Following a Foothill League championship-winning season, the Wildcats opened the baseball playoffs at home in the Division 3 California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section postseason looking to repeat as Southern Section champions.
In back-and-forth battle with the Warren Bears of Downey on Friday, the Bears scored seven runs in the final two innings, and the Wildcats were defeated at home, 8-3, and eliminated from the playoffs.
“This was a tough loss. [Warren] came in and gave us a heck of a game, and they played their A-game,” West Ranch head coach Trevor Brown said. “And in this game, there’s somebody who’s got to win and someone who’s got to lose and they brought the energy and they hit all three of our best guys.”
To start the game, the Wildcats threw out Orlando Gutierrez on the mound who cruised through the first two innings without allowing a baserunner.
Gutierrez allowed a run to score in the top of the third, but the Wildcats took the lead in the bottom half with two runs from Adrian Rivera and Preston Loren.
After two more scoreless frames from Gutierrez, the Wildcats looked poised to win in narrow fashion at home.
But in the top of the sixth inning, the Bears chased Gutierrez with three runs from the top of their lineup and forced the West Ranch coaching staff to bring in Ty Diaz, who’s a commit to California State University, Fullerton.
The Bears added another four runs against Diaz in the seventh, and the Wildcats put Connor Clayton in to finish the game.
Clayton, who’s a commit to California State University, Northridge, ended the game with a strikeout and just a walk allowed.
In the end, the Wildcats only tagged one more run off a Rivera groundout and did not come back.
“Orlando was cruising. I think he has 53 pitches through five innings, which efficiency-wise was fantastic,” Brown said. “So, we threw out good arms out there, but it didn’t matter who was out there. [Warren] put together really good at bats with a good approach.”
With the loss, the Wildcats ended their league-winning season with a first-round exit in the playoffs after claiming the Division 2 Southern Section title in 2025.
Although the loss is not the way he or the team wanted to end the season, Brown said 2026 has been a success for the program with what the Wildcats accomplished.
“It’s a success for sure … we came in day one and talked and set our goals and our one goal was to go out and win league,” Brown said. “What they did last year is impressive. It’s hard to win baseball games. And overall, this season, these guys were great. The experience was fantastic. I feel really blessed for the 20 kids that I got to work with on varsity for my first year.”
