Henry Rojas scored Century’s first run Friday night against Katella (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Century’s baseball team pushed across a run in the bottom of the eighth inning Friday night to defeat Katella 2-1 at Century to move into sole possession of first place in the Orange League.
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The Centurions’ Andre Naranjo drew a bases loaded walk with no outs and the count 3-2 to drive in Damien Chavez with the winning run. Chavez singled to open the inning and went to second base on a balk with no outs.
Then, Norberto Herrera reached on a bunt single to put runners on first and third. Following a wild pitch, Gerardo Hernandez was walked to load the bases to set up the game winning walk off walk.
Century is 8-2 overall and 4-0 atop the league and ranked fourth in this week’s CIF Division 5 poll. Katella (6-4) is tied with Savanna (3-1) for second place.
“That was a good at bat,” Century Coach Theo Cortes said of the walk-off. “He got it to two strikes and fouled off a couple and then laid off the high one. How many kids get so anxious on that 3-2 count and see a fast one and just swing right through it? He was patient enough to get that.
“Really good for him though because in the first inning when our kid got thrown out at second base he was the batter and he missed a sign and we kept telling him, ‘you’re going to get two or three more at bats’ and you’re going to make it hurt. That was kind of nice that he came back.”
Both teams had solid pitching.
Eduardo Ojeda pitched the first six innings, allowing one run and scattering five hits for Century.
“Eduardo had about 85 pitches and he came out after six and he said, ‘coach, I got nothing left,'” Cortes said. “Anthony Olivares came in and got the W at the end. Both of them competed really well. I don’t think Eduardo had his best stuff but he competed, he kept pounding the strike zone and forcing contact.”
Olivares pitched the final two shutout innings to notch his second win of the year.
Michael Hill pitched the first five innings for Katella before giving way to Nathan Flores in the sixth.
Century moved ahead with a run in the second inning. Henry Rojas singled and advanced to second on passed ball. He scored on an RBI single by Eddie Esquivel.
But Katella evened the score in the third inning. Marcus Viramontes walked to lead off and later scored on an RBI single by Justin Long.
Both teams had other scoring chances but could not deliver until Century came through in the eighth on a chilly night. A couple hundred fans gathered to see the early season league showdown.
“It puts us a game ahead of them (Katella),” Cortes said.
It’s been a rewarding season for Cortes, now in his 16th season as head coach of the Centurions.
“It’s a fun group because we have a lot of kids who haven’t played much as far as a baseball experience,” he said. “Three or four of our starters picked up the game as freshmen or sophomores. And for them to go out and compete against kids who have probably been playing throughout their lives is special and rewarding.”
RELATED STORY: Century moves up to No. 2 in polls
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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