Baseball: Wildcats Top Tigers to Snap Skid

The Monrovia baseball team’s seven-game losing streak came to an end on Wednesday against South Pasadena thanks to an outstanding pitching performance from Kevin Shue. Shue allowed just three hits in a complete game effort and struck out four en route to a 2-1 victory.

“I think the last six days we’ve had off allowed us to clear our heads and face today like a brand new ball game,” said Monrovia co-head coach Brad Blackmore. “Kevin (Shue) was fantastic.”

South Pasadena’s Tony Veiller was equally impressive on the mound, also throwing a complete game and allowing just one earned run with five strikeouts. However, a fielding error in the first inning on a groundball by Jairo Jiorge allowed the Wildcats to take a 1-0 lead.

Monrovia almost pushed another run across in the second inning on a single by David Perez, but Tiger right fielder Conor Bednarski unleashed a cannon-like throw to nail Carl Daniels trying to score from second base.

The Tigers took advantage of Monrovia shortstop Nick Bueno’s fielding troubles to tie the game in the bottom of the second. Joey Harmon reached base when first baseman Joe Mata couldn’t dig Bueno’s low throw out of the dirt.

Harmon stole second base as Shue struck out Brendan Perry, but another poor throw on a groundball by Derek Eisen allowed Harmon to score.

“We made some errors behind (Shue) and a weaker-minded kid would have folded,” said Blackmore. “He’s mentally tough.”

Veiller made a rare mistake in the fourth inning, leaving a fastball over the plate that Mata drove into the left field gap for a double. Mata advance to third on a groundball and scored on Kevin Pestanas’ sacrifice fly to take the lead. 

“Tony (Veiller) put us in a position to win, but we didn’t capitalize on as many opportunities as they did,” South Pasadena coach Anthony Chevrier said.

Shue cruised through the middle innings, but faced his biggest challenge in the seventh. He got the first two batters out, but the Tigers wouldn’t go quietly.

Corey Richards singled through the third base hole and Bednarski followed with a shallow fly ball to centerfield that dropped for a hit. Shue walked Keaton Leach to bring up Anthony D’ Oro with the bases loaded. 

On a 0-1 count, D’ Oro hit a hard groundball to shortstop, but Bueno redeemed his earlier gaffes by making a diving stop and throwing to second base for the final out.

“It feels good, that was an important win,” said Shue after the game. “I was just throwing what the coach called. My curveball was the most effective.”

Chevrier assessed his team’s near comeback. 

“We put ourselves in a position to win there at the end, we just didn’t get the big hit,” he said. “I think we struggled to make adjustments. I told the team ‘Good players make adjustments within a game and great players make an adjustment within an at-bat.’ ” 

The Tiger loss equals the Wildcats’ number of losses in the Rio Hondo League at four as the Tigers hold a half game lead on the Wildcats for second place in league. Monrovia owns a tie-breaker with South Pasadena should it come to that by winning the season series 2-1.

Monrovia plays Friday at La Canada, while South Pasadena will play a nonleague game against Pasadena Poly on Saturday.

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