Six SLO County baseball teams fall in first-round CIF baseball, Atascadero moves on

Playing in front of a large home crowd in a first-round CIF-Central Section Division 3 first round game, Arroyo Grande’s baseball team was knotted 4-4 going into the last frame.

The No. 7 Eagles (12-18, 6-9 Mountain) were fueled earlier by a three-run home run by junior shortstop Judah Hill, who nailed one over the right center field fence in the third inning to put Arroyo Grande up 3-1 against No. 10 Garces Memorial of Bakersfield.

But a late Rams rally that included some sharply hit balls off Arroyo Grande junior pitcher Luke Plaza and a wild pitch gave the Rams a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh. And that score marked the end to an up-and-down Eagles season.

Five other San Luis Obispo County teams fell on Tuesday (Paso Robles, Templeton, San Luis Obispo, Nipomo and Mission Prep), all in relatively close games, with only Atascadero advancing in a 4-2 win over Lompoc.

Arroyo Grande starting pitcher Tanner Bournonville threw three strong innings, giving up two earned runs while only allowing two hits. The sophomore right-hander finished with a 2.84 earned run average on the season with 59 strikeouts in 61 innings pitched.

The Eagles finished fourth in the Mountain League.

“I need to be better,” said Arroyo Grande Coach Steve Tolley. “The boys battled. It’s a tough game, tough sport. I’m proud of how they battled all year.”

Arroyo Grande vows to be back

The Eagles were led on the season by Addison Janowicz, who posted a .319 batting average, along with Plaza at .318, Madison Clark at .315 mark, and third baseman Tane Kurth at .309.

Kurth completed a triple play in Tuesday’s contest. With runners at first and third, he snagged a line drive for the first out and then hung the two runners out to dry, tagging third for the second out and gunning a throw across the diamond to first, beating that runner back to the bag as well.

Eagles senior second baseman James Bishop was 2-for-4 in the game with an RBI and a run scored.

Arroyo Grande had two runners thrown out at home, costly outs in a tight game.

“This game could have went better, and it sucks that it ended like that but it was a weird season,” Bishop said. “We started off with a tough schedule, which was through-the-roof better than anybody in our area by far, so it was tough. We competed, though, and lost a lot of close games.”

Bishop played three years of varsity baseball.

“I’m going to miss it,” he said. “I’m going to miss it for sure.”

Hill said that the launch angle of his home run to right-center was “pretty low.”

“I got some backspin under it and definitely the wind helped,” said Hill, who was 2-for-3 in the game. Hill hit .267, with three home runs and 14 RBI on the season. “I was a bit streaky this season, not my usual self. It was definitely a weird season. Hits came in spurts, but I had fun. I learned a lot. So it was overall productive season for me.”

Tolley is optimistic about the Eagles’ chances next year.

“Basically the whole starting lineup comes back,” Tolley said. “We have a great program at the lower levels. We’ll be back next year.”

Other SLO County results

Atascadero 4, Lompoc 2

Jarom Damery was 2-for-4 with a run scored, and Zach Savino homered and drove in three for the Greyhounds (18-10, 7-8 Mountain).

Drew Cappel, who has a 1.14 ERA this season, pitched six innings, striking out five batters and giving up two earned runs. Jack Thompson pitched a scoreless inning.

Atascadero moves on to face Cabrillo on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on the road.

Sierra Pacific 3, Mission Prep 2

The Royals (16-11, 8-4) fell on the road in Hanford to Sierra Pacific (20-9), which scored a run in the seventh to walk off the win.

Mission Prep’s Sean Rivas was 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Jake Hanchett and Kyson Hickson each had hits in the contest.

Thomas Glenn, who finished with a .354 batting average on the Royals’ season, pitched three innings, giving up three runs (all unearned), and Brody Warwick pitched 3.2 innings.

Bullard 3, Paso Robles 1

Freshman Emmett Dobroth had an RBI for Paso Robles (16-12, 10-2), going 1-for-2 in the road loss to Bullard (23-6).

Talen Freitas, Marcus Garcia and Casey Prieto each had a hit for Paso Robles.

Garcia threw two scoreless innings, and Braydon Hoier pitched four innings, giving up three runs and striking out three.

The Bearcats finished first in the Ocean League in regular season play. Jaiden Soboleski led the team in hitting with a .450 average of the players who played a full season.

Bakersfield Christian 5, San Luis Obispo 4

The Tigers (10-19, 5-10 Mountain) fell in a close one on the road to the Eagles (23-5).

Rowan Klisch was 1-for-2 with a run and two RBI. Aiden Eagon was 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Landon Drenckpohl had an RBI as well for the Tigers.

SLO’s Chance Evans pitched three scoreless innings.

Chris Johnson and Felix Stork both hit over .400 on the season.

Mission Oak 1, Nipomo 0

The Titans (11-17, 6-6 Ocean) lost a pitcher’s duel on the road in Tulare to the Hawks (14-14).

Nipomo pitcher Ty Bernal threw six innings, giving up one earned run and striking out two.

Bernal, Austin Jones and Logan Hobbs each had a hit for the Titans. Jones, who posted a .362 average on the season, had a double on Tuesday.

Lemoore 7, Templeton 4

The Eagles (20-7, 9-3 Ocean League) lost on the road in the Central Valley to the Tigers (21-8).

Four Templeton hitters batted over .400 on the season — Luke Stetz, Quincy Winkler, Ethan Meyers and Monroe Hamers.

Templeton’s Isaak Kirschenstein posted a 1.81 ERA.