Wilson baseball wins early Moore League battle with Poly at Blair Field

LONG BEACH >> Had the fences been moved in a little closer at Blair Field this year, Wilson High School’s Riley Dent might have started the Moore League season off with a bang. As it is, the Bruins senior ended the game a home run shy of the cycle, but that offensive output, along with a strong complete-game performance from pitcher Jack Williford, was enough to propel the Bruins to a 5-2 win over Poly in a Moore League opener for both teams.

“I’m happy for our guys,” Wilson coach Andy Hall said. “We’ve been struggling for a week or so.”

The Bruins had lost three in a row since leaing that ace pitcher Zach Pettway will miss the remainder of year with an elbow injury.

“We needed that one and Jack pitched a nice game,” Hall said. “We’ll take it.”

Williford went the distance for the Bruins, scattering five hits and yielding just one eaed run.

“We’d been on a little bit of a slide, so it’s nice to beat Poly and start off 1-0,” Williford said.

The Bruins jumped out to an early lead after getting to Poly starter John Vozzella in the first iing, with Dent singling and then stealing two bases before being driven in by Williford. After Vozzella walked and hit the next two batters, Poly put in Micah Wallette, who struck out a pair to end the iing.

The Jackrabbits tied the game in the bottom of the third iing when freshman shortstop Chris Murphy scored from third on a passed ball. But Wilson answered in the next iing. Dent doubled in Jacob Beett to take the lead back, 2-1. Diego Frausto scored later in the iing on a passed ball. Wilson padded the lead in the fifth and sixth iings, including a run from Pettway, who was pinch ruing.

“That’s the extent of what we’ll see from him this year,” Hall said of his UCLA committed junior.

The Jackrabbits got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from E.J. Andrews. Poly had two on in the bottom of the seventh but Williford was able to end the game and send Hall home with something to smile about.

“My son keeps score for Poly in their dugout, so at least I’ll have something to go home and be happy about,” he said.

Wilson (5-5) will be back at Blair Field Friday, facing Millikan in a night game. Poly (6-5) will face Jordan at Blair at 3 p.m.

GAHR 8, AGOURA 4 >> The Gladiators (7-1) smashed 12 hits and scored in bunches early to beat the visiting Chargers (6-5) on Wednesday in nonleague action. Gahr, which is ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southe Section Division 2 poll, sent nine batters to the plate in the first iing and scored four runs. The Gladiators doubled their lead to 6-3 with two more runs in the second iing.

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“It’s a mental approach and philosophy,” Gahr coach Gerardo Perez said of his team hitting 10 singles to do the damage. “It’s about being good at who you are. This group has settled into that. They’re not trying to do too much.”

Senior leadoff hitter Jesus Salazar scored three times and six other Gladiators had RBI hits. Sophomore designated hitter Julian Sotelo came off the bench to drive in two runs in the fourth iing and break the game open with a single through the left side.

Starting pitcher Chris Corral picked up his fourth win of the season for Gahr with 5 2/3 iings of work. The lefty senior scattered seven hits and struck out six.

— JJ Fiddler

For videos of both of the Press-Telegram’s top two baseball games of the day, visit PressTelegram.com/sports.