Swinging Scots rout Menlo in final non-league tune-up for PAL baseball teams

Just as Rado preaches as to the foundation of the Carlmont football program, Scots manager Ryan Hamilton said the key to the baseball team’s power has to do with hitting the weight room. And senior cleanup hitter Jack Vanoncini flexed his muscles early, clubbing a two-run home run in the first inning to set the tone for Carlmont (6-2-1).

“We lift hard during the offseason,” Hamilton said. “We lift during the season. That has helped [Vanoncini] fill out. He lifts on his own as well. Really, his biggest problem so far this year is just having a consistent approach and being able to time up fastballs consistently. Once he gets that, you saw today, he was able to make the adjustment today and was able to put balls out.”

Vanoncini got an inside fastball from Menlo starting pitcher Colin Dhaliwal and exploded on it for a strong-man’s home run to straightaway left field.

“I like to use all parts of the field,” Vanoncini said. “I saw a good fastball to hit, turned on it and let it fly.”

It was the first of two homers on the day for the Scots, with junior Jack Wiessinger adding a two-run bomb in the sixth. The Scots scored in five different innings, all crooked numbers, and totaled 16 hits on the day.

“I think we were all relaxed,” Vanoncini said. “We came out pretty confident today after some big [wins] over Serra and Live Oak. So, we knew we could definitely put this game away quickly, and that’s what we did.”

The Knights (4-3-1) made a game of it in the early going though. While the Scots jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the second — Dominic Avila singled home a run, Tanner Van Why drilled an RBI double, and Vanoncini drew a bases-loaded walk — Menlo rallied back with a run in the bottom of the second and three more in the third to make it a 5-4 game.

Wiessinger, Carlmont’s starting pitcher, held the line to work five innings and earn the win. But he had to navigate the heart of the Menlo order, a potent trio of Carson Cleage, Jake Sonsini and Eric Young, who went a combined 6 for 8 the first three times through the order.

Sonsini was 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. Not a bad showing considering the sophomore was batting in the cleanup spot for the first time this season. Menlo was missing two of its best bats in senior Chase Hurwitz and junior Jake Bianchi.

“With those two in the lineup, with the team that we have here, we’re going to be decent,” Menlo co-manager Tink Reynoso said, with his team set to open PAL Ocean Division play this coming Tuesday at rival Sacred Heart Prep.

“So, when we go into our league, it should help us out a little bit from what we’re doing right now,” Reynoso said.

Carlmont owned the final three frames though, tagging the Menlo bullpen for six runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and eight more in the seventh. The Scots batted around twice, sending 11 batters to the plate in the fifth and — despite cycling in five different bench players — 14 more in the seventh.

“We got everybody in; almost everybody got a hit today,” Hamilton said. “It’s a pretty easy job coaching when you can put almost anybody in at any position and they can get the job done. “

Carlmont senior Carson Vance had the most impressive swing off the bench, nearly adding a third Scots home run on the day with a booming shot off the left-field wall for a two-run double.

Vanoncini departed after going 2 for 3 with four RBIs, with senior Jack Andrews taking over for him behind the plate. Andrews reached base in both his plate appearances, getting hit by a pitch and singling.

“As far as the approach to hitting, yeah, we preach an aggressive approach,” Hamilton said. “We preach being aggressive on fastballs, lighting up fastballs, hunting fastballs. And that’s really what’s got us this far.”

Hamilton is a 2007 graduate of Aragon, and remembers the Carlmont teams of 15 years ago being a scrappy bunch under former manager Rich Vallero. It was under Vallero the team developed into a thundering herd of offense, though, especially in recent years as the Scots batted .330 as a team in 2016; .336 in 2017; and .302 in 2019, when Vanoncini was a freshman

“Same mentality but a little different chemistry around the team,” said Vanoncini, who is committed to play at Cal State Fullerton next season. “Once Hamilton came in (my) junior year, we all went in around that ­— a little bit more laid-back environment. It’s been great having a team where we can all just be ourselves and just really thrive as a team. I think that’s a big part of our success is just us being able to be ourselves on the field.”

The Scots open PAL Bay Division play this coming Wednesday, hosting Hamilton’s alma mater Aragon at 4 p.m.