Ramona opens league play by sweeping Mt. Carmel
Ramona opened Valley League play with a sweep of Mt. Carmel High School and lost to San Marcos as the Dawgs played three games in the opening week.
The Dawgs are now 12-6 on the year and are 2-1 in the Valley League.
Cody Willingham got the start in the league opener on the road and pitched five innings of shutout ball before tiring. Willingham went six and two-thirds innings and picked up the win. He gave up six hits and two earned runs.
He added to his North County leading strikeout total by fanning 12 Sundevils. Willingham is now 5-1 on the season and is 1-0 in league play.
Jason Snodgrass came in in relief in the seventh inning and picked up a save.
Ramona scored solo runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-0 lead. The Sundevils scored a run in the sixth to make it a 3-1 contest. The Dawgs scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning, but Mt. Carmel rallied for four runs in the bottom of the frame and had the winning run on base when the game ended.
Kyle Gray led the Bulldog offense. He went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and scored a run.
Jackson Willeford turned in a 3-for-4 performance and scored two runs. Blake Drake had a multiple hit game going 2-for-4. Drake had two RBIs and scored two runs. Smiley Willeford, Beau Sulser and James Nicholson collected one hit apiece for the Dawgs. Nicholson had an RBI double.
Erik Ernst pitched his best game of the season as he handcuffed Mt. Carmel in a 6-1 win and picked up his fourth win against one loss. Ernst went the distance at home and limited the Sundevils to one earned run on three hits. He struck out seven and only walked one.
Jackson Willeford had a big day at the plate. The sophomore shortstop went 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBIs and scored three runs. Sulser also had a multiple hit performance. Sulser went 2-for-4 with two doubles.
Brady Wilson, Smiley Willeford, Drake and Michael Scodellaro had hits in the victory. Scodellaro had an RBI.
The Bulldogs outhit San Marcos but committed four errors and gave up four unearned runs in a 6-4 home loss to San Marcos.
Sulser started for the Dawgs and took the loss. He went five and a third innings and gave up two earned runs on seven hits and struck out three.
Snodgrass came in as relief and struck out two in an inning and a third.
The Bulldogs picked up 10 hits in the game. Smiley Willeford went 2-for-4 with an RBI. He also made the defensive play of the game as he held on to a throw from Drake as he was being run over by a Knight runner. The runner was ejected for the collision. Nicholson went 2-for-3. Wilson, Jackson Willeford, Sulser, Drake, Gray and Shea Bailey also contributed hits in the game. Wilson had two RBIs.