Santa Clarita Christian baseball is rolling in the 2024 postseason.
The Cardinals will now advance to the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals, after beating the California Lutheran C-Hawks, 8-0 on Tuesday at Hart High School.
SCCS (11-9) has given up just two runs in three postseason games, with sophomore Gregory Michlin leading the way on Tuesday.
Michlin threw a six-inning shutout, carving up the C-Hawk bats with 11 strikeouts and no walks while allowing just three hits.
“I’m just looking to throw strikes and look at the next batter,” Michlin said. “They’re all the same to me … I was in my groove.”
Up 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth, the Cards sparked a two-out rally to get some comfort runs and put the game out of reach.
The top of the order — Michlin, catcher Wyatt Waldron, center fielder Zane Stauffer and Jacob Trosper — all added consecutive hits to pile in four runs in the sixth.
Michlin, Waldron, Trosper and freshman Mason Rappleye all finished with a pair of hits but SCCS knows there’s always room for improvement at the plate.
“It was OK. We put the ball in play and we had runners on,” said assistant coach Matt Moore. “I thought we ran the bases really well. We had some A-B’s we have to learn from as far as pitch selection or swinging the bat, but that’s baseball. We’ll look at that, move forward and be ready to go for Friday.”
Moore, a Hart alumnus and former NFL quarterback, returned to his former baseball field sporting similar colors. Moore earned dozens of victories on his home baseball field as a player but kept the winning ways alive over 20 years later, now as an assistant skipper with the Cardinals.
Waldron sparked the Cards in the first inning with an inside-the-park home run. Waldron hit a deep ball to right before some mishaps in the outfield advanced the runner all the way home.
Michlin then brought in two runs in the second with a 2 RBI double, to add to his standout day on the mound.
“(Michlin’s) a competitor and when he’s locked in like he was today, I mean you see the outcome,” Moore said. “He has a little edge to him, which is great. We’ve seen it not only on the mound, but in the box and just how he carries himself around the team. It’s nice when you got somebody like that on the hill.”
The Cardinals had to work for all their hits at the plate as C-Hawks (9-8) ace Colton McGee gave up nothing easy. McGee gave up the hits but errors in the field piled on the runs for SCCS. McGee finished the day with 10 strikeouts and three walks.
Stauffer closed out the game on the mound and struck out three batters to officially seal SCCS’ second-straight shutout and punch the team’s ticket to the quarterfinals.
The Cards entered the Division 8 bracket via the wildcard round but have since put up 32 runs while surrendering just two.
“Going into the season we started a little slow but then we picked it up,” Michlin said. “Going into the postseason as a wildcard, we’re just looking to upset every single team and go all the way.”
SCCS will remain at home and host the second-ranked team in the Division, the Azusa Aztecs (15-5).
The Cardinals retake the field at Hart on Friday at 3:15 p.m. in the quarterfinal showdown with the Aztecs.
“We just have to keep up the energy,” Michlin said. “As long as we play like this and we have more energy than the other team, we’re good.”
