Hampton Leads Monsignor Pace Past LaSalle

Monsignor Pace picked an ideal time to play one of its best games of the season, and Lorenzo Hampton chose a timely evening to deliver his top performance on the mound.

Hampton’s wire-to-wire, four-hit gem and his two RBI doubles lifted the surging fifth-seeded Spartans past fourth-seeded LaSalle 7-2 in a 4A-15 quarterfinal Monday at Florida Christian School.

“The kid went 2-for-2 with two walks, and pitched a complete game. There’s not much else you can ask for,” Pace Manager Tom Duffin said. “I’m so happy for Lorenzo. He’s pitched so many great games for us in the regular season, and we just couldn’t win for him. He pitched a great game, and we had some timely hits. We played solid.”

Pace, which has won five of its past seven games, will have to pull off a bigger upset Wednesday when the Spartans face top-seeded Florida Christian in a semifinal at 7 p.m.

Before he addressed his team on the field for the final time this season — and perhaps forever — longtime LaSalle Manager Oscar Benitez showed plenty of class in defeat by shaking hands and giving heartfelt hugs to every member of the Pace team. It wasn’t a typical quick “good luck” walk through the handshake line, but rather Benitez spent a few minutes extending his wishes one by one near the first-base line.

That remarkable scene, which drew applause from the fans, was only part of an emotional ending for Benitez. When he rejoined his team in shallow right field, tearful hugs were exchanged with current and past players and parents.

Was this Benitez’s final game as LaSalle manager after 15 seasons?

“It might be,” he said while trying to fight back tears. Benitez did not elaborate further about his future.

Duffin described Benitez as “a class act.”

“He’s not coming back, from what we’ve heard,” Duffin said. “I can’t understand why. I’ve had nothing but the utmost respect for him. He’s put that program on the map. He took it from literally nothing and made them contenders every year going into the playoffs.”

Duffin’s team continued to turn more than a few heads while showing that it’s a far different club than the one that started 1-8. Hampton’s first win of the season couldn’t have come at a better time for Pace, which lost twice to LaSalle in the regular season.

The 6-foot-4 Hampton showed he meant business right away when he retired the side in order on eight pitches in the first inning. Determined to notch the victory and a complete game, Hampton used an assortment of fastballs and breaking balls to fan eight.

“It means a lot. These guys have been behind me all year. We’ve had some tough losses, but it feels good to have this one right now,” said Hampton, who received a strong game in the field from third baseman Leroy Garcia.

Before he even threw a pitch, Hampton helped his own cause in the top of the first inning when he crushed a first-pitch double to left field that scored Elliott Cutillas with the first run.

David Rubio, a lefty, took advantage of Florida Christian’s abbreviated right field — just 260 feet from home plate — by yanking a two-run home run in the second to make it 3-0.

Every time LaSalle tried to nudge its way back, Pace had an answer. LaSalle senior Justin Blair delivered a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the third, but Hampton responded in the fourth with his second RBI double of the game.

After an RBI single from freshman Santi Grande brought home senior Brent Thomas to trim to the deficit to 4-2 in the third, Pace regained a comfortable cushion on a two-run error off the bat of freshman Andres Sanchez.

Pace’s Jorge smacked his second double of the night out of the No. 9 spot — his team’s eighth and final hit — that scored Anthony Boix with the game’s final run in the seventh. Arenas finished 2-for-4 on the night.

Despite a boisterous “Let’s Go Royals” chant from its supporters, LaSalle exited quietly in the seventh.

Senior Michael Cabezas whacked LaSalle’s only extra-base hit, a bullet into the left-field corner in the second inning. Cabezas’ final at-bat in the sixth summed up LaSalle’s frustrating evening. He crushed a shot over the third base bag, but it was ruled a foul ball. Two pitches later, Cabezas was called out looking at a third strike. He promptly used the end of his bat to draw a line on the opposite side — in the other batter’s box — to indicate how far outside he believed that pitch was, but the umpire didn’t change his mind.

In their final game, seniors Nick Canino and starting pitcher Sergio Miyares had singles for LaSalle. Reliever Anders Guiterrez shined in his final appearance. The senior struck out the side in order in the fifth and didn’t allow any earned runs in two impressive innings.

LaSalle, which was greeted by its enthusiastic fans with one final round of applause after it left the dugout, finished with a 13-13 record.

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Benitez said. “We’ve had moments where we’ve done well, and then we’ve had moments where we haven’t done so well. Today was one of those bad days.”

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