Three weeks remain in regular season for local teams —
In their first meeting against Temecula Valley, roughly a month ago, the Vista Murrieta baseball team allowed three first inning runs en route to a 6-2 defeat. In their second meeting, early last week, it was the Broncos getting off to a fast start by scoring five first inning runs on the way to their 9-4 victory. Game three of the series took place Thursday, April 7, at Temecula Valley High School, and the rubber match went the way of the Golden Bears, 4-0.
Where did the two teams sit after Temecula Valley won the series? In the exact same place they were before the two games took place last week, both tied for first place. Vista Murrieta’s only two league losses came at the hands of the Golden Bears thus far, and Temecula Valley has lost to Chaparral, and now Vista Murrieta.
In other Southwestern League games, Great Oak won their three-game series outright over Murrieta Valley with a 9-0 victory early in the week that saw the long ball from Michael Rodda, Christian Smith and Gavin Fien. Shea Lake threw six shutout innings for the Wolfpack, while Lucas Smith capped that first game with his inning of solid relief. The third and final win came later in the week by a score of 11-2. The Wolfpack has now won five straight games and sit only one game back of first place in the standings.
Murrieta Mesa got back in the win column after dropping five straight league games. Senior outfielder Derek Hurtado put the Rams ahead 1-0 with his solo shot off Chaparral Puma starting pitcher Kameron Brodeur in the third inning of their first game last week. Chaparral’s Cody Stordahl would single and eventually score to tie things up in the fifth inning before relief pitcher Brady Pavlosky gave up 3 runs to Murrieta Mesa in the sixth. With a 4-2 win, the Rams, who were led at the plate by Jared Joachim (2-3, RBI), a senior transfer from Chaparral, evened the series at one game apiece as the rubber match approached. In their final meetup, the Rams and Pumas would go back-and-forth all game before C.J. Moran put the Rams ahead by one-run when he went deep in the bottom of the sixth inning. Murrieta Mesa held on to win 9-8.
A quick look at the SWL standings shows Vista Murrieta (7-2), Temecula Valley (7-2) and Great Oak (6-3) in a tight race at the top, while the fight to stay out of last place has Murrieta Mesa (3-6) ahead of Chaparral and Murrieta Valley by one game. The Nighthawks and Pumas are tied at 2-7. Temecula Valley’s Zach Anderson is currently leading the Southwestern league with 18 hits, tops the league with 29 hits overall and has a league leading .621 batting average. Great Oak’s Shea Lake is leading the league on the mound with a 0.56 ERA in 25 innings of work and has 17 Ks with 4 wins and zero losses.
In other area action, Temecula Prep is way out in front of the South Valley League with a 6-0 record, Hemet has control of the Inland Valley League with their 6-1-1 record, Temescal Canyon is alone at the top of the Ivy League standings with their 6-2 record and Tahquitz is undefeated at 8-0 in the Mountain Pass League.
Linfield Christian is the only Ambassador League team in our coverage area and finds themselves in second place sporting a 5-2 record and Rancho Christian is competing in the Freelance League, so no standings are being built for their 5-14 record.
With three weeks remaining in the regular season, here is a look at the standings for local teams, heading into the week of April 11. The following standings are for teams inside the Valley News coverage area and posted from www.maxpreps.com.
Baseball Standings
South Valley League (Overall, League)
Temecula Prep – 11-6, 6-0
Nuview Bridge – 5-8-1, 2-1-1
Santa Rosa Academy – 4-9, 3-2
San Jacinto Valley Academy – 1-4, 1-3
Cal. Mil. Institute – 0-3-1, 0-3-1
Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic School – 0-3
Inland Valley League (Overall, League)
Hemet – 8-6-1, 6-1-1
Lakeside – 11-10, 4-2
Elsinore – 13-7, 5-3
Notre Dame – 4-8-1, 2-5-1
Vista del Lago – 2-9, 0-6
Ivy League (Overall, League)
Temescal Canyon – 11-9, 6-2
Riverside Poly – 9-10, 4-2
Paloma Valley – 10-9, 4-4
Canyon Springs – 3-19, 3-5
JW North – 7-15, 1-5
Mountain Pass League (Overall, League)
Tahquitz – 15-2, 8-0
Citrus Hill – 12-4, 6-2
San Jacinto – 12-9, 4-4
West Valley – 12-9, 2-6
Perris – 0-15, 0-8
Other Area Teams
Linfield Christian (16-3), currently 5-2 and in second place in the Ambassador League
Rancho Christian (5-14), currently competing in the Freelance League
*Photos and sports scores/stats can be submitted to sports@reedermedia.com.
Derryl Trujillo and Valley News Sports Editor JP Raineri both contributed to this article. Trujillo can be reached at socaltrekkie@gmail.com. Raineri can be reached at jp@reedermedia.com.Â
