After slow start, Fullerton rallies and powers past Tahquitz in second round of CIF playoffs

Fullerton players and coaches celebrate after Tuesday’s win. (Photos: OC Sports Zone, Tom Connolly).

George Papadatos and Connor Sunderland each belted home runs and EJ Ayala was lights out in relief as Fullerton overcame a rough start to defeat Tahquitz 9-3 Tuesday afternoon in a second round CIF Division 4 playoff game at Fullerton.

The Indians (22-7) advance to Friday’s quarterfinals and will play Corona Santiago, who beat Segerstrom on Tuesday.

After committing a combined five errors in the third and fourth innings, the Indians settled down and got a much needed boost when Papadatos blasted a pinch hit, two-out, three-run homer over the center field fence to give Fullerton a 3-2 lead.

“I wanted to hit the ball hard and put it in play,” said Papadatos, who drilled his fourth homer and second pinch hit HR, of the season. “He threw me a 3-0 fastball and then he came back with the same pitch and I felt like I hit it pretty good.”

Ayala came on in relief of starter EJ Hernandez, after one batter in the fourth inning. He got out of a bases loaded jam in fourth without allowing a run. He struck out five and allowed one hit and one run the rest of the way to secure the win. 

“It feels amazing to win this game and be going to the quarterfinals,” said Ayala. “I knew I had to come in and close them down. I had complete faith in the pitch calling by our coaches.”

To see additonal photos, click on the first picture:

Indians coach Shaun Hill was pleased with the win. 

“I told them after we made all of those errors, ‘we kept the damage to a minimum and now we can outslug them,'”Hill said. “George (Papadatos) has hit several pinch hit home runs for us this season and his homer woke up the dugout. EJ was amazing. I told him there is nobody I trust more coming out of the bullpen than him.”

Fullerton then added six insurance runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Matt Kim’s two-run double, Nate Norman’s RBI double and Sunderland’s three-run towering homer – all with two outs – over the right field fence.

“This win is a big boost for us and really helps solidify our season,” Sunderland said. “Our energy is still high and we are fired up.” 

The game was halted for 30 minutes with Fullerton batting in the bottom of the second with one out and no score. Sunderland led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. He advanced to third on a fly out. With Carlos Barrios batting, the Indians attempted a suicide-squeeze play. Sunderland broke for the plate, but Barrios missed the bunt.

Sunderland never stopped and slid head first into home and appeared to avoid the catcher’s tag. However, he was called out because the umpire ruled that (the batter) Barrios interfered with the catcher trying to make the tag. Hill questioned the call saying his batter should be called out and Sunderland sent back to third base.

The three-man umpiring crew consulted among themselves and then further consulted with Gary Gilmore, an Orange County umpiring supervisor official who was in attendance at the game. The group then contacted the CIF for an official ruling.

After about a 30-minute delay, Sunderland was ruled out (the second out of the inning). Barrios eventually walked and the inning ended when Zach Fany hit into a fielder’s choice for the third out.

“None of us knew the rule, but I’m glad their took their time; they got it right,” said Hill.

It was a bitter loss for the Titans (22-3) who were riding a 19-game winning streak. They hadn’t lost a game since a Feb. 25 setback to Apple Valley. The Indians have won nine of their last 11 games.

Click here for Friday’s full quarterfinal round schedule:

–Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone