Cats go wild on Coyotes
Prep baseball: Six West Ranch pitchers see action in road game
West Ranch baseball beat Calabasas High 13-1 in a Valley Invitational Baseball League game at Calabasas on Wednesday.
The Wildcats scored nine runs in the second inning, a series that began with an unearned run and ended with a two-run double from Nick Balingit, a transfer from Valencia.
“We’re looking forward to watching (Balingit) play and see if he gels well with our other players,” said West Ranch coach Casey Burrill. “And we only have a couple more weeks in the summer. The next couple weeks will be important for him.”
West Ranch scored one run in both the third and fourth innings, then two in the fifth thanks to a Ryan Perez RBI single and a Ryan Camacho RBI double.
The Coyotes scored their lone run in the sixth inning off an RBI single.
Balingit finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Camacho went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while his brother Jovan
was 1-for-3 with one RBI.
“It looks like the game is just easier for them,” Burrill said of the Camachos. “It looks like they’re settled in, they’re taking some leadership roles, they’re getting good jumps on balls in the outfield. Better handle of the strike zone at the plate.”
The Wildcats used the game as an opportunity to display depth by playing six different pitchers – with Vincent Rojas the only arm to see two innings – and rotating a handful of infielders.
“It was one of the better defensive games we’ve had all season long,” Burrill said. “Because we had a chance to play everyone that was there today, we got a pretty good rotation of four, five infielders. All of those guys played very well today.”
This weekend, West Ranch travels to Orange County to play in the Dana Hills Orange County Summer Tournament, a tournament that features teams from Orange County, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Fresno and San Jose.
It’s the fourth of five tournaments the Wildcats will play this summer.
“It has a great reputation for good baseball, and every year we’ve seen several college coaches out there watching some good SoCal baseball,” Burrill said. “We always look forward to going.”