SAMOHI — After losing to the Vikings on Tuesday, the last thing Morningside wanted to deal with was Tyler Skaggs.
Luckily for the Monarchs, Skaggs, who has been nursing a sprained ankle since his no-hitter against Lompoc on April 13, was limited to just three innings. Unfortunately, Morningside didn’t fare much better against Samohi’s relievers during the 10-3 Viking win. With the victory, Samohi is now 14-10 overall and 5-1 in league.
Making matters worse, the game was originally scheduled to take place at Morningside, but a broken water main flooded the field prompting a change of venue to Samohi where the two teams played on Tuesday, a 7-3 Viking win.
Playing the role of road team on its own turf, Samohi wasted little time against Morningside’s starter Jose Robledo. Freshman Adam Padilla opened the game with a double to left field. Senior shortstop Ricky Gomez followed with a sharp single to right, moving Padilla to third. With a pair of runners on, Vince Lawrence hit a soft grounder to second allowing Padilla to cross the plate for the game’s first run. Lawrence was thrown out on the play.
“Those guys didn’t offer us much resistance,” Gomez said after the game. “They could have played better, but I’m just happy we got the win.”
Although Skaggs was lifted from the game following the third inning, the sought-after pro prospect was sharp while he was on the mound. He limited Morningside to two hits while striking out four Monarchs. Skaggs said that the injury may force him to miss a start next week against Beverly Hills, but Head Coach Rob Duron said he wants to evaluate his star pitcher’s recovery before officially scratching him from next week’s game. If he is unable to start next week, both Skaggs and Duron hope he can return to pitch the final game of the season against Culver City, a game that could decide the Ocean League title.
“I threw pretty good considering,” Skaggs said. “They only got one solid hit against me. I’m happy about that.”
The good news for Samohi came in the form of a 5-0 lead when Skaggs was forced out of the game.
The Vikings’ offense was again led by Gomez, who went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, one RBI and a run scored. Outfielder Matias Letelier was 3-for-3, collected an RBI and scored a pair of runs.
Although Morningside was able to muster three runs late in the game, Head Coach Dale St. John was just happy to complete this season’s series with Samohi.
“I’m just embarrassed by how my guys played,” St. John said. “We work on this stuff everyday, but I’m not sure if it’s sinking in.”
While he was heaping criticism on his ball club, St. John was impressed by Samohi’s strategy.
“I like the way [Duron] is using his personnel,” he said. “They are a good, solid team.”
Although Samohi is in the thick of its league schedule, the team will play its final non-league game Saturday at home against Palos Verdes at 11 a.m. The game is part of the Redondo Tournament.
daniela@www.smdp.com
