Strong pitching, hitting and overall play brought the Falcons a strong finish on Wednesday night against the Jesuit Marauders.Before the Falcons went on their scoring explosion in the late innings, the game was close, with Jesuit even taking the lead at one point. The Falcon pitching appeared shaky and the fielding waivered as the Falcons committed several errors early in the game, but the Falcons hung tough to only allow six runs in five innings while scoring six at that mark. The contest ended 19-9 CVHS.
The Falcons play Buena High School next Tuesday at Stengel Field.
Photo by Leonard COUTIN

By Brian PARK
CVW intern

The CVHS Falcons (9-3 overall, 3-0 in league play) slammed its way through the 44th annual Babe Herman tournament this week, winning the contest Wednesday night. The tournament was played at Stengel Field and began on April 3.
The Babe Herman tournament was named after Glendale native and Dodger great Babe Herman. Herman was signed into the minor leagues at age 18, eventually playing for the then-Brooklyn Robins, setting several records including highest batting average that still stand for the now-Dodgers.
The Falcons have dominated the Babe Herman tournament in recent years, winning five of the last nine tournaments, with Sonora High School taking the last tournament in 2006.
The teams in the tournament are separated into two brackets, one called National and one called American, with the Falcons being in the National bracket.
Crescenta Valley started the tournament matched up against Montebello High School. Sophomore pitcher Elliot Surrey pitched five solid innings, allowing only two runs and not letting the Montebello Oilers get out of reach. Sophomore catcher Troy Prasersit then hit a three-run home run to give the Falcons a wide lead in a tie game. Senior reliever David Whitaker then wrapped the game up, not giving up any runs in the last two innings as the Falcons defeated Montebello 6-2.
In the second game of the tournament, in which the Falcons faced the Mayfair Monsoons, defense seemed to be the story as both teams combined for only one run in the 1-0 Falcon win. Sophomore Troy Mulcahey started on the mound for the Falcons and threw 13 strikeouts to propel the Falcons to victory and the Babe Herman championship game. Senior Joe Sedano batted the only run of the game, which was enough to beat Mayfair High School.
In the third game of the tournament  the Crescenta Valley Falcons decimated the Jesuit Marauders 19-9.  The Falcons used bursts of scoring to thoroughly defeat the Marauders as they scored seven runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. With two outs left in the sixth inning, designated hitter Senior Joe Sedano blasted a grand slam toward left-field to give the Falcons a 16-6 lead over the Marauders. The Falcons extended their lead to 19-6 before the inning was ended.
“We knew we had to get a [couple] runs entering the last few innings to give us a chance at winning, so we [batted] with that mentality and we just executed,” said Surrey.
Before the Falcons went on their scoring explosion in the late innings, the game was very close, with Jesuit even taking the lead at one point in the game. The Falcon pitching appeared shaky and the fielding waivered as the Falcons committed several errors early in the game. But the Falcons hung tough to only allow six runs in five innings while scoring six at that mark.
Nate Rousey couldn’t find an answer for the Jesuit batters as he allowed four runs in three innings, forcing a pitching change to senior reliever David Whitaker. Whitaker could not withstand the steady scoring threat, allowing two runs in three innings, but the big bats of Crescenta Valley steered them through.
The rotation of Jesuit pitchers couldn’t get the job done, pitching the ball off the dirt countless times resulting in several extra bases for the Falcons. The Jesuit pitchers seemed streaky at best, allowing four or more runs in three separate innings while shutting down the Falcons in two innings.
With this win the Falcons improved to 3-0 in the tournament and play Buena High School next Tuesday at Stengel Field.
“In the beginning [of the tournament], we were more of the underdog, but after our last few games we made a statement,” Surrey said. “We weren’t just going to go through the motions.”