PASADENA — Elliot Surrey patiently defused a potentially explosive situation on the mound for the Arroyo Seco Saints before teammate Tei Vanderford dropped a bomb on the Arcadia Astros in Tuesday night's Palomino League Southern California Region championship game at Jackie Robinson Field.
The UC Irvine-bound Surrey, a recent Crescenta Valley High graduate, doubled and scored a run and nailed down a two-inning save in the 4-0 win that included a key two-run triple from St. Francis' Vanderford in the sixth inning.
The win vaulted the Saints, who are coached by St. Francis Coach Aaron Milam and feature players from CV, St. Francis and Glendale Community College, into the West Zone tournament as the region's top seed, where they will open play against the Lacey Rainiers of Washington on at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Compton.
"It was real good baseball," Milam said of his team's shutout effort. "You get to this level and that's what you get, these guys are going on to college and you expect good baseball from them. We're happy the way that it worked out."