Servite’s Wolfe Gets Grip on Tustin

Brian Wolfe does not like cold weather, particularly because it makes it hard for him to put the proper grip on his curveball.

But the chilly winds Wednesday afternoon had no effect on the Servite junior right-hander, who iced Tustin with a one-hitter as the fourth-ranked Friars romped to a 9-0 victory at Servite.

Wolfe (4-1) walked two and struck out 13. Every Tiller batter except Jose Cervantes, who grounded out twice, struck out at least once. Wolfe, who threw 104 pitches, had at least one strikeout in every inning and struck out the side to end the game.

The only hit fifth-ranked Tustin got came in the second inning from designated hitter Chad Chop, whose infield chopper was surrounded by three Friars, but no one picked it up in time to make a play.

“It was about this time last year that Brian became a starter for us,” Servite Coach Tom Tereshuk said. “He’s bigger, stronger and more mature this year. Every time out he’s becoming a better player.”

“It was hard to control the ball, but I felt good all game long,” said Wolfe, who pitched a no-hitter March 20 against Westminster. “And getting all those runs early was a big help.”

Servite took a seven-run lead after three innings against Tiller right-hander Danny Trujillo (2-1) to turn an early league showdown between two county top-10 teams into a rout. The big hitter was David Fischer, who drove in four runs with bases-loaded singles in the first and second innings.

Trujillo--who threw 89 pitches in three innings, giving up seven hits, walking four and striking out four--got no help from his teammates at the plate or in the field. The Tillers made two errors and mishandled a couple of other plays that also could have been ruled errors as well.

But Trujillo also hurt himself by failing to shut down Servite (8-1, 4-0) when the game was close.