SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : 5-A : Blanton’s Homers Help Mater Dei Roll

Last fall, Billy Blanton led Mater Dei’s football team to the Southern Section Division I championship, passing for a county-record 3,545 yards and 36 touchdowns.

It now appears Blanton has his sights set on a baseball championship as well. The designated hitter belted two home runs, including a grand slam in the sixth inning, as Mater Dei opened the Division 5-A playoffs with a 10-0 victory over Marina Friday.

Mater Dei will play Tuesday against Riverside Poly.

Blanton hit a two-run homer over the left-field fence in the fifth inning to give Mater Dei (22-4) a 6-0 lead, more than enough for starting pitcher Rich Silva. Blanton came to the plate with the bases loaded in the sixth and hit his second homer on what appeared to be a check swing.

Afterward, Blanton said an assist should go to his favorite football receiver, David Knuff, who also plays baseball for the Monarchs. Knuff was on second base in the sixth inning when he stole a signal off Marina catcher Joe Snyder and relayed the upcoming pitch to Blanton.

“David was on second telling me what the pitch was going to be,” Blanton said. “It was an outside curveball that I just got enough of. My swing felt good all afternoon.”

Well, not quite. Mater Dei Coach Bob Ickes said he challenged Blanton after he struck out to end the first inning.

“He wasn’t ready to play, so I had to jump on him,” Ickes said. “But he sure responded.”

Mater Dei also had a big game from outfielder Cale Carter. Carter hit his fifth homer of the season in the third inning and added a double in the sixth, but it was his fine throw to nail Marina leadoff batter Nick Damato in the first inning that was the play of the game.

Marina (12-16) opened the first inning with consecutive hits off Silva (9-1) and had runners on second and third with one out when Joe Snyder hit a long fly to center. Carter caught the ball and then threw a perfect strike to get Damato at the plate.

Silva also worked out of a jam in the fourth inning when Marina had runners on second and third with no outs. This time, Snyder grounded out to second with the runners holding, and then Silva struck out Kevin Sullivan and Sean Connors to end the inning.

“Silva did a great job,” Marina Coach Paul Renfrow said. “He mixed up his pitches and kept us off stride all day. We had our chance to go ahead early in the first inning, but Carter made a great throw to get Damato.”

Renfrow, whose team played Huntington Beach, the county’s top-ranked team, twice in Sunset League play, was asked to compare second-ranked Mater Dei, to the county’s No. 1 team.

“Mater Dei is better offensively, but it’s tough to beat Huntington Beach’s pitching with Jon Ward and Derek Glascoe,” he said. “If Mater Dei has a weakness, it’s defense, but the way Silva pitched and they hit today, defense was never a factor.”