Eagles Varsity Baseball Out Hits Hillers

The Granite Hills Varsity Baseball team defeats the Grossmont Foothillers with a score of 6-3 on May 8, 2019. The Eagles’ win over the Foothillers completes the four game Granite Hills vs. Grossmont series leaving the Eagles with a 3-1 series victory.

To kick off the ballgame, Granite Hills started off by tracking down fly balls, and didn’t take long for pitcher, Noa Ponciano (21), to throw his first strikeout to send the Eagles to bat. Granite Hills’ lead-off hitter Ryan Fenn (20) layed down a bunt single to start off. Soon after, the Foothiller’s defense ended the inning leaving the game scoreless.

By the bottom of the second inning, the Eagles scored off an RBI single from outfielder Austin Smith (21), giving us a 1-0 early lead.

Three outs later, Grossmont found themselves with a runner on and a solid hitter at bat. With the following few pitches, the batter sent a home run to deep right field scoring in 2 runs and putting themselves ahead.

In the bottom of the third inning, Granite Hills started off with a quick two outs, and retook the lead on a two-out rally. A single up the middle from Fenn sparked it all, after being followed by a five pitch walk and some talk from the Eagle’s bench that continued to get in the pitcher’s head. As third baseman Sean McGrew (19) stepped to the plate, he sent a shot to center field for a double, scoring in the two base runners, and match the the foothiller’s two run inning. By the end of the third, the Eagles lead 3-2.

By the top of the fifth inning, Grossmont tied up the game with a single to center field. After two walks and a game tying single, Austin Smith was put into relief pitch the rest of the game. With the pitching replacement, it was followed by a quick two outs to end the inning with a score of 3-3.

While the sixth inning came, it gave a quick three outs to Grossmont, and a long three-run rally to the Eagles. Starting the bottom the sixth inning, Granite Hills drew back-to-back walks, which resulted in a pitching change for the Foothillers. With an RBI base knock from outfielder, Clay Fordham (20), and another from Austin Smith, Granite Hills scored another two runs. Following the two singles, came another pair of walks which scored Fordham gave the Eagles a 6-3 lead by the end of the sixth.

With a speedy seventh inning, the Eagles take the victory with a three up three down inning. A two RBI performance from Austin Smith, along with his four tallied strikeouts, helped Granite Hills tremendously in defeating Grossmont High School and leaving their season off with a victory.