Ramona High baseball wins two of three games in Lions Tournament

By Bill Tamburrino

Ramona won two out of three games in pool play in the Lions Tournament and tied for first place in their pool. The Bulldogs, however, did not advance to the semifinals due to a tiebreaker.

The Dawgs struggled at the plate in the opening game but their bats came alive in the final two games. The Dawgs are now 6-5 on the season.

Kyle Wilson turned in an outstanding pitching performance but the Bulldog offense was limited to two hits by Scripps Ranch’s Mason Kellet as the Bulldogs lost their first game in pool play in the Lions Tournament 3-2.

The Dawgs scored two unearned runs in the top of the third inning to take a 2-1 lead. Gage Canning and Joey Belluso both reached on errors and advanced on a double steal. Jordan Farhat then delivered a two out, two RBI single. Ramona’s only other hit was a single by Canning as the Bulldogs struck out eight times in the game.

Wilson went the distance and gave up three runs on six hits and struck out four.

“Wilson pitched well. It is a shame that we didn’t give him some runs to work with. He had command of all of his pitches and battled every batter,” said pitching coach Josh Lohman.

Wilson paced the offense in a 9-4 win over Santa Monica High School at Rocky Lawler Field. Wilson had a 2-for-3 outing. He initiated the offense with a bases loaded double in the first inning that was good for three RBIs that gave the Dawgs a lead they would not relinquish.

Canning went 2-for-4 with an RBI. He never stopped at first base as he stroked a double and a triple. Farhat had a 2-for-2 day. Kevin Hagan went 1-for-3 with a two RBI triple. Henry Flecker and CJ Broussard also contributed hits to the attack.

Senior Rhett Williams went the distance on the mound and gave up three earned runs on six hits and fanned five. He did not walk a Viking.

“My two seam fastball was my go to pitch. It had a lot of movement and produced a lot of ground balls that the infielders made plays on,” said Williams after the game.

Taylor Burger came out of the bullpen and slammed the door shut on the San Marcos offense to earn a victory in relief as the Bulldogs ended the Lions Tournament with a 10-7 win.

Burger came in with the game tied and went the final two and two-thirds innings and gave up one hit and struck out four. Broussard got the start and went five and a third innings and gave up seven runs on nine hits as he struck out three.

Hagan and Fitzpatrick were the hitting stars as both had three hit outings. Fitzpatrick drove in four runs. Canning and Flecker also had multiple hits. Both Bulldogs ripped two hits apiece. Canning had the big blast of the day with a home run. Joel Mitchell and Broussard also contributed a hit apiece to the offense.

“It was a good tournament. The Lions Tournament is one of the biggest and oldest tournaments in the nation. We broke out of a slump and had some good approaches at the plate in the final two games. Wilson pitched well in our loss. We are making progress and improving. We have played a demanding schedule which will help us in league play,” stated coach Dean Welch.

Welch played in three Lions Tournaments. Coaches Josh Lohman and Mike Schuler also played in the Lions Tournament. Coach Tom Jamison played high school ball in the Los Angeles area.