Charles Rich
Something wasn't right while he warmed up on the bullpen mound under
threatening skies.
Nobody except Matt Stoner -- the ace pitcher on the La Canada High
baseball team -- knew if he could capture another gigantic moment by
throwing a second consecutive no-hitter. Stoner fought valiantly
before the roof caved in on him and his teammates.
La Canada committed five errors that largely contributed to a 6-2
Rio Hondo League home setback against Monrovia on Friday.
*--*
BOX SCORE
*--*
*--*
Monrovia 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 -- 6 8 0
La Canada 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 -- 2 8 5
*--*
*--*
Monrovia IP H R ER BB K
Gass 7 8 2 2 2 6
*--*
*--*
La Canada IP H R ER BB K
Stoner 7 8 6 3 0 3
*--*
*--*
WP-- Gass (4-0).
LP-- Stoner (3-3).
2B: LC-Gantney.
SB: M-Paniagua; LC-Marderosian.
*--*
The errors opened the floodgates on the Spartans (7-4, 3-2 in
league) at a time when they could have put some distance in the
league standings against a signature squad like Monrovia (7-4, 4-1).
Stoner, who pitched a no-hitter in a league contest against Temple
City on March 26, and La Canada couldn't hold a 2-0 lead. Then
Monrovia broke through against Stoner (3-3) by remaining patient at
the plate and putting the ball in play against La Canada's shaky
defense.
"I didn't feel great in the bullpen," said Stoner, who allowed
eight hits and struck out six in a complete-game performance. "I
wasn't really thinking [about throwing another no-hitter] because I
was a little tight and I had no control.
"I don't know why, and we had a couple of bad hops go against us."
Monrovia, which won five league championships from 1998-2002,
didn't get its first hit until Raul Palacios reached on an infield
single in the fourth inning. That snapped Stoner's no-hit string of
10 2/3 innings.
Stoner last allowed a hit in the seventh inning of a 4-2 nonleague
loss to St. Francis on March 16.
The Wildcats scored two unearned runs in the fourth to knot the
game at 2 before breaking the game open with a two-run fifth. Balls
careened off La Canada athletes, who threw the ball down the
right-field line.
"We're all human," La Canada Coach Dennis Ballard said. "But we
gave them opportunities and [Monrovia] took advantage of them.
"I think we were a little too anxious in certain moments, and this
will be one of those games where you sit back and go through it pitch
by pitch."
La Canada, seeking its first league championship in more than two
decades, took an early lead in the second.
Alex Perez opened with a single and moved to third on a double by
Blake Gantney, who finished with a game-high three hits. Mark Eisen
made it 1-0 on a single to left, and Steven Lee extended the lead on
a run-scoring groundout against Monrovia pitcher Ben Gass (4-0).
Gass settled down and benefited from Monrovia turning double plays
in the fifth and sixth. Gass struck out six, including star shortstop
Erik Bell three times.
The Spartans saw their bid to take a 3-2 lead fall by the wayside
in the fourth when Monrovia centerfielder Tyler Craig threw out
Gantney, who tried to score from second on a single by Matt Woodward.
