The Stallions baseball team from Queens Grant High School won the PAC 7 Conference regular season championship with an 8-4 victory over Pine Lake Preparatory this past week.
The ace of the staff Bryce Gorospe pitched a solid 7 innings, allowing 4 runs, 3 earned, on 3 base on balls, 4 strikeouts while allowing 7 hits. Bryce was effective and efficient, he gutted out a solid performance for the clinching victory.
The Stallions jumped out to an early lead, in the first inning Spencer Smith singled, Jacob Beard would hit a line drive into the gap between the center fielder and right that rolled to the wall for an RBI triple, Alwin Duran followed with a double scoring Beard, then big brother Andy Duran would hit a line drive single putting runners on the corners, Nick Kuebler would drill another liner for the third run of the inning. The senior starter Derek Finizio settled down to get the next three batters to limit the damage.
In the second inning Andrew Ollenberger would connect on a towering drive that cleared the “Brown Monster” by plenty to add another run giving the Stallions a solid 4-0 start after two innings of baseball.
The Pride bounced back after a lead-off single, then followed by a home run hit by Finizio to cut the lead in half. Gorospe would retire the next three batters after allowing the two hard hit balls. Alwin Duran would hit a triple on a one hopper off the wall, but would be stranded in the bottom half of the third inning.
In the fifth inning the Pride would again score two more runs to tie the game at 4. However, on a pitching change, the Stallions would scratch across two more runs to regain the lead. A hit batter, sacrifice bunt, and a base hit by Braian Baez gave the home team the advantage at 5-4. The boys would add another run to take a 6-4 lead going into the sixth.
Gorospe held the Pride in check in the sixth putting their hitters down in order. In the bottom half the Stallions would score two more important insurance runs. Beard was hit by a pitch, Alwin Duran would hit a grounder to third on a nicely executed hit an run, putting Beard on second, Andy Duran would hit a sharp single, with the runners on the corners, Kuebler would get an infield hit scoring the runner from third, with runners on first and second base, pinch hitter Cameron King would single to right scoring Duran making the score 8-4 in favor of the home team.
In the top half of the seventh, Gorospe who has settled in nicely at this point in the game with a 4 run lead threw strikes, with a runner on second base and two outs, he would strike out the final batter on a called strike three from the umpire. The Stallion bench emptied onto the field to celebrate their PAC 7 Championship.
The Stallions banged out 10 timely hits, Andy Duran went 2-2, Jacob Beard 1-3, triple and RBI, Alwin Duran 2-4, triple, RBI, Nick Kuebler 1-4, RBI, Braian Baez, 1-4, RBI, Andrew Ollenberger, 1-3, RBI, Spencer Smith 1-3, Cameron Kind 1-1, RBI.
After the game, “Head Coach Dan Kerr said all our hard work paid off today, it showed on the field, and the guys understand it takes a team effort to win consistently. I’m proud of what we have accomplished, now we need to continue playing well in the tournament and playoffs.”
