Sierra Canyon baseball bands together to hand Crespi its first loss

ENCINO — The New York Yankees have torpedo bats.

Sierra Canyon’s baseball team has “Blazer Mania.”

The visiting Trailblazers defeated Crespi 7-2 during a Mission League showdown Friday at Hartunian Field.

The Celts entered the contest with a perfect 14-0 record and No. 1 ranking in the Daily News Top 10. Crespi won the first two games of its series against Sierra Canyon earlier in the week, 12-2 on Tuesday and 3-1 on Wednesday.

Friday belonged to the Blazers, however.

“It was a great team win,” Sierra Canyon head coach Tom Meusborn said. “This shows the resiliency of our guys.”

Crespi is now 14-1 overall and 9-1 in the Mission League. Sierra Canyon is 9-8, 4-6.

Greyson Gullage, a junior second baseman who has committed to play Division I college baseball for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, ignited Sierra Canyon with a leadoff single in the top of the second inning. Teammates Teddy Levin and Andrew Nelson followed with singles, and Gullage scored the game’s first run on a passed ball.

Freshman left fielder Milo Benattar’s sacrifice fly to left field enabled Levin to march home.

Gullage, who added a standup double and run in the seventh frame, put the win in perspective.

“It’s huge,” said Gullage, an honors student with a 3.8 GPA. “It lights a fire under us to give an undefeated team their first loss. It’s a big team win.”

“We’re a young team,” he added, “with the best high school coach in the country. We’re going to be a very scary team this year and next year.”

Sophomore Dezi Delgado, Sierra Canyon’s starting catcher, has been a rock on the diamond defensively. At the plate, his batting average hovers above .400.

“He’s doing really well for us,” Meusborn said of Delgado.

Delgado was an anchor for freshman starting pitcher Kingston Monette and senior Ethan Montes, who entered the game in the third inning and never left the mound to secure the win.

“He threw great in relief,” Delgado said of Montes. “He was attacking with his fastballs and cutters. He had everything for strikes. … We had great energy. I think we’ll get on a roll here.”

Levin belted a double and scored his second run on a close play at the plate in the fourth inning.

Theo Swafford, a Sierra Canyon freshman shortstop and leadoff hitter, hit the ball down the first base line and sprinted around the bases for a triple to lead off the fifth inning. He later scored on a wild pitch.

Nelson added an RBI single while teammate Cooper Rosenzweig smashed a double in the frame.

Crespi was not discouraged after its first loss.

“I’m actually excited about it,” Celts skipper Mike Glendenning said. “I believe you learn more from failures than successes. We needed to be humbled. I felt (Sierra Canyon) wanted it more than we did.”

Glendenning spoke to his players in center field after the final out.

“I told them, one game does not define you, but how you respond does,” the Crespi coach said. “It’s a great learning opportunity for us.”

Call Josh Stonehouse the Cincinnati Kid of the 21st century.

The Crespi senior first baseman, who walks around with the swagger of a young Steve McQueen, blasted a moonshot home run over the right field fence in the sixth inning to cut the Celts’ deficit to 5-2.

Stonehouse is committed to play Division I college baseball for Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Stonehouse has hammered four home runs this season, including three in his last two games. He was not discouraged after the team’s first loss of the season.

“We’re going to take this as a punch, but we’re going to punch back,” said Stonehouse, whose brother, Jack, is a punter for Syracuse’s football team.

The Celts played without senior second baseman Nate Lopez, a San Diego State commit, who was out of the lineup for personal reasons.

Justin Kim, Jonah Sidel and Mikey Martinez took the hill for Crespi. Diego Velasquez made an incredible leaping snag at shortstop to end the first inning and added a big double before Stonehouse’s homer. Landon Hodge added two singles, while Crespi teammates Julian Weiss and Gavin Huff notched singles.

“We’ve got Alemany next week,” Stonehouse said. “We’re going to play as hard as we can. We’ve got a lot more in the tank.”