Currie shines on the mound, players continue to hit and now a date with league champion Arcadia.
Cam Silva slides home for one of the many CV runs at Tuesday’s game.
By Brandon HENSLEY
Cole Currie sure likes being in control. It was just a couple of months ago he was the point guard on the CVHS basketball team, leading the Falcons to the Southern Section semifinals. Now, he’s contributing on the baseball field, and on Tuesday afternoon at Glendale High School he was as in command as he’s ever been.
Currie struck out 10 Nitro batters in five innings and the Falcons offense gave him plenty of support in a 16-0 win over Pacific League foe Glendale. The game was called in the sixth inning because of the 10-run mercy rule (regulation baseball lasts seven innings).
“I was hoping to come out and throw strikes. I got a lot of run support,” said Currie. “Guys made plays behind me, which helped a lot.”
Currie gave up a double to the first batter he faced, catcher Sean Harris, but centerfielder Brian Wang’s throw to shortstop Ted Boeke, who was covering second base, was in time to throw Harris out. After that, it was smooth sailing.
“Cole pitched great, he threw a ton of strikes,” said Coach Phil Torres. “He threw some really good pitches with two strikes, so that was an impressive outing by him.”
Currie (2-1 as a pitcher) simply overpowered the Nitros (3-6, 1-4 in Pacific League) whose roster only features 13 players, and most of them aren’t physically intimidating.
Currie, who plays shortstop when he isn’t pitching, said his game usually isn’t about power.
“No, not usually. Just hit my spots a little bit,” he said. “I guess I was effectively wild, you could say. I had a lot of three-ball counts.”
Glendale started the left-handed Daniel Aragon, who pitched into the sixth inning and left with an 8-0 deficit and two men on. Brandon Keen took the mound and allowed eight more runs home, walking four and hitting two CV batters. In all, the Falcons sent 15 men to the plate in the nine-run inning.
Troy Mulcahey pitched the sixth inning for CV. He walked one and struck out the side.
The Falcons (13-4, 5-0 in league) got started quickly. They scored three runs in each of the first two innings and one in the fourth. Wang led off the game with a single and Troy Mulcahey tripled him home. Michael Russo, who had two hits in the game, collected three RBIs in the first two frames, including a two-run single in the second.
Currie’s groundout in the fourth brought home a run to make it 7-0. Two innings later, the onslaught continued, mainly because of the Glendale pitchers’ lack of control.
Whatever the reason, the Falcons stayed hot. Currie’s performance is helping solidify the rotation, which features Elliot Surrey, who is 5-0 on the mound. They’ve won 11 of 12 games and have scored eight or more runs in six straight. Glendale, meanwhile, has been shutout three straight times. Their last win was against Muir in late March, 14-3.
On Friday, the Falcons will play at Arcadia at 7 p.m. The Apaches are reigning league champions and have had CV’s number for some time.
“Those suckers have beat us six, seven, seems like 25 straight times, so we’ll be ready by Friday,” Torres said.
Arcadia is 14-3 overall and 5-0 in league. With both teams undefeated in league, the winner on Friday will, at least temporarily, hold first place.
Revenge? Sort of
The Falcons’ basketball team lost to Mater Dei this season in the first round of the state playoffs. Mater Dei’s basketball program is a perennial powerhouse, so that was no surprise. The Crusaders baseball team? Not so much.
The Falcons were able to sweep Mater Dei last weekend in two games played down in Chula Vista. The Falcons won 15-0 and 8-0.
“It’s always fun going down to San Diego, bonding with the guys, staying the night,” Currie said. “A lot of guys got to play in that second game.”
“They’re usually pretty tough,” Torres said of Mater Dei. “They’re just down a little bit. That happens to everybody. Everybody gets caught with their pants down one year or two. They have a lot of good guys, they’ll be good the next couple of years. Both of those games were close until the end.”
Time to Make Up
The Falcons were supposed to play Chatsworth on April 11 in the Babe Herman Tournament championship game at Stengel, but it was postponed due to rainy weather that day. The game has been rescheduled for April 28 at 6 p.m. at Stengel Field. CV won the tournament last year.
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