Strong Attack Helps Heritage Baseball Team Beat Paloma

For the first time since 2011, the Heritage High School baseball team has defeated the Wildcats of Paloma Valley High. The Patriots came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Wildcats 4-3 on Tuesday.

"We’ve gotten right to the pinnacle," said Heritage head coach Scott Montgomery. "We’ve kind of kicked ourselves a couple times and gave away a couple games here and there, so today was really special to get over that hump, get the monkey off our back and give these boys the confidence that they deserve."

Paloma Valley jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the first inning on back-to-back RBI doubles from sophomore Michael Galvan and senior Ryan Kemp. However, the Patriots cut the lead to one run on a bases-loaded RBI single by Ryan Wimmer in the bottom of the first.

Heritage took advantage of baserunners in the second and third innings, playing small ball and scoring a run in each inning on RBI sacrifice flies by Trevor Salas and Anthony Villa to take a 3-2 lead. The Patriots then increased their lead in the fourth inning to two runs on an RBI single by Salas.

"A big key to our victory today is getting those clutch hits to set the tone for the rest of the team," said Montgomery.

Paloma Valley struggled to get a rally going in the late innings, with Heritage's Wimmer making unassisted double plays in both the fifth and sixth innings. The Wildcats scored a run in the sixth on an RBI single by sophomore Angelo Capolupo, but the Patriots were able to hold on to their one-run lead for the win.

For Heritage, Salas ended the day 1 for 1 with a walk, a sacrifice a single and two RBIs. Wimmer went 2 for 2 for 3 with a single, a double and an RBI. The Patriots finished the game with eight hits despite three errors.

Pitcher Adrian Gonzalez earned the win for the Patriots, throwing six innings with two earned runs and three strikeouts. Anthony Villa secured the save for the Patriots, throwing a scoreless seventh inning.

"[Gonzalez has] been looking forward to this game since last year and then he just gutted it out," said Montgomery. "He competed up there. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he went out there and competed."

"I felt pretty good, gave up a couple runs in the first inning but bounced back," said Gonzalez. "I just focused on my pitches, tried to throw curveballs."

For Paloma Valley, senior Dominic Monachino went 2 for 4 with two singles. Galvan, Kemp and Capolupo each went 1 for 3 with an RBI apiece. The Wildcats finished with eight hits and one error.

Senior pitcher Jed Walz was dealt the loss for Paloma Valley after throwing 3.1 innings and allowing four earned runs. Junior pitcher Payton Dobbs relieved Walz in the fourth inning, and did not allow a run while striking out two batters.

Heritage improves to 6-6 overall and 3-1 in the Sunbelt League, while Paloma Valley falls to 8-7 overall and 3-1 in league. Both teams will go on the road to play again on Thursday. Heritage will look to take its momentum into a game against Lakeside High School, while Paloma Valley will look to clean up its mistakes against Temescal Canyon.