By Nathaniel Graham
For The Signal
Centurion starting pitcher Bobby Garcia dazzled in the Valley Invitational Baseball League finals to help beat El Camino 4-0 at John Burroughs High in Burbank.
It was quite the performance from Garcia on Saturday evening as he was able to rack up 10 strikeouts while only allowing one hit in a complete-game shutout. First baseman Tony Jacob and catcher Andrew Sharpe each contributed two-run singles, which proved to be more than plenty for Garcia.
About a month ago, the lefty threw a no-hitter on the same field.
“I mean obviously the last game I pitched was a no-hitter and I felt really good coming back here and I just kind of wanted to do the same thing and pound strikes,” said Garcia.
Head coach Carl Grissom had nothing but positive things to say about his ace after the dominant performance.
“He just pitched well. It was great to see,” said Grissom. “He pitched here maybe a month ago and he threw a no-hitter so I knew he was going to be comfortable here. He’s been on this mound. He’s seen the field so he was going to be good here.”
Jacob, a first baseman started it off for the Centurions on a single to right, scoring two with two outs but getting thrown out at second attempting to advance.
In the top half of the fifth, it was Sharpe who was able to single to right field scoring two more insurance runs and giving Saugus their third and fourth runs of the game.
In only his second season, Grissom has lead the Centurions to become VIBL champs. He mentioned how impressed he has been with the group and their progression throughout the summer.
“They are just playing together and they are playing as a team and I want it to carry over now that we are going to be off for a while. So, hopefully when we come back in the fall and we continue on this pace and start the next year in a good way,” said Grissom.
The Centurions will take some time off before regrouping in August and attempting to improve on their 12-13-1 record of last year.
