HR leads Cents into second round; plus, scores from Thursday’s opening round
Trailing by one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Centurions’ offense only had two hits against the Walnut Mustangs in the first round of the Division 4 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section playoffs.
But after a three-run homer from Saugus’ Abraham Ramirez, the Centurions’ offense rolled past the Mustangs and ended the game with a 5-2 win to advance into the second round.
“This team never dies, and we believe in each other, and we’re just going to fight to the end no matter what the score is,” Saugus head coach Mike Miller said. “If we’re down, if we’re up, we’re going to fight for each other, and I felt like we did that today.”
The Centurions, who entered the season with the most runs scored out of the Foothill League teams entering the playoffs, only had three base runners after the first four inningsand had a slow start on offense in Thursday’s game.
But after Ramirez’s three-run shot, Miller said the offense was able to get going and added the Centurions have relied on the junior’s timely hits.
Ramirez said the feeling in the dugout was to keep fighting and “chipping” into the Mustangs’ lead and momentum to come back.
“It was a dogfight for sure going back and forth and us going down in the fourth inning,” Ramirez said. “We kept battling back and chipping away, and luckily we pulled off the win today.”
Ramirez ended the day 2-for-4 at the plate and led the Centurions in batting while right-hander Joey Nuttall got the save in the seventh with a strikeout.
With the win, the Centurions advanced to the second round of the playoffs but will hit the road for a matchup against the San Marino Titans on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
For Miller, after a huge win at home to start the team’s playoff journey, the mindset moving forward is for his Centurions to keep playing “Saugus baseball” and fight for wins.
“Just play Saugus baseball,” Miller said. “That’s what we’re going to do and stick with.”
After Thursday’s games, here are scores from the opening round:
Trinity 5, Orange 1: The Knights, who are coming off their fifth-consecutive Heritage League title, secured the first-round win over the Orange Panthers.
In the win, Andrew Carlson, who’s a commit to Texas Christian University, threw a complete game along with 12 strikeouts.
The Knights are set to host their second-round matchup on Tuesday and welcome the Troy Warriors of Fullerton. First pitch is set for 3:15 with the site of the game yet to be determined.
Golden Valley 5, University Prep 1: The Grizzlies, who entered their first trip into the postseason in program history with an at-large bid into the Division 7 playoffs, secured the first-round win over the University Prep Jaguars of Victorville.
The Grizzlies’ Charlie Butts threw a complete game and struck out 14 en route to the win.
Golden Valley awaits the winner of the matchup between Campbell Hall and Jurupa Valley and is set to play again on Tuesday in the second round.
Santa Clarita Christian 6, Academy of Excellence 0: The Cardinals, who entered the postseason as the runner-up in the Heritage League, secured a first-round win in the Division 8 playoffs.
In the win, the Cardinals threw a no-hitter against the Academy of Excellence behind the performance of Jacob Trosper and Zane Stauffer, who combined for 15 strikeouts.
The Cardinals advance to the second round and will host their matchup against the Duarte Falcons on Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for 3:15 and the site of the game yet to be determined.
Canyon of Anaheim 5, Valencia 4: After a back-and-forth matchup between the Comanches and Vikings in the Division 4 playoffs, Canyon of Anaheim secured the win by the end and eliminated Valencia from the playoffs.
Monrovia 10, Castaic 6: After earning the school’s first-ever Foothill League team title in any sport, the Coyotes entered the Division 4 playoffs with lots of momentum in head coach Darrell Davis’ last season.
But after a 10-6 loss in the first round, the Coyotes’ season came to an end and they were knocked out of the postseason.
Editor’s note: The West Ranch Wildcats play their first-round Division 3 playoff game on Friday at 3:15 p.m. against Warren, and the score was not yet available at the time of this publication.
