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Baseball: Edson's Shutout of Pasadena High School Improves Apache Winning Streak to 25 Games

Arcadia knocks off third place Pasadena with timely hitting and more Edson dominance.

The Arcadia baseball team ran its winning streak in the Pacific League to 25 games by beating Pasadena 2-0 on Tuesday behind starting pitcher KJ Edson’s fourth shutout of the season. 

“KJ has been pretty consistent,” Arcadia coach Nick Lemas said. “It’s not easy to pitch in a tight game like that, but he’s been doing it all year.”

Edson struggled with his control in the first inning when he walked a batter and plunked another to load the bases. But he coaxed a groundball out of Pasadena’s Rob Lain and Arcadia’s infield tandem of Tyler and David Dominguez turned a narrow double-play to get out of the inning.

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“I didn’t really have my best stuff at the start of the game,” Edson said. “The defense helped me out and I was able to find a groove as the game went on.”

The Apaches hand their hands full with Pasadena’s ace, Lain, who didn’t allow a run for five innings. He struck out the side in the fourth inning to get around an opposite-field double by Tyler Dominguez.

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“(Lain) threw a heck of a game,” Lemas said. “This is the second time this year he’s given us problems. He mixes his pitches well and has a nice fastball.”

Arcadia finally strung some hits together in the sixth inning. Erick Trask led the inning off with a single to left field and George Papavasiliou followed with a base hit to center. Lain threw a wild pitch, advancing the runners to second and third, and Darren Kerfoot came through with a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield, scoring Trask.

“It would be nice to score some runs on a base hit, but we’ll take what we can get,” said Lemas. “Darren hasn’t had a lot of RBI opportunities, but he made the most of that one.”

Arcadia tried to push another run across on a squeeze play, but Tyler Dominguez bunted right back to the pitcher and Lain nailed Papavasiliou at the plate. Lain struck out Jonathan Wong to get out of the jam.

The Apaches played small ball again in the seventh inning to gain an insurance run. Brandon Benson beat out a high-chopper to shortstop to start the inning and advanced to second on a groundout by Drew Klein. A single by Haram Park moved Benson to third, and Brendan Campbell brought him home with another sacrifice fly.

Edson retired the final six Bulldogs in order to pick up his eighth win of the season. He allowed just three hits and struck out four. It’s his second shutout in a row after defeating Burbank 1-0 last week.

“I can’t control the score of the game, so I just focus on doing my job and trusting the defense behind me,” Edson said.

Arcadia (8-0) remains in first place in the Pacific League, but with just a one game lead over Crescenta Valley who they play in their league finale on May 13. The Apaches will look to improve their winning streak on Friday at home against Muir.

“We didn’t even know about the streak until it was brought to our attention,” Lemas said. “Honestly, we’re just concerned with winning league and if it takes and undefeated season to do it, so be it.”

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