Sports

Baseball: Amador Beats Foothill to Win Outright EBAL Title

It's Amador's first baseball championship since 1980

Amador Valley 6, Foothill 5

Records: Amador Valley 21-3, 12-2 EBAL; Foothill 17-7, 10-4.

The Star: Amador's Tommy Pluschkell was 3 for 4 and had RBI's in each of his first three at-bats.

Find out what's happening in Pleasantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Turning Point: Devin Finn's line drive to right field skipped past the Foothill fielder allowing Finn to end up on third base with a leadoff triple in the bottom of the eighth. After Foothill loaded the bases, Michael Lam singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw to give Amador the win and the outright league title.

The Quote: "This is why you play the game. This type of game is why baseball is America's past time," Amador center fielder Joe Moroney said. "We haven't panicked all year and that has seemed to work out."

Find out what's happening in Pleasantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Who's Next? The North Coast Section Division I playoff field will be announced on Sunday. Amador will likely receive the No. 1 seed and home field throughout the playoffs, while Foothill figures to be somewhere in the top-five.

The Bottom Line: Amador came into the game with a piece of the EBAL title locked up — its first since 1980 — however, with the win it'll receive the automatic bid for the NCS playoffs. Foothill could have shared the title with a win, but now finishes the year in a second-place tie with San Ramon Valley.

——————————————————

Amador Valley's 29-year skid without a baseball league championship is over.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Michael Lam drove the first pitch he saw up the middle to score Devin Finn and give the Dons a 6-5 victory over rival Foothill and the outright East Bay Athletic League title. (video)

"I can't even comprehend what just happened," Lam said. "But it feels great."

Finn led off the inning with a triple after his line drive to right field skipped past the Foothill fielder and nearly to the wall. Foothill intentionally walked Tony Olguin and Aaron Hafford to load the bases for Lam, the No. 9 hitter, who re-entered after being lifted for pinch-hitter Brent Barstow in the sixth.

"He was due," teammate Joe Moroney said. "He's a great hitter and likes those first-pitch fastballs. We keep getting these timely hits."

Finn's run represented the fifth lead change in a game that wasn't short on dramatic moments.

Amador trailed 5-4 headed into the bottom of the seventh, when Brian Hamm led off with an infield single. He moved to second on a sacrifice-bunt by Moroney before Foothill issued Chris Keck his second intentional walk of the game. Tommy Pluschkell followed by grounding to Jake Jefferies at third, who made the throw to get Keck at second, but the potential game ending throw to get Pluschkell at first sailed out of play and Hamm came in to tie the game.

"Tommy has been clutch for us all  year," Amador coach Lou Cesario said. "He had some big hits today and put the ball in play there that led to us tying the game."

Pluschkell finished the game 3 for 4 and drove in Moroney, who was 3 for 3, in each of his first three at bats.

The Dons scored a pair of runs in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead, but Foothill answered with two of its own in the sixth. An infield single by Jefferies scored Garrett Moore before Bobby Killian gave the Falcons the lead by with a sac-fly to left.

Killian entered the game in the third inning after Foothill shortstop Brandon Defazio was ejected after running over Olguin in a close play at the plate. Defazio, who was 2 for 2, was out on the play and will now have to sit out the Falcons' first round North Coast Section Division I playoff game.

Amador clinched a share of the EBAL title with its 7-6 extra-innings win against Granada on Wednesday, but would have shared the crown with Foothill if it lost on Friday.

According to Cesario, the Dons had not won a baseball championship since 1980.

"This is why you play the game. This type of game is why baseball is America's past time," Moroney said. "We haven't panicked all year and that has seemed to work out."

In its last six games, Amador has won five by one run and three with a walk-off hit. The Dons have won 14 of their last 15 games and will take a 10-game winning streak into next week's NCS playoffs, where Cesario expects to be the No. 1 seed.

"We beat Heritage, we beat Logan, we beat Irvington, we beat Washington, we swept the second and third place teams in the EBAL and have a 10-game winning streak," he said. "I'd be very surprised if we don't end up the No. 1 seed."

Coupled with San Ramon Valley's win against Monte Vista, the loss backs Foothill into a tie for second place with the Wolves. Foothill still figures to be among the top-five seeds when the playoff field is announced on Sunday.

——————————————————

Amador Valley 6, Foothill 5

Foothill (12-4, 5-1) 011 012 00— 5 12 1
Amador Valley (21-3, 12-2) 101 020 11— 6 11 1


Foothill (ab-r-h)— Owen 4-1-1, Jefferies 5-1-2, Defazio 2-0-2, Killian 2-1-2, Theofanopolous 4-0-0, Viceral 4-0-2, Rowland 4-1-3, Anderson 2-0-0, Yamada 0-0-0, Moore 2-0-0, Camarena 3-0-0.
Amador Valley (ab-r-h)— Hamm 4-2-2, Moroney 3-3-3, Keck 2-0-0, Pluschkell 4-0-3, Johnson 4-0-0, Finn 4-1-2, Olguin 2-0-0, Dillon 2-0-0, Hafford 1-0-1, Lam 3-1-1, Barstow 1-0-0.

Pitching 

Foothill — Anderson 7 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 10 H, 3 BB, 6 K; Rowland 0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 K; Owen 0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K.
Amador — Mallory 2.1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K; Osterholt 3+ IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K; Keck 2.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K.

Batting 
2B— Moroney (AV), Hamm (AV), Pluschkell (AV), Defazio (F). 3B — Finn (AV).

 

———————————————————


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here