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Baseball: Ramona wins 3rd straight league title

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Ramona High School’s baseball team won its third consecutive Valley League championship.

A pair of wins May 17 and May 19 against Orange Glen ended Ramona’s regular season. The Bulldogs had a 13-2 league record along with a 17-12 overall mark.

“I think it’s pretty darn impressive how the team came along this year,” said coach Dean Welch.

Ramona entered league play with a 4-10 record.

“A lot of kids on our roster have improved so much,” Welch said.

The league results included two victories in Ramona’s three games against Oceanside. Those league losses were the only ones this year for the Pirates, who also finished with a 13-2 league record, and since Ramona won the majority of games against Oceanside the Bulldogs earned designated league champion status, which ensured a CIF Division II playoff game.

Ramona’s May 17 game at Orange Glen ended not only as a 6-0 Bulldogs victory but also as a no-hitter for Matt Abruzzo.

“That was just simply awesome. He was just completely dialed in and it’s a tremendous feat to throw a no-hitter at the varsity level,” Welch said.

Abruzzo only walked one opposing batter and struck out 14 Patriots.

“It was a sharp, crisp ballgame,” Welch said.

The May 19 game at Ramona was Senior Day for the Bulldogs. Welch utilized seniors and the rest of his 15-player roster as much as possible, although that roster was too small for all Ramona starters to be benched and the final score was 32-0 in Ramona’s favor.

“No one likes to see that,” Welch said. “You don’t do anything to run up the score.”

Ramona had an 18-0 lead after three innings and the game’s final eight runs were scored in the bottom of the sixth.

“We took nothing for granted going in,” Welch said.

The large lead allowed Welch to maximize his seniors’ play.

“Everybody was getting in,” he said. “That was a good thing about the score being what it was.”

Travis Marinshaw and Tyler Dick shared pitching duties for the Bulldogs. They allowed a combined two hits and one walk while obtaining 11 strikeouts.

Dejan Lee had a single, a home run, two walks drawn, a trip to first base as a hit batter, four runs batted in, and six runs scored.

“He’s just been an offensive machine for us all year,” Welch said.

Todd Roberts added four hits, three runs scored, and five runs batted in. Dylan Spacke had a double, a home run, three runs scored, and three runs batted in.

“It’s been a great year,” Welch said.

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