Garrett Riley may have solidified himself as Central Valley High School's No. 2 starter in varsity baseball behind ace Martin Gomez.
The right-handed senior pitcher retired 16 of 19 batters over 41/3 innings to lead the Hawks to a 5-1 victory over visiting Downey in non-conference play on Friday. Riley gave up one run on two hits with six strikeouts and a walk.
"He came out and threw strikes," Central Valley head coach Greg Magni said. "We needed that badly."
"I tried to keep them off balance with my curveball and let my defense do some work," Riley said. "I did what I needed to do for my team. I didn't feel any pressure."
Brian Creek collected two RBIs for the Hawks, who improved to 3-3 on the year. Greg Guerra batted 1-for-3 from the plate with one run and one RBI. Luis Rodriguez singled and scored twice. Rick Rogers and Cameron Maye both singled and drove in a run. Riley and Adrian Sandoval each scored once. Gomez went 1-for-3.
"It's a good start in the right direction for us," Magni said. "We only won five games all last year."
The Hawks tallied three runs in the top of the third inning and two in the fourth.
The Knights scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
"We played baseball the right way today," Magni said.
Gomez relieved Riley in the fourth inning and earned the save. He retired four of the nine batters he faced over the final 22/3 innings. Martin allowed no hits and one walk.
Gomez had a busy week as he logged 92/3 innings on the mound. He moved to 2-0 on the year after pitching a gem of a game during Central Valley's 7-1 win against Ripon on Tuesday, March 4. Martin fanned 11 batters while going the distance.
The right-handed senior pitcher retired 16 of 19 batters over 41/3 innings to lead the Hawks to a 5-1 victory over visiting Downey in non-conference play on Friday. Riley gave up one run on two hits with six strikeouts and a walk.
"He came out and threw strikes," Central Valley head coach Greg Magni said. "We needed that badly."
"I tried to keep them off balance with my curveball and let my defense do some work," Riley said. "I did what I needed to do for my team. I didn't feel any pressure."
Brian Creek collected two RBIs for the Hawks, who improved to 3-3 on the year. Greg Guerra batted 1-for-3 from the plate with one run and one RBI. Luis Rodriguez singled and scored twice. Rick Rogers and Cameron Maye both singled and drove in a run. Riley and Adrian Sandoval each scored once. Gomez went 1-for-3.
"It's a good start in the right direction for us," Magni said. "We only won five games all last year."
The Hawks tallied three runs in the top of the third inning and two in the fourth.
The Knights scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
"We played baseball the right way today," Magni said.
Gomez relieved Riley in the fourth inning and earned the save. He retired four of the nine batters he faced over the final 22/3 innings. Martin allowed no hits and one walk.
Gomez had a busy week as he logged 92/3 innings on the mound. He moved to 2-0 on the year after pitching a gem of a game during Central Valley's 7-1 win against Ripon on Tuesday, March 4. Martin fanned 11 batters while going the distance.
