Baseball splits tournament wins, losses

The Ramona Bulldogs opened their baseball season in the Foothiller/Aztec Tournament. The Dawgs beat Eastlake High School and Helix High School and lost to Mater Dei and Steele Canyon.

“I was pleased with the individual improvements that the players made,” said Coach Dean Welch. “The individual improvement will lead to team success. We got better. We made mistakes, but they are correctable.”

Ramona opened the season with a 16-4 loss to Steele Canyon. The team made seven errors, mental and physical.

“We looked like it was our first game of the season,” deadpanned Coach Bob Snelling. It was.

Senior centerfielder Alex Muren provided most of the offense. He hit two home runs in four times at bats and drove in all four runs. Drake T. Blake and Brady Wilson were the only other Bulldogs to collect hits.

Cody Willingham got the start and took the loss. James Nicholson and Erik Ernst pitched in relief.

Willingham drew the start against Eastlake and evened his season record to 1-1 by going six innings in the win. He fanned seven Titans and allowed four hits in six innings. Ernst got the save by pitching an inning in relief. Ernst struck out two Eastlake batters.

Muren and Smiley Willeford led the offensive attack both collected three hits in four at bats. Willeford drove in three runs and Muren had two RBIs.

Drake,Wilson, Ian Hunt, Nicholson, Kyle Gray and Mike Studley also recorded base hits for the Dawgs. Hunt had two RBIs.

Muren got the start against Mater Dei and took the loss. Muren went the first four innings and gave up three earned runs. He fanned four. Nicholson finished the game on the hill and fanned four.

Ramona was in mid-season form against Helix High School. Mike Studley started on the bump for the Dawgs and scattered six hits and held the Highlanders to two runs in five innings. He fanned three. Willingham pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the win. He fanned four.

Wilson, Smiley, Willeford and Muren each contributed two hits to the offense. Muren hit a triple. Willeford and Ernst also contributed hits in the win.

Ramona scored the winning run in the seventh inning. With the score tied at two, Wilson singled with one down. Muren was given an intentional walk with two outs. Smiley made the Scotties pay with an RBI single. Willingham did the rest.