PREP BASEBALL : 3 Nogales Home Runs Beat Servite

Nogales High School had three home runs in a two-inning span to defeat Servite, 3-1, in a Southern Section 5-A first-round baseball game Friday at Servite.

Nogales (17-8-1), which has six straight victories, gained a 1-0 lead on Nick Tito’s third-inning home run. Tito’s hit almost was caught at the fence by Pat Wesner, Servite left fielder.

After Servite (19-7) tied the score in the third on Tom Szymanski’s run-scoring single, Nogales regained the lead in the fourth on Robert Moore’s leadoff home run to right. One out after Moore’s hit, Greg Raisola hit a home run to right.

“Andy Croghan (6-4) makes three bad pitches, and that was the difference,” said Mike McNary, Servite coach. “He threw a great game, but the three balls they hit out he got the ball up to the hitters. I didn’t think Tito’s ball would clear the fence because he hit the ball off the end of his bat, but the ball kept carrying.

“It was one of those cases when playing in a short ballpark like ours hurt us,” McNary said. Tito’s ball was hit midway between the 306-foot and 340-foot signs in left. The two homers were hit over the right-field fence near the 352-foot mark.

Croghan, who allowed 6 hits, struck out 8 batters.

Nogales junior Bert Reyes (11-5) scattered five hits.

“Reyes pitched really well,” said John Romano, Nogales coach. “He moved the ball around well, and our catcher (Raisola) caught a great game for him. Raisola looked at the scouting report and followed it to a tee.”

Said Reyes: “I just went out and pitched my ballgame. The Servite field dimensions didn’t bother me.”

Two of Servite’s hits came in the third. With two out, Greg Coleman hit a single to right and advanced to second when Nogales right fielder Tony Moreno mishandled the ball for an error.

After Servite’s Mike Robertson was walked intentionally, Szymanski hit a ground single up the middle to score Coleman.

After the Friar third, Servite got only two runners past first base. With one out in the fifth, Jim Berry hit a single and stole second. After Berry advanced to third on Coleman’s infield out, Reyes got Robertson to pull a sharp grounder to first baseman Manny Ochoa, who made the out.

With one out in the sixth, Servite’s Brian Criss hit a single and advanced to second on Craig Barkley’s infield out. But Reyes struck out pinch-hitter Rob Walker to end the inning.

“We hit the ball hard against them,” McNary said. “But just when I thought we were going to get base hits against them, someone makes a great play against us to retire us. Their second baseman (Frank Perez) was diving all over the place to make great plays, and their shortstop and third baseman (Gabriel Baez) also made some great plays. They seemed to really want to dive after balls after they got those home runs.”

Nogales will play Pasadena in the second round Tuesday.