BY DERRYL TRUJILLO —
NORCO – Last week three area baseball teams participated in Norco’s Darryl Kile tournament at Don Harris Field. The tournament honors the former alum who died of coronary artery disease in 2002, at the age of 33, while playing with the St. Louis Cardinals. One local team reached the finals while another was tantalizingly close to the final and a coach picked up a milestone win.
Paloma Valley: The Wildcats reached the championship game by defeating Great Oak 7-5, Hillcrest 13-2 and Kaiser 4-1.
In the final game, Paloma Valley’s Brendan Moore got the start and went five innings on the bump allowing six runs on seven hits. He pitched well enough to keep the Wildcats in the game but two Norco home runs by catcher Cole Hansen and relief pitcher Jacob Kruswicki were too much to overcome. Paloma Valley fell 6-2 and now looks to resume Ivy League play on Thursday and Friday against JW North (4/7 in Riverside and 4/8 at home).
Wildcats coach Jason Berni remarked, “It was a good week. We saw guys step up when given opportunities and with such a young group that is exactly what you want to see. Brendan did a fantastic job against an excellent lineup, and I was super proud of him for giving us an opportunity in that game. We just didn’t come through at the plate, but I like where we are right now.”
Great Oak: The Wolfpack fell 7-5 against Paloma Valley in their pool play opener on Wednesday but defeated Kaiser 4-1 and Hillcrest 11-0 to go 2-1. In their final game, they played Riverside Poly and defeated the Bears 11-2 scoring runs in six of the seven innings for their eleventh win of the year.
For head coach Eric Morton it marked a milestone in career win number 300 between a stint at San Marcos High School and his tenure leading the Wolfpack.
“I’m so proud and thankful to have reached the milestone of picking up my 300th win,” Morton said via social media. “I’m so blessed to have had amazing players, parents, administrators, coaches and a family who have been part of this journey at both Great Oak and San Marcos.”
Great Oak returns to Southwestern League action against Murrieta Valley on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.
Vista Murrieta: The Broncos opened pool play with a 5-0 victory over Riverside Poly and then split a pair of one-run games on Thursday and Friday defeating Charter Oak 4-3 and falling to Norco 5-4.
In the Norco game they trailed 4-0 before coming within inches of reaching the tournament finals on two separate occasions. They fell on Saturday to a Kaiser team that is undefeated in Sunkist League play by a final score of 4-2.
It is a key week in the Southwestern League race as the Broncos play Temecula Valley, the team they share first place with, starting Tuesday at home and Thursday at TV.
Derryl Trujillo can be reached at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
