Dominant Zach Perez pitches Granada Hills to 8-1 victory over Cleveland
GRANADA HILLS, Calif. -- Zach Perez knew he had a chance to do something special, so he asked one of the Granada Hills parents for some apple sauce.
"That was pretty funny," Perez said.
The truth is, the senior left-hander was exhausted. Perez requested the apple sauce hoping to boost his energy with a no-hit bid alive in the late innings of Granada Hills' West Valley League showdown with Cleveland.
After his snack break, Perez went out to pitch the seventh inning, but ultimately the apple sauce couldn't get him across the finish line as he allowed a solo home run to Cleveland's Nano Lopez and was pulled.
The Cavaliers' home run was the one Highlander lowlight in a game full of Granada Hills highlights. Perez finished his start throwing six innings, striking out seven and allowing just the one hit and run in an 8-1 victory.
"Obviously I'd have liked to get that no-hitter at the end," Perez said. "But just to come out with a win is huge in the West Valley League. I'm excited about that."
After giving up a first inning walk, Perez didn't allow another baserunner until the sixth inning.
"Zach came out and pounded the strike zone today," Granada Hills head coach Matt Matuszak said. "He threw his slider really well for a strike and located his fastball both inside and out for a strike today...When you throw strikes, I think he was at 66% today, and play defense, you're going to win a lot of games."
HIGHLANDER BATS COME ALIVE
Granada Hills scored at least one run in every inning but the fourth on Friday. In the first frame, junior Andrew Cuervo hit a two-RBI single off of Cleveland starter Gabe Juarez.
In the second inning, senior Brandon Garfinkel hit an RBI triple and later in the game Miles Ortiz hit a solo home run.
"This was one of our best games of the year," Matuszak said.
GRANADA HILLS PLAYS BIRMINGHAM NEXT
The Highlanders will have revenge on their minds next week. Granada Hills begins a two game series with Birmingham on Tuesday, the team that knocked off the Highlanders in the playoffs 9-2 a year ago.
"Birmingham, it's a big one obviously," Matuszak said. "They got us in the playoffs last year, but ultimately we know that next week is just two more baseball games. Sure, it's easy to say that. It's one that you obviously circle because we know that they're one of the better teams and we're one of the better teams, but ultimately I care more about when we face them in May than when we face them next week."
Birmingham will host the first game on Tuesday night. Game 2 will be played at Granada Hills on Thursday afternoon.
"This is the series that I've worked the entire offseason for trying to get back at them next week," Perez said. "I'm super excited for that."
PHOTOS
