FALCONS HOLD ON AFTER FAST START

A five-hit, five-run first inning — helped along by a walk, four wild pitches and a passed ball — could well change the road to the Coastal North County League baseball championship.

Torrey Pines High followed that five-run first inning with three more runs in the second and escaped with a 10-5 win Saturday afternoon over No. 1 San Marcos.

Now, after winning the three-game series with San Marcos two games to one and with seven league games remaining in the season, the No. 8-ranked Falcons (14-7, 6-2) control their destiny in the league.

Torrey Pines has a pair of three-game series against Rancho Bernardo (13-8, 4-4) and Carlsbad (9-11, 3-5), and a single league game against Poway (11-10, 3-5) remaining.

San Marcos has three games against Poway, three against La Costa Canyon (12-8, 2-6) and a single game against Carlsbad left to play.

“All we wanted was to give ourselves a chance to win this thing,” said Torrey Pines coach Tommy Simis after the Falcons won 7-1 over San Marcos (15-3-1, 6-2) on Thursday after losing the first game 4-3 on Tuesday.

“We were on a little bit of a slide coming into this series (losing four of the last five), but the guys like this Tuesday-thursday-saturday deal. It allows you to get into a rhythm.”

Torrey Pines 10, San Marcos 5

Trailing 10-1, San Marcos rallied for four runs in the fifth and had a runner on when Simis summoned junior left-hander Dougie Jutronich from the bullpen.

Jutronich, who had thrown two innings all season and hadn’t appeared in a game since March 24, retired the next two batters on fly balls to get out of the inning.

He retired the side in order in the sixth, and got the first two batters in the seventh before a two-out walk.

He finished the game in style with a strikeout — his first of the season — saving the game for starter Grayson Bonanno (3-0).

“I’m not a strikeout pitcher,” said Jutronich. “I’m not exactly that guy. But I get the job done.”

For San Marcos, Ryan Rivera had a single, triple and walked; Brett Williams had a single and double; and Conner Gomez drove in two.

Torrey Pines got a huge offensive contribution from catcher Junior Barajas.

The left-handed hitting Barajas had a two-rbi single in the first inning, a two-rbi single in the second inning and a long two-run homer in the fourth to give him a sixrbi game.

“This is a huge win because San Marcos has a great team,” Barajas said. “We got off to a hot start and kept the pressure on.”

john.maffei@sduniontribune.com