Baseball: Apaches Win Third-Straight Pacific Title Behind Edson's Gem

Arcadia ace KJ Edson’s domination of Crescenta Valley continued on Friday with a brilliant three-hit, complete game performance to beat the Falcons 8-1. The victory clinches a third-consecutive Pacific League title for the Apaches and caps a second season with a perfect 14-0 record.

“I’m so happy right now that I’m speechless,” said Edson after the game. “I just love this team and all my teammates.”

The game’s big hit came in the second inning when Apache left fielder George Papavasiliou drilled a three-run homer to the opposite field off Crescenta Valley starter Elliott Surrey. The homer was Papavasiliou’s first of the season and gave Arcadia a 3-0 lead it would not relinquish.

“He threw me a fastball that I was late on,” Papavasiliou said. “So when I got another fastball I was ready for it and just let the pitch’s speed supply the power.”

The Falcons (23-4, 12-2) answered the following inning with their lone run. Ted Boeke reached base on a throwing error by shortstop Tyler Dominguez and advanced to second on Cam Silva’s groundout. Boeke moved to third when Tyler Pollack hit a dribbler down the third baseline for hit and scored on a groundout by Elliott Surrey.

The unearned run was Edson’s only blemish en route to his 10th win of the season. He struck out five and induced 13 groundball outs.

“His delivery is something you don’t see everyday and he gets a lot of movement on his ball,” said Crescenta Valley coach Phil Torres of Edson, a submariner. “Our bats have been carrying us the last few games, but he pitched really well.”

Surrey ran into more trouble in the third inning when he walked Apache first baseman Haram Park and threw two wild pitches, advancing Park to third. Catcher Brendan Campbell came through with a run-scoring single for the Apaches. 

Gary Huang followed Campbell with a single into right field, but the Falcon’s Tyler Pollack made a costly error fielding the line drive, allowing Campbell to score from first base. Surrey was relieved by Kyle Murray having allowed five runs (four earned) — the most of any start this season by the left-hander.

“Elliott wasn’t throwing his breaking balls for strikes, which led to a lot of fastball counts,” said Torres. “The home run was hit hard, but otherwise a few dinkers and some bad luck cost him.”

Arcadia (23-3, 14-0)  tacked on an unearned run in the fourth inning off of Murray and two more in the sixth off of Cole Currie when Haram Park picked up a two-out single to drive in Brandon Benson and Dominguez.

“We need to play like today in the playoffs,” said Edson. “We never let up and just kept scoring runs.”

The Apache victory not only clinches a league title, but also improves a Pacific League winning streak to 31 games. Despite the recent success, the team has yet to win a playoff game under the reign of head coach Nick Lemas. The CIF-Southern Section Division 2 playoffs begin next week.

“We just gotta believe in ourselves,” said Lemas. “We’ve been swinging the bats well the last few weeks and we’re playing our best baseball. That’s all I can ask for.”

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