One year ago, San Marino High School’s varsity baseball team was facing elimination. On Tuesday, the Titans put themselves in what amounts to a Rio Hondo League championship game on Thursday afternoon at McNamee Field against Monrovia by defeating the Wildcats on their home diamond by a final score of 4-0.
Senior southpaw Blake Cabot spun what might be the most significant performance of his career in the game that mattered most, scattering three hits and striking out seven as Monrovia never really mounted much of a threat. What’s better for the Titans, the Wildcats burned their ace in the process as Julian Gomez-Trejo wound up on the losing side of the ledger, possibly in an attempt to make Thursday’s contest moot.
Going into the game, San Marino head Coach Mike Hobbie knew it was pointless to save Cabot, putting his faith in a young man who has now played quarterback and pitched for Hobbie, who is also the Titan football coach.
“Blake did a wonderful job,” Hobbie said after the game. “He was in control throughout and gave us a real chance to win the game.”
The Titans plated two runs in the top of the first inning to seize momentum and never handed it back. Senior catcher Austin Urbach was 3-for-3 with two RBI and also scored a run. Other hits were recorded by Ryan Sabin, Harrison Dunkel, Kade Wentz and Sean Richardson. Dunkel, Sabin and Richardson tallied the remainder of San Marino’s runs as the Titans improved to 9-2 in league action, 12-7-1 overall.
Hobbie praised Urbach for both his offensive and defensive play, calling the senior’s RBIs “huge.”
Wentz also picked up some props from his coach.
“Kade did a good job at third base,” Hobbie said. “He had some hot ones that he handled extremely well, including a couple in the seventh inning. They were tough plays to make and he made them. But Blake pitched well and there weren’t a lot of other balls put into play. Baseball is a game of timeliness and that was in our favor today.”
Junior Zach Balbin will get the ball Thursday for the Monrovia contest, which is also the final regular season game of the year. Balbin has pitched well and drawn plaudits from Hobbie for each of his three most recent performances.
“Zach is really pitching well,” Hobbie concurred.
So is Cabot, who improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Rio Hondo League.
It was just a good game, one of those games you just really enjoy playing,” Cabot told The Tribune on Wednesday as he walked between classes. “We got up by two runs early in the game and the momentum just stayed on our side. We never let up.”
Cabot said he “felt good” on the mound during his dominant performance, but handed most of the credit to Urbach.
“It’s easy to pitch when Austin calls an unbelievable game,” Cabot continued. “He knew every player and what their weaknesses. Every pitch he called was perfect.”
San Marino’s much-
anticipated 2017 season never really came to fruition, but Cabot said the Titans are pleased to be returning to the playoffs.
“This is definitely a better feeling,” he said. “As the season has gone on we have become more aggressive at the plate and our confidence is growing. For my senior year and for my senior teammates, it is unbelievable to see this happen.”
