Providence Baseball Suffers Tough Inning, Loses 15-1 To Crescenta Valley

By Rick Assad

What was a close game for three innings was turned into a rout after the Providence High baseball team surrendered a 10-run fourth inning versus Crescenta Valley on Monday night.

Riding that colossal frame, the Falcons waltzed to a 15-1 victory over the Pioneers in a nonleague game at Stengel Field.

Providence pitchers issued fifteen walks and gave up eight hits and committed two errors.

All of this combined was a recipe for a setback, but it didn’t take away from Providence’s willingness to play a top-notch Pacific League and CIF Southern Section powerhouse, who now have won seven straight games.

Adrian Contreras pitched commendably for three frames as the junior allowed three hits, struck out three, walked three and gave up three runs.

When Contreras departed, the Pioneers (2-9) trailed 3-1 and were still in the game.

After the fourth inning, the Falcons (9-4) pulled ahead 13-1, having sent 14 batters to the plate.

Six Falcons walked and four reached base via a hit and they included senior Brandon Kwon’s two-run single to right field, senior Jacob Deno’s three-run double to right center, freshman Gunner Herman’s run-scoring double to right and senior Jake Rendo’s two-run infield single.

Added to the mix was sophomore Brock Robeson’s sacrifice fly to left field that plated a runner.

“That inning got away from us. We had to “wear it” from a good team,” Providence coach Mando Contreras said. “They did a great job being patient at the plate and capitalizing on the walks. We know we can’t do that versus a team like that.”

Thomas Keller, an assistant coach who played for Burbank High, said that the Providence pitchers allowed an awful lot of base on balls.

“Too many walks in the fourth inning and the game got away from us fast,” he said. “I thought we got a good start from Adrian, our starting pitcher, and he gave us a chance to stay in the game.”

Providence was limited to two hits, and they came off the bat of junior Eric Chuchvara, who had a one-out, run-scoring single to right field and a leadoff double to left field by Contreras in the seventh inning.

There was also a base running gaffe in the third inning that hurt the Pioneers as two runners were out on the same play.

“That showed our youth in big game situations,” Contreras admitted. “Us getting doubled up really stopped a rally we had going. But experiences are what we want out of these nonleague games. We need pace and fundamental practices. It’s good for my guys this year.”

Each team was retired in order during the first inning and the Pioneers were retired 1-2-3 in the second inning.

In the bottom of the second, Contreras retired Deno on a liner to right field but saw Herman single up the middle.

Junior Jacob Mucic singled sharply to right, but the ball eluded the outfielder as Herman scored on the two-base miscue. The second run was plated on a wild pitch.

“Adrian, our starter, did a great job and did his part giving us a chance to win during his outing,” Contreras said of his young pitcher.

Longtime Falcons coach Phil Torres agreed with his counterpart’s assessment.

“Their first pitcher did a really nice job,” he offered of the right-hander.

The Falcons added a solo tally to make it 3-1 in the third inning as junior Dashiell Schultz cracked a two-out double to left center. Schultz took third base on a passed ball and came around to score on a wild pitch.

The Falcons tacked on solo runs in the fifth and sixth frames as Robeson’s walk with the bases loaded made it 14-1 and freshman Mike Herman’s walk with the bases filled in the next inning extended the cushion to 15-1.

“We expect to win every game and my team buys into that. It’s tough to give a game away with walks. I know our pitcher got a bit tired, but he had to get his work in,” Contreras noted. “We care about making the playoffs this year. So let him work through it in a tough environment. He’ll be better because of it. We’re having fun playing the game together and I’m confident we’ll find success this season.”

Mucic went four effective innings, striking out five and walking one with one hit allowed.