BASEBALL: Moors beat Apaches in pitcher's duel

By Scott Galetti, Staff Writer
ALHAMBRA - It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that runs were going to be a precious commodity when Alhambra High School's baseball team hosted Arcadia in the opening round of the Arcadia Elks tournament Friday at Alhambra's Moor Field.
At times, however, it seemed as if Moors senior right-hander Noe Ramirez and Apaches junior Bryce Rutherford were both throwing rockets in a highly anticipated pitching duel.
One that easily lived up to the hype.
In terms of head-to-head, Rutherford may have won the battle, but Ramirez got the W in the Moors' 2-1 victory in a game that had the feel of a playoff contest.
"It was a big crowd and Arcadia always has a good ball team," Ramirez said. "And we felt like, this year, we have a really good team too, so we knew right off the bat that this was going to be a really good game."
Ramirez (1-0), who was 10-0 last season and signed a letter of intent to play at Cal State Fullerton next season, gave up four hits and collected seven strikeouts to earn his first victory.
"At first there were some jitters, but I just settled down, and after that just started doing my thing and it turned out to be good for all of us," Ramirez said.
Rutherford (0-1) allowed just two hits and struck out 10 batters in a tough-luck loss.
"We played tough," Rutherford said. "We didn't hit the ball at the times we needed to."
In a game dominated by the pitchers, Aeric Allen turned out to be the man of the hour.
Allen's bloop two-run double that barely fell in fair territory down the left-field line gave Alhambra (1-0) a 2-1 advantage in the bottom of the third inning.
"We feel good when he's up," Alhambra coach Steve Gewecke said. "A couple of years ago we won a playoff game on a Texas leaguer, and he seems to find a hole.
"(Rutherford) made a good pitch, and Aeric was able to get a bat on the ball and the ball had eyes."
Arcadia (0-1) pushed across a run in the third inning on a double by David Huntzinger, an infield error, and a sacrifice fly by Tim Smoley.
Ramirez allowed just one hit and hit a batter the rest of the way.
At one point, he retired eight consecutive.
"I thought both pitchers were tremendous, and when they're both on and they have good stuff, hitters are going to have tough at-bats," Gewecke said. "I think Noe found himself after a tough third inning and threw real well from then on out."
Both teams showed glimpses of what they're made of in a game that didn't seem like the first of the season.
"Our coaches even told us after the game that it's like a step up," Rutherford said. "We want to start on a big game against the best pitcher in the area. He pitched pretty well to beat us."
Alhambra returns to action today when it hosts Western Christian at 1 p.m., and Arcadia will play at home against Temple City tonight at 7.