Sea Kings Varsity Drops Game 1 at the Desert Cities Baseball Tournament
The Sea Kings Varsity faced off against Delta Valley on Friday in their first game at the Desert Cities Baseball Tournament. The Sea Kings Varsity wasted an excellent outing by starting pitcher Marcello Anelli (‘25), as the offense could only muster three hits against Delta Valley’s pitchers.
The Sea Kings Varsity manufactured a run to jump out 1-0 after a half inning. Brady Gadol (‘25) lead off the inning with a single and then stole second base. After he advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt, Vincent Menard (‘25) drove in the Sea Kings first run with an infield groundout.
Delta Valley answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first to tie the score at one apiece.
Delta Valley took the lead for good with two unearned runs in the fourth inning.
In the fifth inning, Delta Valley tacked on an insurance run to cement a final score of 4-1 in the six inning affair.
Marcello Anelli finished his outing with a final stat line of 4 innings pitched, 0 earned runs, 8 strikeouts and no walks.
Mark Solomon (‘25) lead the Sea Kings offense going 1 for 2 with a triple and a hit by pitch.
Sea Kings and the Alumni Battle to the Last Out
Fans who attended the 2025 edition of the annual John Emme alumni game certainly got their money’s worth, as the Sea Kings and alumni engaged in a back and forth battle that wasn’t settled until the final inning.
Starter Will Chavez got the game started on a positive note for the Sea Kings by striking out the side in the top of the first inning. He ended his day having pitched two scoreless innings, while striking out four alumni batters.
The Sea Kings built a 3-0 lead heading into the top of the third inning, when Jake Garcia (‘24) took matters into his own hands smashing a grand slam home run over the right field fence to put the alumni in front.
The Sea Kings were able to re-take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, but once again, the alumni used the long ball to take a 7-5 lead in the top of the fifth inning on Charlie Mannon’s (‘22) three run blast to right field.
After both teams added runs in the sixth inning, the Sea Kings entered the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 8-7. After Stevie Jones scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, the Sea Kings had runners on first and third with two outs following a pair of walks. Jackson McDonald broke for second and the throw from the alumni’s catcher sailed into center field allowing Chris Shelton to score from third base with the walk off run, securing a 9-8 victory for the Sea Kings.
The Sea Kings offense was lead by senior Jackson McDonald who was 2 for 2 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, two runs scored and an RBI and senior Vincent Menard who was 2 for 3 with a double, an RBI and 2 runs scored. Junior Ben Stone added 2 RBI’s for the Sea Kings.
Sea Kings Varsity Heads to the Desert
The Sea Kings Varsity is set to play a four game, preseason tournament in Palm Desert from January 24-26, 2025. The game schedule for the Desert Cities Baseball Tournament is as follows:
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- Fri, Jan 24, 2025 at 5:00pm vs. Delta Valley HS @ the Rancho Mirage HS JV Field
- Fri, Jan 24, 2025 at 7:30pm vs. Vista Murrieta HS @ the Rancho Mirage HS JV Field
- Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at 4:30pm vs. East Valley HS @ the Rancho Mirage HS Varsity Field
- Sun, Jan 26, 2025 – TBD
Tournament details can be found at:
https://coachshaws.weebly.com/desertcitiesbaseball.html
Note that fans must pay a Gate Fee to attend the tournament. $8 per location per day or $20 for the weekend bracelet, which is valid for all locations and all days. Children 10 and under are free.