Baseball Gets Reality Check in First Home Loss
April 13, 2001
Glendale picked the wrong day to play its worst defensive game on April 5 when it lost to Allan Hancock College 12-6.
Glendale, which came into the game at 21-5 committed a season high five errors against the Bulldogs, who came into the game ranked 11th in the state. Glendale was ranked fifth. Brandon Bell committed two errors, and Matt Friedrichsen, Ryan Noll, and Jimmy Stone all had one each. All five errors led to runs.
Josh Herman, making his first start of the season, allowed seven runs (five earned), five walks, and struck out four in three innings. He made 82 pitches throughout the game.
The Bulldogs got on board first with a two-run home run by Jeff St. Pierre. The home run came after two outs, and seemed to rob Glendale of all its intensity.
The Bulldogs scored three runs in the third inning, all with two outs. Following strikeouts of St. Pierre, and Adam Gardner, Herman walked Tom Huntingford, gave up a single to Jeff Crabtree, another walk to Shane D’Ambra, and a RBI single to number-nine hitter Paul Swack. Friedrichsen’s error came when he overran the ball to allow the third run to score, which increased the lead to 7-1. “You can’t have errors and expect to win,” Coach Jon Strauss said. “Usually, we are a very solid defensive team.”
The Glendale offensive had a power outage. In the previous game they defeated Ventura College 15-1. Despite 11 hits, Glendale never could put a consistent inning together. They managed only two runs over the first eight innings, and stranded nine runners for the game. The seventh through ninth hitters went a combined one for 13 which was by catcher Ryan Noll.
Glendale had two innings in which they had two runners on without any outs. Stone and John Manuel were the only bright spots for Glendale. Combined, they went five for nine, and scored five of the six runs. The only other run of the game was scored by Fernando Valenzuela Jr during the ninth inning.
Glendale stranded 11 runners on base, and saw their nine-game home winning streak snapped.
The team competed in the Fullerton Tournament this week, and went 1 and 3. They now have a record of 23-8.