Hollywood Hills Scores Big Win Over Stranahan

The Hollywood Hills Spartans took advantage of every opportunity given to them Tuesday afternoon by a young and inexperienced Stranahan team and made opportunities of their own to win 15-0.

The hit parade for the Spartans began in the first inning when right fielder Anthony Devlin hit a rocket to left field on a 3-2 pitch for a triple. Devlin scored Hollywood Hills’ first run courtesy of an infield error on a pop-up. The second Spartan run of the inning came thanks to a defensive miscue of the Dragon’s infield defensive play. Hollywood Hills scored two runs on two hits, and they took advantage of three errors by Stranahan’s defense in the first inning.

The top of the second inning brought two more runs for the Spartans as the leadoff hitter, first baseman Danny Peña, connected for a base hit to left center. With two outs, center fielder Chris Hernandez singled to left field, bringing in the Spartans’ third run of the game.

The floodgates opened for the Spartans on the third inning thanks to a combination of four hits, heads-up running by the Spartans offense, two walks, two errors and a passed ball. The runs came in courtesy of a single by Peña, a triple by catcher Jed Wilson, a single by shortstop Tom Grant, a double by third baseman Frank Wells and a sacrifice fly to right field by designated hitter D’andre Diaz. When the dust settled, the Spartans had scored seven runs and were leading the Dragons 11-0.

The best offensive opportunity for Stranahan came in the bottom of the third inning when the Dragons opened with back-to-back singles by left fielder Wilfred Santiago and catcher Logan Castelano, respectively. After one out, second baseman Austin Ford singled to left field to load the bases but the Dragons were not be able to produce the key hit and left three runners stranded.

Hollywood Hills scored one run in the fourth and three more runs at the top of the fifth to put the game completely out of reach of the Dragons. The game ended in the bottom of the sixth after Stranahan failed to score.

The Spartans capitalized on every opportunity they had in the game.

“We came out and hit the ball pretty well today,” Manager Charlie Cardinale said. “We’re much improved from last year. Things worked out today, but we have a long way to go.”

The Hollywood Hills team showed aggressiveness on the bases by stealing and advancing runners on any miscue by the Stranahan defense.

“We have pretty decent team speed,” Cardinale said. “It’s a good group of guys. They’re gearing up. It’s a tough district, and they want to do well. This is a step in the right direction.”

Stranahan Manager John Druet had some perspective on the Dragons’ performance and offered some hope for the days to come.

“We’re a very young team,” said Stranahan manager John Druet. “We pretty much have a JV team playing varsity baseball right now. We were without two of our starting players today and did not play up to our capabilities. There is no quit in this team. The future looks bright for Stranahan.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!