EL CAJON – Pitching in summerlike conditions took its toll on Granite Hills ace Eric Krause in yesterday's opening round of the San Diego Section Division I baseball playoffs.
But the junior right-hander proved that even when he is clearly laboring, he's nearly unbeatable.
Krause scattered seven hits and struck out six as Granite Hills tripped Eastlake 6-2 in the double-elimination tournament. It was Krause's 10th win in 11 decisions.
Temperatures pushed into the high 80s at Granite Hills, and that seemed to be more taxing on Krause than the visiting Titans.
“The heat was definitely getting to me,” Krause said. “I was already getting tired by the third inning.”
That is unusual for Krause, who has completed four of his nine starts.
“I kept pounding down the fluids, and tried to keep working through it,” he said.
Krause, who came in with an ERA of 0.67 in 73 1/3 innings, made it to the finish line. Barely. He gave up a run and two hits with two outs in the seventh.
Admittedly not armed with “my best stuff,” Krause worked behind in the count more often than not. He did not issue a walk, but hit two batters. Eastlake (19-12) cashed in one of the free passes for a run.
“My change-up wasn't there today,” Krause said. “My curveball was my best pitch. I was able to keep it down.”
Outside of a solo home run by Oscar Antunez in the fifth, the majority of Eastlake's offense consisted of ground-ball singles. Yet, the Titans had runners on in five of seven innings.
“In our last four games we are 3-for-22 with men in scoring position,” Eastlake coach Dave Gonzalez said. “We're just not scoring any runs.”
No. 3-seeded Granite Hills (22-7), which has won nine straight and 15 of 16, scored in each of the first three innings to lead 5-0.
Travis Taijeron doubled into the right-center field gap to drive in a run in the first. The Eagles generated two runs in the second without benefit of a hit and Cody Crawford crashed a two-run home run off the top of the Green Monster in center in the third.
Josh Miller (2-for-3, two doubles, RBI) and Brian Humphries (2-3, double, RBI) accounted for half of the Eagles' eight hits.
Dennis Walker was 3-for-4 with an RBI for Eastlake.
Bill Dickens: (619) 293-2032; bill.dickens@uniontrib.com
