Thursday, June 14, 2012
Me Hitting
Monday, June 4, 2012
Calvary vs. The Rock Academy D-5 CIF Championship
The Calvary Christian Lions brought home the school's first-ever CIF section title with a solid 8-4 win over the Rock Academy Warriors on Friday in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Eastlake High School.
Even though CIF scheduled the game an hour's drive from campus, the trip was well worth it for all as #1 seed Calvary jumped into a commanding 4 run lead but the tenacious Rock players battled back to get within one run before the Lion's extended their lead and put the game away.
Senior ace Russell Harmening got the nod on the mound and perhaps came into the game a little too pumped up when his first pitch of the day struck the Warrior leadoff hitter. After bunting the runner to second, SDSU-bound junior Andy Brown lofted a soft single to center easily scoring the runner and giving the Rock a quick 1-0 lead. Brown advanced into scoring position but Harmening stepped up and struck out the next two hitters to extinguish the threat.
Calvary had a golden opportunity to jump back in the game when Rock starter Hudson Pearson had trouble settling in and walked the first two Calvary hitters but the Lions were unable to capitalize and two strikeouts and a groundout kept the score 1-0.
The Rock threatened by mounting a two-out rally in the top of the second but failed to score. Calvary answered right back with a two-out rally of their own. Connor Kollenda and David Flores drew consecutive walks and sophomore leadoff hitter David Carpenter tied the game at 1 apiece with a sharp line single to left. Kollenda barely snuck under the tag at the plate reaching past the catcher to score the tying run. Sam Sheehan followed with a bouncer to third that was mishandled by the thirdbaseman to load the bases. Sophomore Matt Hartman made them pay for the miscue when he fought off a two strike pitch and dunked a ball to right scoring Flores and Carpenter to give Calvary a 3-1 edge. Harmening then helped his own cause by lining a deep drive off the center field fence that cleared the bases and gave the Lions a solid 5-1 lead.
Normally, a 4-run lead is money in the bank for Harmening who has a career 1.84 ERA over the past 3 seasons. The Rock however, had other intentions. They answered right back when Brown hit a soft bouncer just out of Harmening's reach and reached base with a one out infield single.
The Rock is an extremely aggressive baserunning team and Calvary was prepared for it, but they failed to play what they practiced when Brown attempted a quick steal of second. Harmening stepped off and had the runner easily but the rushed throw to second was wide and he advanced on the error. Harmening momentarily regained his composure by striking out the next hitter for the second out. Brown, who finished the season with 30 stolen bases, then took advantage of a high leg kick and easily stole third. A rare lapse in control however by Harmening walked Michael Martinez, a hitter he struck out on 3 pitches his previous at-bat, putting runners on 1st and 3rd. James L'Esperance then delivered big for the Warriors as he launched a home run deep over the left field wall to tighten the score at 5-4 and a pumped-up Rock team was back in the game.
The Rock may be tenacious, but Calvary is too as they answered right back when Isaac Conover drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a Kollenda single and scored on a Flores groundout to give the Lions a bit of breathing room at 6-4.
From the point on, Harmening was determined to lead his team victory allowing only one baserunner, an infield hit, for the remainder of the game. After the 4th inning, Harmening came into the bench and told his coaches that "Finally, I am pitching - not just throwing".
Sam Sheehan extended Calvary's lead by another run when he blasted a solo-shot over the center field wall to lead off the 4th inning. It was his third home run of the year.
They added their 8th run in their last at bat when consecutive singles by Carpenter, Sheehan and Hartman accounted for their final run.
The game was not without incident however when a scary moment occurred in 6th inning when a Rock hitter hit a short popup in foul territory on the first base side. Harmening ran over to catch the ball, but the Rock hitter, running on the foul ball, laid out Harmening who hit the ground. The batter was called out on interference but what originally appeared to be a serious injury, ended up with Harmening having the breath knocked out of him.
Afterward, Harmening said the pain moved from his arm to his chest and he cruised through the remainder of the game. He picked up his 10th victory of the year, allowing 6 hits, 1 walk and striking out 12 to cap off a stellar high school career.
The title was Calvary's first, in any sport, in the school's 20+ year history. The Lions finished the season with a 28-5 record with an undefeated league championship and Lion's Tournament and CIF Championship trophies in hand.
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