Flintridge Prep’s Late Heroics Defeat Poly, 4-3

^{First published in the March 10 print issue of the Pasadena Outlook.}

In a tight duel between Flintridge Prep and visiting Polytechnic, Spencer Seid played hero and delivered the game-winning, walk-off single to lift the Wolves to victory, 4-3, in the crosstown Prep League rivalry game.
Seid, who finished 2-for-4 at the plate, also pitched five shutout innings with 10 strikeouts while only allowing three hits and three walks. He departed in line for the win until the bullpen gave up the lead in the sixth inning.
But Seid took matters into his own hands at the plate, delivering the game-winning base hit with one out in the seventh inning to end it.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play. I knew with Nick [Gonzalez] at second, he could run pretty well,” Seid said. “It was a great team win; I knew that one run against this team wasn’t going to be enough — they always find a way.”
After Poly took the lead in the top of the sixth, starting pitcher Adam Arther returned to the mound but was quickly relieved after allowing a leadoff triple on the first pitch to Flintridge Prep center fielder John Kully. Arther, who finished 1-for-1 with two walks and an RBI at the plate, twirled five innings with 11 strikeouts, four hits and two walks but was charged with two earned runs. His fine outing resulted in a no-decision after Kully scored on a sacrifice fly by Flintridge Prep second baseman Dominick Schraeder.
“I’ve known these guys for a long time and it’s always fun when I get to play them,” Arther said. “A part of my game is just focusing and making sure I go one pitch at a time, one batter at a time, one inning at a time, one game at a time and not getting to far ahead of myself.”
Flintridge Prep senior catcher Nicholas Gonzalez, who notched the winning run, crossed the plate to open the scoring in the first inning. He reached on a walk, advanced on a passed ball and stole third before Kully scored him on an RBI single. Kully had a fine afternoon at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with one RBI and a run scored.
Junior shortstop Graham DesHotel went 2-for-3 with an RBI, senior outfielder Josh Beserra finished with a walk and a run scored, and junior utility player Evan Yoon had one walk.
“We have to keep the momentum going and we can’t fall behind. We have two more meetings with Poly and its always hard playing against them,” Flintridge Prep head coach Guillermo Gonzalez said. “It was intense. Our hitting wasn’t there today but our pitching was.”

Credit terrific pitching for keeping the Panthers quiet for five innings before Poly’s bats came alive against Flintridge Prep reliever Max Brunngraber, who was the winning pitcher of record. He allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits over two innings.
The Panthers nearly batted around in the sixth as third baseman Sean Asperger collected his first of two hits while later scoring on Arther’s two-out, RBI single. Errors helped Poly first baseman Elliot Rowley, who reached on a walk and finished 1-for-2 at the plate, to score the go-ahead run.
Poly center fielder Jason Mayo did his job as the leadoff hitter, reaching base in three of his four plate appearances on a single and two walks. He stole second in the first inning but Flintridge Prep catcher Nicholas Gonzalez caught him attempting to steal third in the third inning.
Poly left fielder Ethan Chan finished 1-for-3 with a double, catcher Henry McDonald scored once, outfielder Griffin Unanue tallied an RBI and Max Alsoufiev walked once.
“Flintridge Prep is a good team but they are beatable. They are a good pitching team, so we are going to have to really buckle down on the offensive side of things. We left runners in scoring position in four of the seven innings,” Poly assistant coach John Moe said. “Like everyone’s been saying: we are the two best teams in this league and it’s going to be us versus them the whole way through.”
The Wolves (8-1 overall record, 2-0 in league) and the Panthers (2-2 overall, 2-1 in league) are scheduled to meet each other for the second of three matchups at Polytechnic’s Ochari D’Aiello Field on Tuesday, March 15, at 3:30 p.m.