Schools
Grossmont Goes Down Swinging in CIF Championship Game
Rancho Bernardo gloves rob Hillers of scoring chances as Broncos prevail 6-0 for latest title.
Solid pitching and stellar defense carried Rancho Bernardo High to a 6-0 victory over Grossmont in the CIF San Diego Section Division I title game Saturday night at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium. It was the second straight crown for the Broncos and sixth since 1999.
Top-seeded Rancho Bernardo blazed a trail through the postseason, outscoring opponents 37-1 over four games. Grossmont had won five of the past six Division II championships before moving up to Division I this season.
“It was a team effort,” said RB catcher Becker Sankey, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored. “Everyone came through for us. Our defense was extraordinary tonight. It’s all that we could imagine. I know it’s what we’ve worked for and it’s what all of our seniors have wanted.”
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Max Homick racked up his 10th win of the year for RB, going the distance, allowing five hits with six strikeouts.
Sankey got things going for the Broncos (27-6) in the first with a RBI double off the left field wall, then added run-scoring singles in the third and fifth innings.
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“It was the best game of my career, and a great way to end it,” said Sankey, who heads off to Friends University in the fall.
In the top of the fifth inning with Rancho Bernardo leading 3-0, the Foothillers seemed to have a chance to make it a ball game when leadoff hitter Robbie Nesovic sent a shot deep into the right field corner with a man on. But Matt Jervis robbed Nesovic with an over-the-shoulder catch.
Two batters later, third baseman David Gabel speared Joe Musgrove’s liner with a dive to his left, saving at least one run.
“Everything we hit hard, they caught,” said Grossmont coach Jim Earley. “Every thing they hit had eyes and seemed to find a way through.”
Musgrove pitched the first three innings and took the loss, allowing two runs.
For Grossmont, Nesovic got two hits and Alex Connor, Jordan Gerlek, Will Soto and Eric Eckley added singles.
The Foothillers can look forward to 2012, when they return nine players, including Nesovic, who had two hits and reached safely three times. Their freshman team went undefeated.
