Sonora pitcher Hector Garcia delivers a pitch to Irvine’s Casey Kudell Friday (Photos courtesy Jim Tomlin, For OC Sports Zone)
Sonora’s top-seeded baseball team ended Irvine’s magical post-season run defeating the Vaqueros 9-0 in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division 4 playoffs at Sonora Friday afternoon behind the stellar effort of starting pitcher Hector Garcia.
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Garcia pitched 6 2/3 innings striking out 13 and allowing just two hits to help the Raiders advance into the semifinal round Tuesday against the winner of the Alhambra-Canyon Springs game. That game was rained out Friday.
Justin Estrada came on to pitch the seventh because Garcia was approaching the pitch limit.
Sonora is out to win the school’s first CIF baseball title since 1995 when it captured the Division II crown.
“The kids have been preparing hard all week long,” said Coach Richard Lodding. “It’s the attitude and effort that these kids bring every day. We said we had to set the tone at the very beginning and when we have Hector on the mound, he just sets it.”
The Raiders (23-8) felt confident with Garcia on the mound, the coach said.
“He makes our lineup strong when he’s on the bump, getting another batter up there,” Lodding said. “Right when we came out and set the tone at the beginning, it just went from there.”
Irvine was making its first appearance in the quarterfinal round since 2001. The Vaqueros were trying to make the semifinal round for the first time since 1993 and advance to the finals for the first time since 1992.
The Vaqueros started off with a base hit by Bubba Filia. Grant Lockwood sacrificed Filia to second but Casey Kudell lined out and Patrick Hackworth struck out to end the inning.
After the single by Filia, Garcia was dominant, retiring 13 in a row until a double by Elliot Jun in the fifth inning.
Sonora took control early with three runs in the bottom of the first inning off Irvine starter Ryan Barlow. Joey Flores and Luis Chavarin singled and Isaac Ramirez followed with a two-run double.
Adam Berecek drove in the third run with an RBI single.
“It was just a great team effort,” Garcia said. “Right off the bat, everyone came out with energy and we got a lot of support from the crowd too. That was a big help.”
Garcia also helped himself at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a home run in the fifth inning and two runs scored.
“I think I just had a good day at the plate today,” he said. “I’ve been struggling these past two games but I didn’t let it affect me.”
Sonora outhit Irvine 18-3.
The Raiders also got strong hitting from Flores, who was 3 for 3 with two runs scored and two RBI; Chavarin, who was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, Ramirez, who was 2 for 3 with three RBI; Berecek, who was 2 for 3 with an RBI; and Austin Haller, who was 3 for 3 with two runs scored.
Irvine was hoping to keep rolling in the post-season.
But Garcia and Sonora proved too much.
“We came into the game knowing he was going to be great and he was,” Cota said. “They got a few runs early and put us in a hole but I just love the fight our kids showed all year long. I’m just so proud of them and the work they put in.
“It speaks to the character. We’re down 9-0 in the last inning and get the bases loaded and we’re still going to keep fighting.”
With two outs, Leonard Memon walked and pinch-hitter Andrew Ricci was hit by a pitch. Isaac Hong singled to load the bases but Jack Reddington struck out to end the game.
“It’s been a while since Irvine has put together a 19-win season,” Filia said. “It’s cool to go out and be that group of guys that did it. It was a great group to finish with. I would have chosen no other guys to finish out my senior season with and I’m really proud of the way the season turned out.
“He was a really good pitcher. Yeah, we wanted to come out and perform a little better but they got the best of us today and shout out to their team for putting together a great performance.”
Miles Malohn came on to pitch in the fourth inning. Yoni Bracha was brought into pitch in the fifth and Edward Kole came on in the sixth inning.
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-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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