HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Cady’s Slam Paces No. 1 Grossmont

For Montgomery, it was more costly errors in the field. For Grossmont, it was more heroics at the plate. And in a nonleague makeup game that featured the top two high school teams in San Diego County, the top-ranked Foothillers beat the host Aztecs, 6-5.

Montgomery (19-4-1) carried a 3-1 lead into the top of the seventh, then saw the roof collapse on its bid to reclaim the No. 1 position it held earlier in the season. The Aztecs committed two errors to help fuel a five-run rally by the Foothillers (23-1), capped by a Todd Cady grand slam.

Cady, who has six home runs and 28 RBIs, pulled a 2-2 pitch off relief pitcher Mike Wazal 320 feet down the right-field line. The shot by Cady stunned a crowd of about 150 at Montgomery, and the Metro Conference champions lost for the second day in a row. On Friday, four errors contributed to the Aztecs’ 3-1 loss to Benji Gil and Castle Park.

“It was a great tune-up for the playoffs for both of us,” Montgomery Coach Manny Hermosillo said. “We respect those guys. I’m sure we have their respect now. They showed us why they’re No. 1 and they got a message of why we could be No. 1 and why we were No. 1 earlier this year.”

Wazal, a right-hander who pitched seven innings the day before, was the third pitcher for Montgomery. He faced two batters: Jason Eskridge and Cady. He walked Eskridge, a right-handed hitter, on a 3-2 pitch. Then he came one pitch away from getting the left-handed Cady, who was hitless to that point.

Julio Saldana (0-1) took the loss in hard luck after he relieved starter David Silvas in the sixth inning. Silvas had allowed three hits and struck out six in 5 2/3 innings. Mike Spears, despite giving up two runs on five hits in two innings, got the victory in relief for Grossmont to improve to 9-0 and 16-0 in his two varsity seasons.

Saldana opened the seventh by striking out Benny Craig and, after Gary Marshall reached on an error by the first baseman, got Cory Schweer to pop to first for the second out. But No. 9 hitter Matt Jones was safe on a throwing error by the shortstop and Jon Heinrichs (two for four) singled home Marshall to make it a 3-2 game.

That’s when Saldana gave way to Wazal. Cady’s home run was his 26th in four years at Grossmont. Montgomery came back with two runs off Spears in the bottom of the seventh to make it 6-5. Wazal was three for four for the Aztecs. Teammates Saul Rodriguez and Luis Contreras each had two hits, as Montgomery outhit the Foothillers, 10-5.

In another nonleague game:

Granite Hills 9, University City 4--Brian Reisenberg went two for four with a double, a triple and two RBIs and Chad Burchett went two for three with two RBIs for Granite Hills (13-9-1).