Barry Faulkner
The Hesperia High Scorpions come from a desert locale, but there may
not be too many environments more sweltering than the site they drove
nearly 100 miles to play their CIF Southern Section Division IV
first-round baseball playoff game Friday.
Oh sure, the CdM High diamond is frequently visited by offshore
breezes. But the blazing bats being swung by the Sea Kings have been
enough, of late, to scorch at least opposing pitching. The Sea Kings'
19-3 victory, which ended a three-game postseason losing streak,
provided ample proof of the hosts' "ping" prowess. They bashed 19
hits against four Scorpion hurlers to advance to Tuesday's second
round against Temple City. The site of Tuesday's game will be
determined by a coin flip today.
"Looking at our [Pacific Coast League] stats, we averaged more
than eight runs [in 15 games], so I don't know if it's so much that
we're hot, as it is we can just flat hit," said CdM Coach John Emme
after watching his squad post its highest single-game scoring output
of the season. Its previous best was a 15-1 trouncing of Laguna
Beach.
"We played like we practiced all week," Emme said "I don't know if
I've ever been able to say our hitting was dominant, but we put 18
runs on the board against our front-line pitching in our intrasquad
scrimmage Tuesday. So, I had a sneaky suspicion we'd come out and hit
well today."
The PCL champions (18-7) didn't wait long -- exactly three
pitches, in fact -- to start the scoring parade. Senior Keith Long
doubled over the right fielder's head on the second pitch from
Hesperia starter Danny Schubert, then Josh Bradbury drilled the first
pitch he saw into the right-field corner for an RBI double and a 1-0
lead. Bradbury went to third on a groundout, then scored on a wild
pitch, before Schubert retired the side without further damage.
Senior designated hitter Nick Karpe, did most of the damage in the
second, after Hesperia scored to halve the deficit. Karpe, whose
late-season power surge has allowed him to join Bradbury and Long
among the team's sultans of swing, came to the plate with the bases
loaded, after Hesperia Coach Shannon Hansen lifted Schubert, a senior
lefty, for junior right-hander Ryan Ferrer. Karpe lifted what
appeared to be a lazy fly ball to right field. But it carried over
the fence for a grand slam and the Sea Kings, duly inspired,
proceeded to make it a blowout.
"I figured I at least had an RBI [with a sacrifice fly]," Karpe
said of his fifth homer of the season.
