All-Star High School Baseball : South Wins Series Opener, 6-0, Behind Dickson’s 12 Strikeouts

SAN DIEGO — If there was one guy on the South All-Star team who had problems with the pitching performance of Grossmont High School’s Lance Dickson Friday night, it was catcher Eric Helfand.

Helfand, from Patrick Henry High School, had to try to catch Dickson’s sharp-breaking curve in the opening game of the North-South High School All-Star series on San Diego State’s Smith Field.

Several of Dickson’s pitches got by Helfand. But if Helfand had troubles catching Dickson’s breaking ball, imagine the difficulties the North batters had hitting it. Dickson finished with 12 strikeouts in six innings, and the South won, 6-0, in the first game of the three-game series that matches high school seniors from Northern California against those from Southern California.

“He had great stuff, and his curve was really breaking sharply,” Helfand said. “I just had to take a couple of innings to get used to it.”

The North batters, meanwhile, never really did. Dickson struck out five of the last seven he faced. Also, Dickson, 17, allowed just two singles and picked off two runners at first base.

All of this made up a big night for the left-hander, who plans to attend the University of Arizona in the fall.

“I’m pretty happy,” Dickson said, his arm soaking in ice and the braces on his teeth dominating a wide smile. “I think the only thing better than this will be getting these braces off.”

The South hit about as well as Dickson pitched.

Bret Boone, the son of Angel catcher Bob Boone, had two hits and drove in two runs. Boone, from Placentia El Dorado High School, singled in the first inning and doubled in the second.

Manny Cervantes, a first baseman from Whittier La Serna, had a two-run single in the first inning.

Helfand drove in a run with a bases-loaded single in the third. Donnie Carroll, from Granite Hills High School, was 2 for 5, with a single and a stolen base. Mike Eicher from Mira Mesa High School had a double.

The victory gives the South a 20-16 lead in the all-star series, which began in 1969. The series continues with a 7:30 game tonight on Smith Field. The final game is at noon Sunday at the University of San Diego.