Olson Called Upon to Secure Title for Crescenta Valley, 11-9

With five pitchers unable to protect a nine-run lead, Crescenta Valley High was forced to bring in ace left-hander Jordan Olson in the seventh inning of Saturday night’s Babe Herman tournament championship game against Mountain View.

Olson pitched six shutout innings the night before and pitched three innings Tuesday. But the Falcons needed two more outs for victory, and Olson delivered.

He struck out Adrian Acevedo and got Javier Robles to pop out, enabling the Falcons to defeat Mountain View, 11-9.

Senior first baseman Tim Balkey hit a home run for the third consecutive game to highlight a seven-run first inning for Crescenta Valley (14-1), ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times. Balkey was named the most valuable player for the tournament that was delayed because of rain.

Balkey and Luke Peterson homered on consecutive at-bats during a first inning that also featured a two-run double by Mark McCauley and RBI singles by Jared Salisbury and Clint Radenbaugh.

Mountain View (9-5) fell behind, 9-0, but rallied while the Falcons tried out relief pitchers.

Olson picked up the save and is 6-0 with 90 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings.