Warriors baseball team bounces back with four straight victories

Fallbrook High School's baseball team bounced back from a rocky stretch to win four consecutive games.

Fallbrook entered Valley League competition with a 3-9 record, which turned to 3-12 overall when Ramona swept Fallbrook in a series that opened league play. Fallbrook then rattled off four straight victories, sweeping Orange Glen in the second league series and then defeating Mission Vista in a league game played at Petco Park in San Diego on April 25.

"We feel like we're on the right path now," said Fallbrook coach Pat Walker. "We're playing much better defense, playing much better fundamental baseball."

Fallbrook and Ramona opened league play April 12 on the Bulldogs' diamond. The final score was 7-4 in Ramona's favor. "The first game we hung in there," Walker said. "That was a pretty good game." The April 14 game in Fallbrook was tied at 2-2 after the first inning. Fallbrook scored once in the second for a 3-2 lead. Ramona scored twice in the fourth inning to take the lead and added four runs in the fifth and two in the seventh for a 10-3 victory. "The second game they hit the ball really well," Walker said of Ramona.

Ramona completed the sweep April 16 when the teams returned to Ramona High School. Fallbrook tied the score at a run apiece in the top of the fifth inning, but Ramona scored four times in the bottom of that frame. Three Warrior runs in the top of the sixth inning narrowed the margin to 5-4, but ten runners crossed the plate in the bottom of the sixth to conclude scoring in Ramona's 15-4 win.

"It was a really good game going into the sixth," Walker said. "That's when they had this crazy big inning."

If current Ramona senior Dylan Spacke is not selected in this June's baseball draft, he will play for Cal State University Long Beach. Spacke threw two innings April 16 before being moved to the outfield due to arm soreness, and four relief innings from sophomore Bryce Roe included three hits, four walks, and five strikeouts. Travis Marinshaw threw a complete game April 14 for Ramona, and Todd Roberts had the pitching win in the April 12 game while Tyler Dick earned the save. "They have a good staff on the mound," Walker said of Ramona. "We were surprised they struggled so early in non-league."

(Ramona played in three tournaments prior to league play and compiled a 4-10 record. The Bulldogs were in the Premier Division of the Lions Tournament.)

Fallbrook High School senior Bryson Spagnuolo, who has signed to play baseball at the University of Santa Clara, started the April 14 game against Ramona.

"He pitched well," said Walker. "We fell behind because we weren't playing defense."

The losses alerted Walker and his players to Fallbrook's weaknesses. "We still were not playing defense, still were not getting the big hits," he said.

That changed during the series against Orange Glen. "Timely hitting, great pitching," Walker said.

The April 19 game at Fallbrook ended as a 16-1 Warriors victory, and in each of Fallbrook's six batting innings the Warriors scored at least two runs. Spagnuolo allowed one hit and two walks while striking out 15.

"Just dominant," said Walker of Spagnuolo's performance. "He was just pounding the zone, throwing strikes."

Ten different Fallbrook players had at least one hit April 19 while nine Warriors scored at least one run. Marc Henning had two doubles and a single while scoring three runs and driving in four teammates. Jonathan Soto also rounded the bases three times. Collin Hoff had two doubles and drove in three runs. The Warriors' 16 hits were comprised of nine singles and seven doubles. Hoff was on the mound April 21 at Orange Glen. He allowed three hits, two walks, and an unearned run in his complete game while striking out eight. Fallbrook's 9-1 victory included a 6-0 lead after two innings. Estaban Gomez had a triple and three singles in five at-bats, added a stolen base, and scored four times. Henning had four singles and batted in two teammates. Soto singled and doubled and was also hit by a pitch, and he scored all three times he reached base.

Two runs in the bottom of the sixth concluded scoring in the Warriors' 5-1 victory April 23 in Fallbrook. Soto's complete game on the mound involved four Orange Glen hits, an unearned run, no walks, and six strikeouts. Hoff had singles in all three plate appearances, stole two bases, scored once, and drove in a run. The two runs in the sixth were scored when Harrison Brown singled in his only plate appearance of the day. Soto's four at-bats included three singles, and he scored once while driving in a baserunner. The game at Petco Park gave the Fallbrook and Mission Vista players an opportunity to play a game in the San Diego Padres' stadium. "It was just real fun for the kids to experience that," Walker said.

The participating teams pay for a block of San Diego Padres tickets and then sell those tickets.

"We made a little bit of additional money, which is great," Walker said. "The kids did a great job getting that money back to us. They did a great job selling those Padres tickets to be able to get there." The Padres tickets were for a different night, as the major league club was in San Francisco on April 25 and lost a 5-4 game against the Giants. Fallbrook had a better result that day, scoring once in the top of the second and twice in the seventh for a 3-0 victory.

"It was one of those games where you want to play a great baseball game," Walker said. "We did that. We had timely hitting."

Fallbrook's seven hits consisted of six singles and a double off Spagnuolo's bat. Bryce Olivo and Henning each had two hits. Spagnuolo, Gomez, and Henning drove in the runs. Trevor Sheets, Gomez, and Hoff were the players who rounded the bases.

Spagnuolo held the Timberwolves to five hits while walking one batter and striking out 12. "Bryson was awesome," said Walker.