Andy McCumber broke a 6-6 tie in the fourth inning with a grand slam that helped lift the San Marcos baseball team to a 14-8 victory over Taft on Friday as part of the Southern California Invitational.
San Marcos improves to 2-2 on the season and concludes play in the 40-team tournament on Saturday at Francis Poly.
The Royals fell behind 6-1 after Taft’s six-run third, but responded with two in the bottom half of the inning to close the margin.
McCumber’s blast – his first of the season – came on a two-out, first-pitch fastball and capped a seven-run fourth that pushed the Royals ahead, 10-6.
Landon Boneck also had a big day in the batter’s box for San Marcos, going 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored.
Alex Price and Shane Wieland both recorded a pair of hits each. Both scored in the Royals’ big inning, and scored five time between the two of them. Wieland added two RBIs and was effective on the mound in relief, getting four strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings of work.
“We executed everything especially well tonight,” credited San Marcos head coach Rob Crawford. “I told the guys in the dugout, it was nice to see guys pick each other up.”
SAN MARCOS 14, TAFT 8
Taft 006 001 1 – 8 8 3
San Marcos 102 722 X – 14 12 1
SM – Sam Marshall, Shane Weilend (3), Victor Acevedo (7), and Moore, Price (7). T – Fischer, Bolger (4), and Chavez. 2B – T 3 (Hymes, Bolger, Chavez), SM 1 (Wieland). HR – SM McCumber (4th, 3 on).
