Prep Roundup

Prep Roundup: Butcher, Kephart lead Eagles to wild-card win over Glendale

Butcher thows a complete-game three hitter and Kephart hits a three-run homer to push Arroyo Grande into first round of CIF-Southern Section playoffs

Arroyo Grande baseball coach Jim Wysong said that it has been Corey Butcher’s goal all season to pitch the Eagles to a CIF-Southern Section Division II playoff win at home.

With only 78 pitches in seven innings, Butcher was able to lead the Eagles to an 8-0 wildcard victory over visiting Glendale- Hoover.

“Corey has been our guy,” Wysong said. “He did a phenomenal job.”

Butcher faced 24 batters in the game, striking out five, while limiting the Tornadoes to three hits.

All of the Eagles’ runs came the fourth inning, when Lucas Kephart hit a three-run home run and Ruben Gonzales hit a two-run single down the third-base line.

Gonzales finished the game 2 for 3.

“Ruben has done a very good job for us this year,” Wysong said. “He’s been very consistent the last five weeks of the season.”

Kephart, who was 3 for 4, also had a double, as did teammates Clarke Goosen and Colt McLaughlin.

“We were just able to put the ball in play,” Wysong said.

The Eagles will travel to Anaheim Friday where they will square off against Katella.

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Hueneme 9, Atascadero 3

The Atascadero baseball team pulled off the elusive triple play in the fourth inning, but despite accomplishing the feat, the Greyhounds (14-13, PAC 7 9-9) ended their season with a Division II wildcard loss to Hueneme in Oxnard.

The Vikings posted an insurmountable seven runs in the first two innings and capitalized on 12 hits and four Greyhound errors.

Matt Vesnaver drew the start for Atascadero but was relieved in the third by Kenny Block, who managed to limit the damage to only two more Viking runs.

The Greyhounds lineup was led by Michael Lombardi’s 1 for 1, two-RBI performance.

Cole Millar’s double was the Greyhounds’ only extra-base hit.

PREP BOYS TENNIS San Luis Obispo 13, Burroughs 5

San Luis Obispo’s Julian Arnold swept his singles sets while the doubles teams won all nine sets to lead the Tigers to a CIF Div. II quarterfinal win over Burroughs in Burbank.

Arnold, the Tigers’ best player, rolled through the Indian singles lineup with set wins of 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, to stay undefeated in post season play.

Charlie Fox was the only other Tiger to take a singles set. He nabbed a point with his 6-4 win over the Indians’ Melik Nazliyan.

San Luis Obispo’s doubles squad is also undefeated in this year’s post season.

“That is just a key to the depth of our team,” Tiger coach Ken Peet said.

All three duos swept, with the closest call coming in Mike and Brian Hicks’ battle against Burroughs’ No. 2 team, Jay Chung and Andre Yanez. The Tigers’ twin-brother duo emerged with a 7-6 (7-3) set win for the point.

The Tigers will host Diamond Bar next Tuesday in the semifinals.

The Brahmas posted a 12-6 semifinal win over San Luis Obispo last year.

“They are very talented,” Tiger coach Ken Peet said. “We’ve been looking forward to a rematch with Diamond Bar.”

PREP SWIMMING

Rebekah Corbin of Nipomo followed up her runner-up performance last week with a 13th-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley Tuesday at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet in Long Beach. The sophomore was seeded 23rd entering the race and finished in 2 minutes, 11.78 seconds.

Corbin broke her own school record last weekend with a 2:10.76. She caps off a stellar season in which she broke every girl’s school record in the books, including all relays.

Warren Thom of San Luis Obispo also qualified to swim at the meet, but declined to compete, instead opting to be with his club water polo team at a match in Santa Barbara, Tigers coach Rick Ernstrom said. Thom is headed to Cal next year to play water polo for the two-time defending national champions.

PREP DIVING

San Luis Obispo freshman Tessa Merritt finished 10th at the CIF-Southern Section Diving Championships Masters Meet with a six-dive score of 174.55.

Elizabeth Foran of Atascadero did not fare as well, finishing last in the meet of 12 after hitting the board on a dive. Foran won the CIF-Southern Section Division III finals last week, but two bad dives cost her a chance for a top finish.

Ethan Merritt also performed well for the Tigers, finishing 11th with a score of 184.15. Ernstrom was proud of his athletes and the way they competed with the best in the section.

“I’m pleased with both Tessa and Ethan. They handled the pressure and took notes on how they can improve next year,” Ernstrom said.