San Diego High School Baseball : Beltran Leads Castle Park

When Bob Korzep, Castle Park baseball coach, lost one of his starting pitchers to ineligibility, he decided to give sophomore second baseman Juan Beltran a start.

The move paid off as Beltran pitched a three-hitter in leading unbeaten Castle Park to a 4-1 victory over Monte Vista in the Sporting Goods West tournament at Castle Park.

“He pitched JV last year,� Korzep said. “We weren’t going to let him start until next year. He came in and did a good job, and I guess now we have to give him a look.�

Beltran went the distance and struck out eight.

Monte Vista took a 1-0 lead in the third, but Castle Park (4-0) scored three runs in the bottom of the inning.

Javier Nunez was hit by a pitch, and he stole second and scored on Juan Soriano’s single to tie it, 1-1. Soriano moved to third on Dominic Quintero’s single and scored the go-ahead run on Mike Vallarelli’s single. Quintero scored to make it 3-1 when Monte Vista pitcher Richard Garmo threw wildly on a pick-off attempt at first.

Castle Park’s Jose Palos doubled in a run in the sixth to close the scoring.

In other games in the Sporting Goods West tournament:

Madison 2, Orange Glen 1--When starting pitcher Chuck Frazier complained of a sore arm, Eric Anderson replaced him and went six innings to lead Madison at home. Pete Valdez’s second-inning two-run single was all the support Anderson needed to guide Madison to its fourth victory in four games. Orange Glen is 1-4.

Hoover 6, Sweetwater 1--Hoover took advantage of four Sweetwater errors for the victory at Sweetwater. Ruan Rusich doubled in three runs in a four-run first inning for Hoover (3-1), and Danny Carter doubled in two more in the fifth.

Mar Vista 4, Vista 4--Mar Vista scored two runs in the sixth for a 4-3 lead but couldn’t hold off visiting Vista, which tied the game in the seventh on an error.

Point Loma 17, Bonita Vista 1--Winning pitcher Jeff Gattis struck out 11 at Point Loma. Gattis also had a three-run home run and David Cipranic added a two-run home run. Rigo Beltran had four RBIs for Point Loma (3-1-1).

GMC TOURNAMENT

Santana 11, San Diego 2--The state’s second-ranked team had no trouble rebounding from its first loss with the victory at Santana. Jason Cabral hit a three-run home run in the third inning to give Santana (4-1) a 4-0 advantage. Barry O’Gorman was 3 for 3, Mark Sherman 2 for 4 and Bill Reed 2 for 3 for Santana. Sherman (2-0) went the distance, striking out six, for the victory.

El Cajon 8, Valhalla 2--Gregg Velasco’s two-run single in the fourth inning put El Cajon ahead to stay, 3-2, at El Cajon. Scott Boyd’s two-run single in the fifth highlighted a five-run inning that put the game away for El Cajon (3-2), which has won three straight. Kevin Davis evened his record at 1-1. Valhalla dropped to 1-4.

Coronado 6, Montgomery 5--Noia Duhala’s bases-loaded single with two outs in the seventh inning capped a four-run rally at Coronado. Earlier, Coronado’s Steve Lucal hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to 5-4. After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Bill Pate singled to tie the score. Lucal went 3 for 3, including a triple, with three RBIs. Bobby Watson (2-0) pitched the final two innings to earn the victory for Coronado (5-1).

SOFTBALL

San Dieguito 4, Mission Bay 2--Stephanie Freedman hit a bases-loaded double with no outs in the sixth inning to put host San Dieguito ahead for good. Mission Bay (1-2) led, 2-1, going into the sixth, but San Dieguito (1-2) loaded the bases for Freedman. Sandy Reynaga followed Freedman with a squeeze bunt that scored Lisa Germschied with an insurance run. Freedman was the winning pitcher.