South Hills routs Charter Oak to take Frozen Ropes Classic title


By Stephen Ramirez
WALNUT >>
South Hills High School looked every bit like one of the top baseball teams in the state on Saturday.Karlos Morales had four RBIs and Brandon Dieter three and the Huskies, ranked No. 2 in California by Cal-Hi Sports, rolled to a 13-3 victory over Charter Oak in the Frozen Ropes Classic at Mt. San Antonio College’s Mazmanian Field.Nick Lugo also had a double and triple and scored three runs for South Hills (5-0). The duo were co-MVPs of the tournament.
Ronnie Parham had a triple and Julian Rodriguez a RBI for Charter Oak (4-1), which advanced to the final by beating CIF Southern Section Division 2 No. 4 Yucaipa in the semifinals.
The Huskies, who have dedicated the season to assistant coach Tom Quinley, who is out with an illness, had 14 hits and scored in every inning but the third.
“We’re 5-0 and have big expectations,” South Hills coach Darren Murphy said. “But we’ve put those expectations on ourselves. We just fullfilled what we wanted to do. We wanted to win this tournament. We played four good ball games and tonight, we played a great ball game.”
“I’m really proud of this team. We pounded the ball tonight against a really good team, and we’re ready to go (to league play).”
South Hills wasted little time in getting started. The Huskies scored two runs before Rodriguez threw his second strike.
The senior walked Jacob Amaya on four pitches before hitting Daniel Genna with his next offering. Morales then lined a triple to right-center field for a 2-0 lead.
Dieter followed with a sacrifice fly to center for a 3-0 advantage.
South Hills made it 6-0 in the second.
Chris Camarena led off with a single and advanced to second on a hit-by-pitch to Lugo. Amaya doubled to left for 4-0 lead. Morales then brought his RBI total to four with a single to right to score Lugo and Amaya for the six-run lead.
“I was just looking for something to drive,” Morales said. “I knew he was going to give me a fastball with a 2-0 count. I just put a good swing on it.”
Morales helped Charter Oak cut it to 6-2 in the third.
He walked the first two batters before a fielding error scored Paul Sanchez. Bret Clemetson then scored on a wild pitch to pull the Chargers within four. Morales settled down and ended the threat by striking out Diego Flores.
South Hills put it way with four runs in the fourth for a 10-2 lead.
Nick Lugo led off with a double before Amaya reached on a two-base error to make it 7-2. Genna bunted for a single before Dieter followed with a two-run double for a 9-2 lead. Jacob Dominguez doubled to make it 10-2.
“It’s a big season for us,” Dieter said. “We have a lot of expecations. We just have to keep working hard and show what we can do.”

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