Tournament Round-up's

Lompoc's Chris Mallory (shown at left from earlier this year) was in the thick of the action for the Braves at the Anaheim Lions Tournament.




The Cabrillo varsity softball team returns to action Friday & Saturday at the Arroyo Grande Tournament, and both schools baseball JV squads will participate in part two of the Righetti tourney on Saturday. But here's what happened to the teams already mixin' it up...

Baseball

Lompoc [4-10]

They beat THEM ?!?! How did that happen ?
The Braves went to the Anaheim Lions Tournament in Orange County, and were served up as the sacrificial lambs - but refused to play along with the schedule makers. This is a huge tourney with 46 teams (including national #1, Calvary Hall of Baltimore MD) playing 115 games at a dozen sites.

The Braves played:
a) @ Valley Christian (Cerritos) 3:30 Monday - Won 9-4
b) Aliso Niguel 7:30 Monday @ Brookhurst Park - Lost 3-2
c) Anaheim 10:00 am Tuesday @ Glover Stadium - Lost 5-4
d) Wilson (Long Beach) 4:30 @ Boysen Park - Won 9-5
e) Chaminade 10:00 am Wednesday @ Brookhurst Park - Lost 3-7
In the latest CIF poll (3/17) LB Wilson, the pre-season national #1, is ranked #2 in Div.I, and Aliso Niguel is 7th in the same division.

Lompoc opened against Valley Christian on their home field. Although struggling somewhat this year, the Crusaders were 20 game winners a year ago and are always considered a "tough out". Tuesday afternoon, however, they were treated to the Dalton Rouleau show. Rouleau went 3-4 with 2 homers, drove in 6 of Lompoc's 8 RBI's, and scored 2 of their 9 runs. But Dalton also brought his friends with him - Daniel Mallory had a solo shot while going 2-4, Brandon Alonzo was 2-4 with a double, Chris Mallory scored 3 runs and hit a triple, Jeremy Friend hit an RBI double in his only plate appearance, Kevin Erickson scored two runs, and Cody Berryman had a double. Meanwhile, Daniel Dunaetz pitched 5 solid innings, scattering 6 hits, striking out 4, walking none, and giving up one earned run. Ritchie Hirzel struggled a bit in relief (two hit batters, 3 hits, and three earned runs) in the last two innings, but was able to close out the Crusaders for the Lompoc win.

[Corrected] Tuesday evening, against Aliso Niguel, they fell just short - losing 3-2. After giving up runs in the 2nd, 3rd, & 6th innings, they rallied with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Unfortunately, the Wolverines were able to hold on for the win. Lompoc's Cody Berryman posted the complete game, surrendering three runs (two earned) on nine hits. Cody struck out three, walked none, but hit one batter. Unfortunately his counterpart, Brian Carcerano, held the Braves offense in check, allowing two earned runs on 5 hits and two walks, while striking out eleven, before handing the ball to Josh Lee for a scoreless seventh. Lee faced four batters, and walked one. Kevin Ericksen was 2-3 with an RBI - Chris Mallory drove in the other run. Brandon Alonzo & Jamel Whitaker scored.

Game #3 versus Tournament host Anaheim was a contest that the Braves almost walked away with - literally. Lompoc recieved eight free passes (Matt Samaniego-3, C. Mallory - 2) plus one hit batter (also C. Mallory). Unfortunately, they were unable to take advantage of all their opportunities. They had seven hits and scored four runs (Erickson, Alonzo, C. Mallory - 2), but when Alonzo homered - it was a solo shot. Scotty Aguailar went 2-3 with two of the three RBI's the team posted. Kevin Ericksen was 2-4. Ryan Bower started and went five innings, but was not helped by the defense. Despite giving up four hits and two walks, two of the three runs he allowed were unearned, he struck out one. Ritchie Hirzel (2 innings) & Brandon Alonzo each gave up a run in relief. Hirzel's was earned, as he allowed three hits and a walk, but Alonzo took the loss on 1 hit and a hit batter.

The game they were most unlikely to win - they did !! Get this- Wilson is the Pre-season #1 in the country before losing to giant killer Katella (they knocked off the current #1 Calvary Hall in this tourney), 2nd in CIF-SS Div I, the Braves commit five errors, get six hits in 27 at bats, and score nine runs ? How? Well, first get a great performance on the mound. Check. Dalton Rouleau went the full seven, struck out nine, walked none, scattered eight hits in 33 at-bats, and gave up five runs but only two earned. Only five of the 14 players the Bruins sent to the plate got hits, and one (Max McEleney) had three of their four RBI's. Second, have the other team make mistakes too. Check. Wilson only had one error, but they allowed eight walks. Third, get timely hitting. Check again. Kevin Ericksen received three of the walks, and hit a triple in his other trip to the plate. He batted in three runs and scored two. D. Mallory, Berryman, & Rouleau all hit doubles (on 4 hits) and accounted for 3 runs scored and 2 batted in, while Aguailar had 2 RBI and scored a run. The only other blemishes on the Bruins record this year are: the 3-1 loss to Katella in their second game, a 5-4 loss to Millikan last week, and a 7-7 tie with Kennedy earlier in the day.

I guess the fifth game (Chaminade) was a bit of a "hangover" game - it definitely wasn't pretty. The Eagles, from the Mission League (Serra, et al), hit .174 (4-23), had two RBI, committed two errors, walked four, and allowed two earned runs of three scored. The Braves hit .222 (6-27), had two RBI, committed two errors, walked three, hit four batters. Pitchers Rudy Yregas (5 innings/six runs) & Ritchie Hirzel had seven unearned runs scored on them. Berryman hit a triple and Ericksen hit a double.

It would seem that when the Braves play well they can play with the best, but that when they don't play well they can lose to anybody. They take on Santa Barbara next Tuesday, then resume LPL action at Morro Bay on Friday.

Cabrillo [5-8]

The Conquistadors have been at the Righetti Spring Tournament. They opened with Dos Pueblos at home on Tuesday, losing a slugfest 16-12 [Story]. Lost to Palm Desert 7-1, in a game moved to the CHS campus, by allowing six runs in the second inning [Story]. And finished 2nd in the ugly contest - besting the Santa Maria Saints 11-5 Thursday at Righetti High School [Story]. Cabrillo plays Santa Barbara in tournament action Friday at 1 pm, then jumps back into the LPL playing Morro Bay next Tuesday.

Softball

Lompoc

The Braves experiened an all or nothing week at the "Best of the West" tourney. They either shut their opponents out or were shut out themselves. Tuesday they had one of each - losing to Madera 6-0 before beating Righetti 6-0 [Story]. Day 2 results were not happy ones - a 10-0 loss to Buchanan (Clovis) followed by a 5-0 loss to Buena. It was the second Lompoc loss to the Bulldogs this year, they also lost 9-2 on March 1st.

On the third day (Thursday), the Braves did what the coaches have been preaching all season - swing the bat! The staff has been telling the girls to put the ball in play and force the other team to make a play. It certainly worked in this one as they defeated Santa Maria 10-0 after scoring six first inning runs without a hit. The game was shortened by the 10-run rule.[Story - later in article]--- el stato