BASEBALL: Wildcats have edge on Rams, 2-1

By Scott Galetti, Staff Writer
TEMPLE CITY — It was a day when capitalizing on an opportunity was vital.
Monrovia High School junior left-hander Richard Kilbury and Temple City senior Brian Dearth locked horns in an epic battle between two of the area’s top pitchers Friday with first place in the Rio Hondo League on the line.
The defending champion Wildcats failed to take advantage of a bases-loaded opportunity in the first inning. But they did turn a costly mistake into a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning en route to a 2-1 victory.
Monrovia (9-2, 5-0) remained the league’s lone unbeaten team, and Temple City (9-3, 4-2) suffered its second league loss.
“It lets everyone know that Monrovia baseball is back again, and we distanced ourselves from everybody,” Kilbury said.
The Wildcats broke the ice in a seemingly harmless way in the fifth.
Jeff Wallick hit a bouncer that just skipped through the infield for a hit. Rocky Tavera followed with what looked like a routine grounder to third. Temple City third baseman Justin Smith attempted a forceout at second, but his throw went into right field and allowed Wallick to score and Tavera to take third.
Patrick McGeeney later executed a squeeze bunt to score Tavera and give Monrovia a 2-0 lead.
“It was good because we left a golden opportunity in the first inning, and we were hitting the ball hard that inning,” Monrovia co-coach Brad Blackmore said. “Dearth pretty much shut us down innings two through four, and just the ability to put together a couple of good at-bats, get an execution in there, and get a lead for Richard was very big.
“Both those guys are dueling, but if you get a lead, you get a little leeway and a little more confidence.”
Kilbury (6-0) scattered five hits and allowed a run in seven innings.
“He kept the ball down the entire game and he always had all the hitters on their heels, and I was one of them so he came out and did a great job today,” Dearth said.
Kilbury also collected a season-high 11 strikeouts.
“That’s a kid who started a semifinal game for us last year, so he’s kind of unheard of to a lot of people, but he’s not unheard to me because we know how hard he works and how good he is, and he showed it today,” Blackmore said.
Kilbury struck out the first three batters he faced and fanned the side in the first and fifth innings.
“I was hitting my spots and I felt like I was making the right pitches at the right time, and it was a good way to start the game,” Kilbury said of his easy first inning.”
Dearth (3-1) allowed two unearned runs on just two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
“We haven’t beaten them since my freshman year, and we though we had it this time,” Dearth said. “It comes down to one play and one play can kill you, but they battled the whole way.”
Monrovia had the bases loaded with one out in the first inning, but Dearth struck out Clint Fraijo before getting Chris Sanchez to fly out to right field to end the threat.
Temple City manufactured a run in the sixth on a single by Morgan Hatch, a sacrifice, a groundout and a wild pitch.
The Rams didn’t get a runner past first the rest of the way.