By Brian PARK

Everything seemed to go right for Crescenta Valley (17-5 overall, 8-2 in league) as the Falcons defeated the Hoover Tornadoes (7-10 overall, 3-7 in league) in a 12-1 mercy rule victory.
The inevitable win became apparent in the second inning when the Falcons scored seven runs to put them ahead 8-0. On top of the outstanding batting, sophomore pitcher Elliot Surrey threw a three-hit
gem, only allowing one run in four innings. Even with the near-perfect pitching performance, Surrey still
felt he needed to work on things.
“Some parts of the game I was struggling, and other parts I wasn’t,” said Surrey of his pitching. “I just tried to adjust.”
Surrey might have been a little modest of his performance. He allowed no hits through the first two innings and only three all game. After Hoover’s first hit on Surrey, he recuperated and initiated a double play at the next at-bat.
But enough about pitching; it was the batting that did the talking with newly minted junior catcher Bogart Avila. Avila mustered up three singles in his start and scored on each of his base hits.
In fact, Avila kicked off the flurry of runs with a single down the middle to bring in sophomore Nate Rousey and extend the lead to 2-0.
“I knew it was an important moment in the game,” Avila said. “I think [the run] set the tone.”
Along with Avila, Surrey chipped in on the offensive end as well, driving in Tyler Pollak and Avila with a two-run single in the second inning to push the lead to 4-0.
“I tried to make contact [with the ball] every time,” said Surrey. “I knew they would try to pitch me away so I kept hitting the ball wherever it was pitched.

Although every run that was batted in by the Falcons hurt the Tornadoes, the 11th run may have been the most gut wrenching. The Falcon batter hit the pitcher unintentionally with the ball in the back, adding insult to injury.
With the Falcons up by 11 points in the fifth inning, the starters were pulled and substitutes were put in. Sophomore pitcher Kyle Murray closed the game out perfectly, not allowing a single run to be scored.
With this win, the Falcons won their sixth consecutive game and completed a sweep of the Hoover Tornadoes.