Win Over St. Michael Moves Holden Baseball Team Into District Title Game
Semifinal Win… Eagle senior pitcher Garrett Smith delivers a pitch to the plate during Holden’s game against St. Michael the Archangel in the semifinal round of the Class 3, District 14 Tournament on Saturday, May 13. Smith recorded the complete game win in the start on the mound as the Eagles defeated the Guardians by the final score of 11-1. Photo by Steve Edwards
The Holden baseball team defeated St. Michael the Archangel by the final score of 11-1 in the semifinal round of the Class 3, District 14 Tournament at Barstow High School on Saturday, May 13.
After St. Michael plated the first run of Saturday’s game, the defending district champion Eagles did all of the scoring in the remainder of the game, ending the contest by the run rule after six innings of play.
With one out in the third inning, and Tyler Barker on base after singling to open Holden’s bottom half of the frame, the Eagles went to work on the scoreboard by plating six runs before the Guardians were able to record the final two outs of the inning.
“After gift-wrapping them a run in the top of the third, we took control of the game with a six-run third,” said Holden baseball head coach Charlie Castle.
The Eagles would add a run in the fifth inning when Justin Brown hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to score Cohen Drake who singled to open the fifth for Holden.
Meanwhile in the start on the mound, senior pitcher Garrett Smith shut down the Guardians at the plate, holding them scoreless through the final three innings of the game.
“Garrett Smith continued his mastery over St. Michael,” said coach Castle. “In four starts over the past two years, he is 3-0, and I believe he only allowed one earned run, and two total runs in 26 innings against St. Michael.
“In the latest game, he was very efficient, throwing only 68 pitches in six innings while surrendering five hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He did another good job of hitting his spots and pitching to contact against a very solid team that won their conference.”
Holden broke the game open, and put the 10-run rule into effect by scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Courtesy runner Ryan Hough crossed home plate for the final run of the game as multiple players contributed in the win.
“Offensively, we had four players with two hits apiece,” noted coach Castle. “They were Wes Brown, Aiden Moriarty, Cohen Drake, and Carson Gard. Both of Moriarty hits were doubles, and he led the team with two Rais. Brown also had a double while Drake and Gard each knocked in a run, and scored at least one run apiece.
“Also hitting safely on the day were Kale Tryon, Smith, and Tyler Barker, whose leadoff single in the third inning helped jump start the six-run rally,” continued coach Castle. “Barker would later score on Tryon’s single to tie the game at 1-1.
“There were only two players in the lineup who didn’t get a hit, and they still managed to contribute. Lane Siemer had a sacrifice bunt, and was perfect on all five defensive chances at second base while left fielder Justin Brown had a sacrifice fly on the day.”
After Saturday’s district semifinal win over St. Michael, the Holden baseball team held an overall record of 17-8.
District Championship Game Note…
Playing in their third consecutive district title game, the second-seeded Eagles matched up against district tournament number-one seed Barstow in the Class 3, District 14 championship game at Barstow High School on Monday, May 15.
Barstow won the district championship game by the final score of 8-1. Look for the complete district championship game article in next week’s edition of The Image.
