Announcement
John Maffei - Union Tribune - Carlsbad
One of the toughest things in baseball is for a pitcher to beat a good team two appearances in a row.
Ethan Abrams proved Wednesday that he is one tough guy. The junior right-hander threw a complete-game three-hitter, allowing just one earned run as host La Costa Canyon edged Carlsbad 3-2.
The No. 10-ranked Mavericks (18-11, 11-4) earned the outright title in the Avocado West League championship showdown. No. 5 Carlsbad (20-10, 9-6) finished second.
Abrams, who improved to 6-3 and lowered his ERA to 1.90 over 66 1/3 innings, got a hang-in-there win over Carlsbad on May 13th, beating the Lancers 5-4 while surviving a four-run fifth inning.He allowed five hits and struck out eight in that game.
"I really didn't do anything different," Abams said. " The game plan was the same-- keep the ball down and get ground balls. I wanted to get my curve over and spot the fastball."
He induced only five ground-ball outs to go with his seven strikeouts. But the Lancers hit five infield pop-ups, two lazy fly balls to center field, and were caught stealing twice. "I knew Saturday I'd be pitching this game,"Abrams said. "I was excited. I was looking forward to it."
La Costa Canyon's reward for beating Carlsbad could be a rematch against the Lancers in the Open Division playoffs next Wednesday. Rancho Bernardo, Cathedral Catholic, and Granite Hills will be the top three seeds, in some order, in the eight-team field. The Mavericks figure to be fourth and Carlsbad fifth, which would mean another Carlsbad-LCC matchup at LCC.
"That's the way I see it," LCC coach Justin Machado said. "Will I pitch Ethan again? Let me enjoy this one for a day before I make a decision."
Comments
Seasons
Sponsors
