March 28, 2024 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Baseball: Crossroads Falls to Campbell Hall: Freshman Pitcher Starts Varsity, Does Well

Crossroads freshmen Jack Freedman was given the ball on Friday March 18, and the confidence of his coach, to pitch against the Campbell Hall Vikings, who are arguably one strongest teams in the Alpha League.

Although Crossroads lost 10-6, Freedman pitched well except for a five run fourth inning. Though it’s unusual to see a freshman start a varsity game, Freedman made the best of the experience battling in every inning even though he didn’t always have his best stuff or control. The lefthander had trouble finding the plate at times, walking two in the first and three in the third, while striking out four.

Up until the fourth inning, he had managed to keep the Roadrunners in the game trailing just 4-to-1. It started out well by striking out the leadoff batter, but then a bloop single, a run scoring triple, followed by a two RBI doubles and two more runs on a home run, and the Vikings had scored five runs. His coach, Spencer Kirksey, elected not to take him out and to let him work his way out of the inning. The young freshman did just that managing to grind his way out with two fly outs to end the inning.

“I wanted him to finish the inning, to know that we had confidence in him and he responded well battling to get out of it. A coach can’t ask anything more than that. To leave everything you have on the field and Jack did that for us today. I’m proud of him,” were the sentiments of Coach Kirksey, after the game.

The Roadrunner hitters also battled. They scored a run in the third inning on a single by senior shortstop Andres Leyva who stole second followed by a walk by senior catcher Jake Rosenblatt. Senior third baseman Max Robinson scored Leyva with RBI single to left field, but with no outs, the Roadrunners stranded the last two runners on base.

In their top half of the fifth inning, Rosenblatt led off with a double to right center, Robinson doubled driving Rosenblatt home and senior Holden Miller connected on a fastball sending the ball over the right field fence for his first home run of the season. The Roadrunners now trailed 10-4.

Max Robinson relieved Freedman in the fifth and struck out two and made a good play on a slow roller in front of the plate just beating the runner. Robinson pitch another strong inning, facing just six hitters in two innings and striking out four of them.

The Roadrunners trailed going into the seventh inning 10-4. Leyva led it off with his second single of the game and then his second steal of second base. Rosenblatt followed with a line shot to right that cleared the fence for the Roadrunners second home run of the game. With the score now 10-6, the rally ended when Robinson grounded out to first, sophomore, Cooper Halpern lined out to short and sophomore, Michael Rosen struck out.

Coach Kirksey said he was proud of his team because they didn’t give up. “You can’t ask more from your team. They could’ve easily quit. We knew we were coming into a tough game against these guys, but we held our own. They gave us 100 percent of what they had and we came away knowing what it’s going to take in the future to beat them. We’re a work in progress and we made some today.”

Roadrunners play their next game Tuesday March 22 against the Paraclete High Spirits in Lancaster at 4 p.m.

in Sports
Related Posts

Former Angels Communications Director Eric Kay Sentenced to 22 Years in Tyler Skaggs Overdose Case

October 14, 2022

October 14, 2022

October sentencing comes over three years after 2019 overdose in Southlake, Texas Former Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay was...

Update: Santa Monica Girls Softball Team Fundraising for USA Softball National Championships

July 25, 2022

July 25, 2022

By Ashley Sloan The Santa Monica Girls U14 Softball Fastpitch team has advanced to the USA Softball National Championship in...

Super Bowl Pre-Game Show to Be Broadcast From Santa Monica Pier

February 10, 2022

February 10, 2022

The Santa Monica Pier will be the location for the Super Bowl Pre-Game show broadcast. Learn more in this video...

Santa Monica Youth Basketball Staying and Playing Strong

October 13, 2021

October 13, 2021

By Dr. Paul Drew Hello everyone, I’m Dr. Paul Drew.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to...

Local Hoopers Rejoice As Venice Basketball League Returns

September 6, 2021

September 6, 2021

The Venice Basketball League is officially back on the courts after nearly 2 years of closure. Nick Ansom joins us...

Westside Olympic Swimmer Shares Her Journey To The Games

August 31, 2021

August 31, 2021

Two time Olympian, Westside Local, and Medical Student Andi Murez has returned from the Tokyo games, hear about her journey...

Local Little League All-Star Team Wins More Than Just Championships

August 10, 2021

August 10, 2021

The Venice Baseball Academy’s little league team, the Tide, recently won the SoCal State Championships but it’s more than winning...

Crossroads Wins CIF and State Regionals

June 15, 2021

June 15, 2021

The Crossroads Varsity Boys Soccer Team had a stellar championship season starting with a true underdog story with CIF Division 6 Playoff...

Samohi Vikings Frosh-Soph Defeat Culver City Centaurs in Final Seconds

April 20, 2021

April 20, 2021

2020 was a tough year for Santa Monica High School football as Covid-19 restrictions forced all high school sports to...

Pali Riptide Baseball Club Tryouts

January 7, 2021

January 7, 2021

January 9th and 10th at Pali Rec Center The Pali Riptide Baseball Club is preparing for a spring season and...

Grand Jury Indicts Former Angel Employee in Tyler Skaggs’ Fatal Overdose

October 19, 2020

October 19, 2020

Fort Wayne grand jury indicts Eric Prescott Kay on drug distribution and drug conspiracy charges By Sam Catanzaro A federal...

Column: How to Play it Safe to Prevent Deadly Heat Exhaustion

August 24, 2020

August 24, 2020

By Shawn McCann  As the Southland region broils in a summer heatwave, the coronavirus pandemic has created additional concern for...

Former Angels Employee Charged in Tyler Skagg’s Fatal Fentanyl Overdose

August 7, 2020

August 7, 2020

Former Angels Communications Director Eric Prescott Kay faces up to 20 years in prison By Sam Catanzaro An ex-employee of...

LA Marathon to Exclude Santa Monica

July 24, 2020

July 24, 2020

Race organizers, citing “bigger footprint at the finish line”, choose Century City end point By Sam Catanzaro Santa Monica has...