Homers doom Warriors in baseball league opener

San Pasqual pitcher Steven Carr hit more home runs than he allowed during the April 5 Avocado East League opener between the San Pasqual and Fallbrook baseball teams, and Carr’s two homers were among four hit by the Golden Eagles during their 9-1 victory over the Warriors at Duke Snider Field.

“We pitched up in the zone, and you can’t do that at Fallbrook,” said Fallbrook coach Mark DiBenedetti. “You can’t throw the ball waist-high and expect to win.”

Carr, who allowed five Fallbrook hits, had three of San Pasqual’s eleven hits at the plate. His second-inning single was sandwiched between the home runs of two teammates which put the game’s first three runs on the scoreboard, his third-inning solo homer gave the Golden Eagles one of their three runs in that frame, and his seventh-inning solo long ball closed out the game’s scoring. Carr also reached base on a fielder’s choice and scored a total of four runs against Fallbrook.

In addition to allowing eleven hits, Fallbrook’s pitchers also hit a batter, walked three, and threw two wild pitches. The Warriors made five errors in the field.

“Today was a bad day,” DiBenedetti said.

“We pitched continually behind in the count,” DiBenedetti said. “When you pitch behind in Fallbrook, you’re going to get hurt.”

The Golden Eagles had an 8-0 lead before Brad Brower’s solo homer in the sixth inning gave Fallbrook it’s only run. Tyler Hirota had singles in both of his at-bats and was the only Fallbrook batter to have more than one hit.

Catcher Gavin Stotz was ill, so Justin Hukill made his debut as the Warriors’ catcher.

“He did a great job,” DiBenedetti said.

DiBenedetti, who Fallbrook’s pitching coach in 2009 and 2010 before replacing Jesse Schuveiller as the Warriors’ head coach, notes that pitchers need to adjust to a new catcher.

“That makes a difference for a pitcher,” DiBenedetti said. “It messes you up mentally.”

The loss to San Pasqual gave the Warriors a 5-6 overall record for the season along with the 0-1 league figure.

“They’re a really resilient group,” DiBenedetti said of his players. “We’ll make the adjustments and move ahead.”

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