Heat Treatment : Douglass Uses Arm, Bat to Power Antelope Valley, 9-4

LANCASTER —  Before more than 20 professional scouts twirling stopwatches and hoisting radar guns, Sean Douglass used both his right arm and his bat to lead Antelope Valley High past Quartz Hill, 9-4, in a Golden League baseball opener Friday at Antelope Valley.

Douglass, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior pitcher and one of the region’s top major league prospects, deemed his pitching performance mediocre after allowing five hits and three runs, all earned, in five innings.

But there was no doubting Douglass’ impact at the plate after he belted a grand slam in the fourth inning to break open the game.

Douglass was not the only attraction. Quartz Hill starter Mark Madsen, a senior, entered the game with a 2-0 record and an 0.58 earned run average. Madsen was a standout two seasons ago as a sophomore before missing most of last season with back problems.

But after Douglass retired Quartz Hill in order in the first, Madsen began to unravel immediately, walking the first three batters and throwing two wild pitches that led to two runs.

Quartz Hill (5-2) cut its deficit to 2-1 in the second inning, when Madsen singled and scored on a triple by Brady Robbins with one out. The Rebels loaded the bases but Mark Campbell and Josh Crose struck out to end the inning.

Antelope Valley (6-1) stranded three runners in the third but pulled away in the fourth, when Madsen hit a batter, issued a walk and surrendered a single to load the bases with no outs.

Madsen walked Kevin Barlow to force in a run and struck out Brandon Sadler before giving up Douglass’ grand slam.

“I felt good in the bullpen, but when I came out I wasn’t hitting locations and I kept getting behind in the count,” Madsen said.

Madsen allowed six hits and seven runs, all earned, in four innings. He hit a batter, threw two wild pitches, struck out three and walked six while throwing 96 pitches--38 of them strikes.

“We knew we’d rattled his cage by all the balls he threw in the dirt,” Antelope Valley catcher Brett Roth said. “He was losing power and we knew we’d gotten to him.”

Douglass (3-0) struck out seven, walked three and hit a batter.

“I didn’t feel I had my best stuff,” Douglass said. “I didn’t quite have the velocity I normally do and I didn’t have quite the command I wanted.”

Quartz Hill Coach David Stradling agreed that Douglass was not overpowering but said his team helped its opponent.

“Walks, errors and mental mistakes will kill you every time,” said Stradling, whose Rebels committed two errors. “I told [the players] they gave it to [Antelope Valley] and they took advantage of our mistakes.

“But they don’t have to do anything special when we’re walking them around the bases or kicking a baseball.”

Antelope Valley scored twice in the fifth off reliever Travis Allen.

Hector Velez reached first on catcher’s interference, moved to third on a single by Chris Wurster and scored on a fielder’s choice. Wurster moved to second when Barlow was hit by a pitch, took third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a wild pitch.

Quartz Hill’s Jo’Sean Lyles hit a two-run homer in the fifth.