Carlsbad shuts down Alemany at Hard 9 National Classic

Alemany (Mission Hills, Calif.) has played against some memorable pitchers this season, but one they are not likely to forget is Carlsbad (Calif.)'s Thomas Eshelman.

Eshelman, a 6-3 right-handed pitcher headed to CSU Fullerton, held Alemany, ranked No. 15 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, to no runs on three hits with 15 strikeouts in the first round of the Hard 9 National Classic on Monday. The shutout marked the first time the Warriors had been held scoreless this season.

Alemany, which earlier this season had beaten Harvard-Westlake and the nation's No. 1 pitching prospect Lucas Giolito, fell to 12-3-1 with the loss. Carlsbad raised its record to 8-3.

According to Alemany coach Randy Thompson, Eshelman had good command of both sides of the plate, a trait rarely seen in high school pitchers.

"He moved the ball inside and out and we don't see that very often at the high school level," he said. "We did a poor job of chasing pitches today."

Eshelman noted that all four of his pitches were working against Alemany, but the slider was most effective.

"The slider was the star today," he said. "I thrive on hitting my spots. Even when they got two runners on base, I was just taking one batter at a time. It actually helped at the time because I think I pitch better from the stretch."

While Eshelman was shutting down the Warriors, his Carlsbad teammates were not having much luck against Alemany's Cory Messmore. The Warrior pitcher limited Carlsbad to just two hits through the first five innings, but Nick Anderson got Eshelman the only run he needed in the top of the sixth.

With the confines of El Dorado High School limited to just 310 feet down the left-field line and 360 feet to center field, Anderson hit one about 350 feet for the game's lone run.

"We knew we had to be patient at the plate against their pitcher because he was throwing mostly offspeed pitchers," said Carlsbad coach Chris Greene. "With Thomas pitching the way he did, it only took one big hit."

Alemany (12-3-1), which won the consolation championship in last year's Hard 9 National Classic, advances to a consolation game against James River (Midlothian, Va.), which lost a 6-0 decision to El Toro (Lake Forest, Calif.) in the first round. The game is set for 11 a.m. at Cypress High School.

Carlsbad advances to play El Toro at 4 p.m. at Esperanza High School in Anaheim.

Spanish Fork 8, Ocean View 0
The Spanish Fork (Utah) Dons, who play in the higher altitudes of Utah, brought their thin air with them Monday in belting three home runs in an 8-0 win over Ocean View (Huntington Beach, Calif.).

"The interesting thing is that we had only hit three home runs all season long," said Spanish Fork coach Jim "Shoe" Nelson.

All three of the Dons' homers were no-doubters, especially the two by returning MaxPreps National Junior Player of the Year Kayden Porter, who twice cleared the grove of trees behind the left field fence. See more on Porter.

Porter got Spanish Fork on the board in the first inning with a two-run homer and he led of the fifth with a blast that gave the Dons a 7-0 advantage.

Spanish Fork also got a pinch-hit home run from Rustin Gordon in the bottom of the sixth for the final run of the game.
The Dons also scored four times in the second inning on a two-run double by Hayden Nielsen and run-scoring singles by Tyler Allred and Lincoln Rivera.

While the offense was piling up the runs, Spanish Fork pitcher Brady Corless was limiting Ocean View to just five hits. According to Nelson, Corless' opening-game start was not part of any particular strategy.

"It was his turn to start so he started," said Nelson. "We have a three-man rotation and it was his turn. He did a great job but that's how he's pitched all year."

Nelson added that while his other two starters Nielsen and Porter garner most of the attention, Corless is making a name for himself.

"He has a lot of scouts and colleges looking at him," said Nelson. "He's right there with the other two."

The Dons (12-1) advance to the second round to face IMG Academies (Bradenton, Fla.), a 6-3 winner over Cypress (Cypress, Calif.). The two squads meet at 4 p.m. at El Dorado High School.

In other first-round games, Bishop Amat (La Puente, Calif.) defeated Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.) 9-5, Esperanza (Anaheim, Calif.) topped Sunrise Mountain (Peoria, Ariz.) 5-3, Valley Vista (Surprise, Ariz.) defeated Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) 4-2 and El Dorado (Placentia, Calif.) blanked Galena (Reno, Nev.) 7-0.

Bishop Amat overcame an early 4-0 deficit against a Pacifica team that won the Anaheim Lions Tournament last week.
IMG Academies got a strong pitching effort from Brett Hanewich to down Cypress, a team that had knocked off National High School Invitational champion Mater Dei last week.

El Toro got five shutout innings from Tyler Brashears, but he did not get the win. Instead, Stephen Villines entered the game in the sixth inning and he got the victory after the Chargers scored six runs in the sixth inning.

The rest of today's schedule finds Pacifica playing Sunrise Mountain at 10 a.m. at Esperanza, Ocean View meets Cypress at 2 p.m. at Cypress High School and Chaminade plays Galena at 10 a.m. at El Dorado.

In the championship bracket, Bishop Amat plays Esperanza at 1 p.m. at Esperanza and Valley Vista meets El Dorado at 1 p.m. at El Dorado.