him in the record books as 10th in CIF history.

Calvary came out swinging when David Carpenter lead off the game by hustling for his 12th infield hit of the season. A hard groundout by Sam Sheehan forced Carpenter at second. Sheehan stole second and Matt Hartman walked putting runners on 1st and 2nd for Harmening who lined an RBI single scoring Sheehan. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Caleb Whitley made them pay when he knocked them both in with a single through the third base hole giving Calvary an early 3-0 lead.

They added their 4th run in the 4th inning when Hartman and Harmening led off with back-to-back singles. Hartman later scored on an Isaac Conover RBI groundout.

They capped off their scoring by adding 2 more runs in the 5th inning when David Flores, who had already doubled in his first at bat, hit a deep ball to the right-center gap that he legged into a triple. He scored when Carpenter grounded to short and the ball was mishandled for an error. Carpenter came around to score on a Hartman sacrifice fly.

Calvary is now 22-5 on the year and is 7-0 in Citrus League play. They have two regular season games remaining, their final league game vs. Lutheran on Tuesday 5/15 at Calvin Christian and a non-league contest versus highly ranked La Jolla Country Day on Thursday 5/17 at 4:00 at La Jolla Country Day.

Tuesday's game will honor Calvary's 6 seniors. Be there if you can!

Calvary vs. Foothills 5/9/12

                                        Calvary Flattens Foothills
Sophomore lefthander David Carpenter gave himself the best birthday present ever by completely dominating the Foothills Christian Knight's offense by striking out all but 3 batters he faced. In 5 innings of work, he allowed only one hit and no walks while tallying 14 strikeouts.

His 17th birthday performance led Calvary to their 5th straight win, keeping them in sole possession of 1st place in the Citrus League West at 6-0. The Lions are now 21-5 overall.

Senior Sam Sheehan finished off the combined shutout by throwing 2 perfect innings of relief, striking out 3 Knight batters.

A good offense generates runs, creates momentum and capitalizes on their opponent's mistakes. This game epitomized that philosophy.

After Carpenter struck out out the first three batters of the game on only 10 pitches, Calvary seized the momentum and answered back with 5 runs in their half of the 1st inning. Carpenter started things off by banging a single down the first base line. Sheehan drew a walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd. After the next two batters were retired, Caleb Whitley hit a deep drive down the left field line that was dropped by the left fielder. Both runners took advantage of the mistake and raced home scoring on the error giving Calvary their first two runs. With Whitley at second base, Foothills attempted a pickoff and threw wildly to second and advanced to third, he scored when the wild throw was missed by the centerfielder for Foothill's third error of the inning.

Continuing to seize the momentum and take advantage of mistakes, Alex Nurding followed by drawing a walk, Isaac Conover was hit by a pitch and Sam Hebert drew his first of 3 walks on the day to load the bases. Junior David Flores, who is nearly recovered from the knee injury he suffered in basketball, drove in two when he lined a soft single over shortstop giving Calvary a quick 5-0 lead.

Calvary added 2 more in the second when Matt Hartman bounced an infield single just out of the
pitcher's reach, stole second base and scored on a Russell Harmening single through the 5.5 hole. Harmening scored when Whitley lined an RBI double just inside the left field line.

They added another in the 3rd when Hebert walked and Flores singled to put runners on first and second. Speedy Jordan Evans came in to run at second and scored when Sam Sheehan lined a solid single to left.

Two more scored in the 4th when Harmening and Whitley started the inning with consecutive walks. They advanced a base on a wild pitch and scored when Alex Nurding hit a hard single down the first base line.

Calvary's scoring concluded with a bang in the sixth when Harmening stepped up with two runners on and launched a line shot over the left field fence for a three-run home run. His 4 RBIs on the day give him a team-leading 30 which is one of the top totals in San Diego County.

They scored their final run when Andrew Cummings reached on an infield error and advanced around to score on an infield hit by Carpenter.

Calvary plays a big game on Friday against 2nd place Guajome Park Academy. The game will most likely determine the Citrus West league champion. They play at 3:15 at the Vista Sports Park.

Calvary @ La Jolla Country Day JV 5/7/12

Today we played La Jolla Country Day and pulled out a tough 1-0 win. I pitched all 7 innings and gave up 2 hits, walked none, hit one, and struck out 11. We played excellent defense which proved to be the deciding factor in the game. Second baseman Andrew Leakey made a good play on a hard hit ground ball in the first inning, Gordon Nixon made a good play on a pop up to shallow right field and he made a good baseball play in letting a potential bunt hit go foul. Andrew Cummings made a great play in center field when he ran in to make a very difficult catch on a shallow fly ball. Aaron Frazee caught a very good game, and Kallin Iwasaki made an awesome play on a chopper up the middle to make the last out of the game with the tying run at third.

Calvary @ Ocean View 5/4/12

Triple the Pleasure

The Calvary Lions won their 20th game of the year and set a CIF section record by pounding out 7 triples en route to a 23-1 shelling of Ocean View Christian in a Citrus-West League game.
The Lions, now 5-0 in league play, hit the ball hard all game long amassing a season-high 20 hits that included 11 that went for extra-bases. Not surprisingly the offensive attack was lead by Calvary's two most consistent offensive performer's Matt Hartman and Russell Harmening who had 4 and 3 hits respectively. The previous record of 6 triples in a game stood for over 16 years when St. Augustine played University City on 4/16/96. Calvary hit 7 and could have possibly had more because runners were being held back due to the lopsided score. It was not until the final innings of play that the the coaching staff was made aware of the record.
The first inning was an omen of what was to come because with two outs and no one on, Hartman, Harmening and Sam Sheehan hit three consecutive triples. They hit three more in the 4th inning when Hartman and Harmening once again hit back-to-back triples. Hartman actually scored on his ball after being stopped at third but ended up advancing to home when the ball was mishandled. Three batters later David Flores tied the record when he lofted a ball to the right-center power alley and legged out three bases. The record breaker came when Sam Athas lined a bullet to center that bounced untouched by the sprawling fielder and he rumbled all the way to third with number 7.
Once again the Lion pitching staff combined for another very good outing with 3 pitchers combining to allow 1 run on only 2 hits. The run was the first the staff has allowed in league play this season and broke a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless innings.
Senior righthander Isaac Conover got the start and threw 3 solid innings. He struggled with his control by walking batters in each inning but pitched out of any real trouble by striking out 6 Patriot batters in the start. He allowed 1 earned run and gave up both Patriot hits.
Senior Connor Kollenda picked up the win in relief by throwing 2 hitless innings and Harmening finished it off with 2 hitless innings of his own.
All 19 players in attendance got into the game and contributed to the victory. Kollenda had 3 hits, Flores and Sam Hebert each had 2 and Sheehan, Alex Nurding, Aaron Frazee, Gordon Nixon, Athas and Anthony Martin all added to the hit parade.
Calvary is now 20-5 overall and will take on two more league opponents this week with 3rd place Foothills Christian on Wednesday and 2nd place Guajome on Friday. In all likelihood, the Citrus League title will be determined this week.

PREP BASEBALL: Calvary Christian sets triples record in rout

SAN DIEGO ---- The CIF San Diego Section team record for triples in a game had stood for 16 years, and Vista Calvary Christian needed only four innings Friday afternoon to wipe it out of the books.
In a 23-1 thumping of Ocean View, the visiting Lions (20-5, 5-0 Citrus League West) collected a section-record seven triples. The previous mark was set by St. Augustine, which hit six triples on April 17, 1996 versus University City.
With one out in the fourth inning, Calvary Christian sophomore Sam Athas hit a two-run triple over the center fielder's head to give the Lions their seventh triple of the game.
By the end of the inning, the Lions held a comfortable 11-1 lead over league opponent Ocean View (3-10, 0-7).
"We were going station to station and not trying to run up the score (after four innings)," Calvary Christian coach Steve Whitley said. "I know of at least three different times where we held up a guy at second. I didn't know about the record until after the fact; it was a total surprise to me. We already won the game, so there was really no point in taking extra bases. It's hard enough to restrain your players; you still want them to swing the bat and hit the ball hard."
Russell Harmening and Matt Hartman led the Lions with two triples each.

PREP BASEBALL: Calvary Christian sets triples record in rout : North County Times - Californian

PREP BASEBALL: Calvary Christian sets triples record in rout : North County Times - Californian

Calvary @ Lutheran 5/2/12

 Lights Out for the Knight

Once again, solid pitching was the key as two Calvary pitchers combined for
their second consecutive shutout by defeating the Lutheran Knights 7-0 in
Citrus League action.

Sophomore lefty David Carpenter got the start and threw 5 solid innings
allowing 4 hits, walking none and striking out 12. Carpenter picked up the
win and Russell Harmening earned his 3rd save by tossing 2 innings of
hitless relief.

At the halfway point in league play, Calvary sits alone at the top of the
pack with a 4-0 record. Their pitching staff has yet to allow a run in
league play.

Calvary's offense was a bit sluggish on the day, they started nicely by
scoring one run in each of the first two innings before breaking it open in
the final inning when they scored 5.

In the first, junior Caleb Whitley hit a deep liner that bounced over the
left field fence for a one-out ground rule double. He scored the game's
first run when Calvary's hottest hitter Russell Harmening lined an RBI
single to left.

They added another in the second when Connor Kollenda and David Carpenter
hit back-to-back line shot doubles into the left field gap.

Calvary was held scoreless over the next 4 innings by Lutheran starter
Jordan Kirby, who was nowhere near over-powering, but he effectively worked
the top of the strike zone and coerced Calvary hitters into 13 pop-ups or
fly ball outs.

The score remained a tight 2-0 coming into the 7th before finally breaking
it open. Carpenter singled and stole second to start the rally and Whitley
drew a walk putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Lutheran saved themselves two
runs when centerfielder Johnny Iverson made a great running catch when Matt
Hartman smoked a deep liner over his head. Harmening then stepped up and
lined a one-hopper that handcuffed the second baseman who knocked the ball
down but it squirted away far enough the allow Carpenter to score and
Whitley to advance to third. A balk scored Whitley and advanced Harmening to
second. Things then fell apart for Lutheran as they walked 3 consecutive
hitters and made two errors. Calvary ended up with a total of 5 runs in the
inning with the fifth scoring on a Sam Hebert sacrifice fly.

Calvary moves to 19-5 overall and take on the last-place Ocean View Patriots
in an away game on Friday.

Calvary @ Lincoln 5/1/12

         No Sting in These Hornets


Lincoln High School who traditionally has one of the strongest athletic
programs in the county were no match for the small but mighty Lion's as
senior pitchers Sam Sheehan and Brock Bentley combined to shutout the
Hornets on Tuesday leading Calvary Christian to a sound 7-0 victory in a
non-league contest.

The two pitchers allowed only 3 hits, walked 4 and struck out 11 in a
dominating overall performance. Sheehan started and picked up his 4th win of
the season, not allowing a hit until the 4th inning. He struck out 8 and
lowered his ERA to 1.36 on the year. Bentley threw 3 innings and picked up
his first save of season lowering his ERA to 1.26.

The Lions started strong offensively, scoring runs in the first 4 innings.
Sheehan got things rolling when he blooped a single to right just out of the
infielder's reach. He stole second, the first of Calvary's 9 stolen bases on
the day, advanced to third when Matt Hartman's fly ball was misjudged by the
rightfielder and scored when Russell Harmening lined a sacrifice fly to
right.

They scored on another sacrifice fly in the second when Alex Nurding lead
off the inning by drawing a walk and worked his way around the bases and
scored when Brock Bentley had the RBI fly out.

They made it 4-0 in the third by adding two more to their lead leadoff
hitter David Carpenter dinked a ball that landed in front of the
centerfielder for a hit, stole second and advanced to third and scored on
two wild pitches. They scored their second when Hartman singled through the
thirdbaseman, stole second and scored when a Caleb Whitley groundball was
misplayed by the shortstop.

They finished off their scoring by adding 3 more in the fourth. Isaac
Conover drew a lead walk and freshman Andrew Leakey entered the game to run
for Conover. Carpenter followed with a walk putting runners on first and
second. Following a popup, Hartman hit a bouncer back to the pitcher who got
the lead runner at second but the shortstop threw the ball away attempting
to complete the double play allowing Leakey to score and Hartman to advance
into scoring position. Hartman scored when Harmening lined a solid single to
left. He advanced to second on the throw home and scored the game's final
run when Whitley doubled off the base of the left field fence.

The win puts Calvary's overall record at 18-5. They return to league play on
Wednesday when they face Lutheran High School. They are currently in first
place with a 3-0 record.