Cypress players will always remember semifinal, but there’s an even bigger game ahead

Cameron Repetti fires a pitch in Tuesday’s semifinal playoff game. (Photo courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone).

It was a game that Cameron Repetti and his Cypress High baseball teammates will remember for the rest of their lives.

In front of hundreds of fans at Cypress on Tuesday, the Centurions pushed across a run in the bottom of the ninth inning on a walk-off double by Peter Werth to defeat La Mirada 1-0 in the semifinals.

The victory sent No. 2 Cypress into the CIF Division 1 finals on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Dodger Stadium where the Centurions will face Harvard Westlake and go for their third CIF title.

Among the jubilant players were Repetti, the senior pitcher and Cal State Fullerton commit who came on in relief of starter Brett Wozniak in the fifth inning and shut down La Mirada the rest of the way.

“He did a great job,” Repetti said of Wozniak. “He has all year and I knew he was going to go out and compete and he did. They didn’t score off of him. And when I came in, all I needed to do was keep my composure and make every pitch count and that’s what I did and I was able to keep the zero in tact.”

Repetti had dreamed of having a chance to do one more dog pile after the CIF finals.

“We’re one away…it still hasn’t hit me,” he said. “This team is unreal, the fight that we have, these are the coolest moments of my life. These are my best friends and playing baseball and we’re playing at Dodger Stadium.”

Repetti said the Centurions have a special bond.

“We’ve been playing together since we were 8 years old,” he said. “We’ve come through the ranks together. We got one more.”

Cypress, like La Mirada, had several chances to score before pushing across the game-winner.

“Coach Web (John Weber) said ‘you guys are getting there, you’re threatening every inning. We just need one big hit.’ And Peter came up and he got us that one big hit. He was clutch. Right when he hit I looked and I said, ‘there’s no way they’re getting it.’ I was the first guy out of the dugout. It was incredible. There is no feeling. You can’t feel any bone in your body. You just smile and jump up and down, it’s crazy.”

The fans were very much a part of the game. They filled the bleachers before the game and lined up down the left field fence. There was no official estimate but there were hundreds.

After the game, many of the parents and family members were on the field to congratulate the Centurions.

Werth, who had the game winner, was supported by his parents and grand-mother.

“It was great support,” Werth said.

Now, he and his teammates get a chance for another title.

“It”s going to be wonderful, it’s going to be under the lights and like a dream come true,” Werth said. “This Division 1 baseball is a great bracket and making it this far is amazing.”

Weber, the Cypress coach, looks forward to the finals too.

“That will be nice, a chance for a third title,” he said. “It’s more for the kids. It’s good for our community, look at this place today; what an awesome environment.”

It’s all lined up well for Cypress, which can use Wozniak and Repetti to pitch again if necessary since neither one threw a complete game Tuesday and should be under the mandatory weekly pitch count.

It would be Repetti’s turn to start on the hill. But the Centurions have plenty of pitching depth.

“I don’t know if we can start Cameron; I have to look at his numbers…” Weber said. “We’re fine, we have Woz, we have (Tyler) Chaffee, we got (Jackson) Ronningen), we’re fine.”

Cypress fans will undoubtedly be out in force, and this time, they will have much more room to watch and cheer for their Centurions.

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-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com