Bay League Notebook: Peninsula Players Revel in 'Game of the Year' Win

What a great way to unveil Palos Verdes High’s dramatically upgraded baseball field.

Oh sure, Palos Verdes came out on the short end against rival Peninsula, 3-1, in their Bay League opener. But the Sea Kings and their arch-rivals played a great game while 300 fans watched for the first time in theater-quality seats just recently installed around home plate.

“This is my inaugural win in front of theater seats, at least since I became a high school baseball coach,” Peninsula head coach Dennis Gonsalves said with a big smile. “This is a special day and a special win for our baseball team against a great rival.”       

Actually, it was Peninsula’s first win against Palos Verdes for everyone on Peninsula’s roster. The two sides meet again Friday afternoon at Peninsula.          

“You can’t even explain what this means to us,” said senior catcher Justin Hertzmann, who hit the game-winning two-run single in the sixth and then blocked the plate to stop a run from possibly scoring in the bottom of the seventh.

“I’ve been in a bit of a slump, so getting that hit was huge for me. … In the seventh, I couldn’t let that run score so I had to drop the leg and deal with the pain later.”    

Senior right-hander Dillon Rozas got the win, relieving 6-foot-6 Cristian Torres in the fifth and pitching three scoreless innings while the Panthers overcame a 1-0 deficit. He pitched out of a jam in the seventh when his own error let runners reach second and third with one out.

“This is the game of the year for us,” Rozas said. “There was so much adrenaline in that seventh inning. We’ve been playing these guys for so long, since Little League really. We had to beat them today.”

The victory raised Peninsula’s record to 10-4-1 overall and 1-0 in league. Palos Verdes fell to 12-5 overall and 0-1 despite a solid performance from junior right-hander MacKenzie Menthen, who pitched five shutout innings before faltering slightly in the sixth.

“He did a decent job,” PV coach Evan Fujinaga said. “We made it hard on him, extending some innings (with mistakes in the field). We didn’t take advantage of some opportunities we had to score some more runs, either.”

On this one day, though, the sting of defeat was tempered by the intensity of a rivalry game played in front of PV’s remodeled stands. A beautiful new clubhouse is still to come, along with a snack bar that will make PV’s baseball facilities truly special.

“We’re pretty fired up about all of this,” Fujinaga said. “We have a clubhouse coming and these seats are unlike anything in Southern California, I believe.            

“This was the first game, but this is something we can all enjoy for decades to come.”

The baseball rivalry seems to be growing as Fujinaga and Gonsalves work hard to build great baseball programs at their respective schools.

“This is great,” Fujinaga said. “It’s like Rolling Hills and PV back in the day before PV closed and Peninsula became the only school on the hill for awhile.

“Now it’s great to have two equal schools.”

As a symbol of the growing importance of baseball on the hill, each school starts a freshman who is expected to become an outstanding player in the future. Infielder Edward Haus starts for Peninsula, while infielder Michael Montpas starts for PV. Both are small, but highly skilled and figure to be special when they mature.

“Those are two great young players,” Fujinaga said. “They both played well today.”

Unlike anyone else on the field, both will get three more years playing at PV’s revamped field, where the Pacific Ocean lurks nearby, hawks fly overhead in the late innings and fans can watch the game from seats that would be acceptable at Dodger Stadium. 

Area Track Stand-outs

Peninsula High’s Brailon Brown has run a 10.51 in the 100, but he’s challenged on his own team by Victor Woo, who ran a 10.81 on Tuesday in Peninsula’s dual meet win over Mira Costa.

Palos Verdes’ Brendan Weaver stole the show at the Mustang Relays, setting a school record of 40.90 in the 300 hurdles. He also cleared 6-2 in the high jump. He should improve on both those marks the rest of the season.

Palos Verdes Jonah Diaz made the CIF Masters Meet last year but teammate and fellow distance runner Justin Unno is catching up to him this year. They should contribute to some special distance races at the Bay League championships.

In the girls sprints, Peninsula’s Kaylyn Taylor will challenge the league’s best after running 12.95. 

PV’s Erica Capellino and Rebecca Mehra will challenge the best Redondo and Mira Costa have to offer. And Keiko Hector has been mentioned here before. She’s a threat in several field events and the hurdles.