Grizzlies’ shaky start
Prep baseball: Golden Valley struggles to recover from early deficit
In the fourth game of their VIBL season, Golden Valley baseball hosted the El Camino Real Conquistadors at Golden Valley on Monday.
Falling behind in the first inning, thanks to two RBI singles and a two-run home run by El Camino’s Parker Tuszynki, the Grizzlies just couldn’t muster up enough hits or runs falling on the day 11-4.
Down 4-0 in the bottom of the first, the Grizzlies were able to counter the Conquistadors’ early runs by scoring a run of their own after a walk to Dylan Daszek and Joshua Lee’s RBI double to bring in Daszek from second base.
After an Alex Stemple single, the Grizzlies looked like they were in prime scoring position with runners on first and third. The thought was short-lived.
Stemple tried to steal second and thanks to some quick thinking by the El Camino catcher was caught and thrown out at second base to end the inning for the Grizzlies.
“There were a lot of lessons to be learned,” said Golden Valley head coach Matt Sorensen. “I felt that we took a step forward today in terms of situational baseball.”
Using four pitchers against the Conquistadors on the day, the Grizzlies’ starting pitcher Daniel Goodwin held tough and was able to retire two of the next three batters he faced for a one-two-three second inning.
“I have an idea of what it is, but it’s still an open competition,” Sorensen said about the pitching rotation. “The cream will rise to the top and it will happen organically.”
In the third inning, Grizzlies’ Chase Hwang’s outing started rocky as he walked the first batter he faced and allowed two more runs to cross the plate extending the Conquistador lead to 6-1.
Starting the fourth inning the same as the third with a runner on base, Hwang allowed four more runs, but not after a three-run home run over the left field wall by Jadyn Myatt, which gave the Conquistadors a 10-1 lead.
Stemple and Logan Rightmyer split the last three innings, with Stemple throwing in the first two and Rightmyer the latter.
Allowing one run to come in, in the sixth inning the duo of Stemple and Rightmyer proved to be the best Golden Valley throwers on the day.
Rightmyer was able to retire the only three batters he faced in the seventh inning, getting them to ground out.
“We got to get better on the mound, no doubt about it,” Sorensen said. “Logan has a live arm and we are working on his mechanics. We are trying to build on what he has physically and even take him to the next level.”
In the final at-bat for the Grizzlies, with the bases loaded, twins Dylan and Deryk Engbrecht were able to bring in backto-back runs to cut the deficit to 11-4. But the rally was cut short after the next batter struck out to end the game.
With the loss, Golden Valley drops to 1-3 in the VIBL season.
Next up for the Grizzlies is a home game against St. Francis on Wednesday at 5 p.m.