Cypress wins extra inning thriller over La Mirada 1-0 and advances to CIF finals at Dodger Stadium

Cypress players celebrate after Tuesday’s 1-0 win over La Mirada (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone).

Cypress and La Mirada, two CIF Division 1 baseball powerhouses battled it out into the ninth inning in front of a standing-room-only crowd Tuesday afternoon in Cypress.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo

But it was second-seeded Cypress which eventually delivered the knockout punch in the CIF Division 1 semifinals to earn a trip to Dodger Stadium Saturday for the championship game. The Centurions will face Harvard Westlake, who defeated Huntington Beach 6-2 Tuesday. The game will be played at 6:30 p.m.

Designated hitter Peter Werth delivered his second double of the game, this time a memorable walk-off double to left center to drive in pinch-runner Christian Thompson, lifting Cypress to a 1-0 victory in front of a large crowd which packed the Cypress facility.

Luke Davis opened the inning with a single. Then Thompson came came in to pinch-run. With one out, Elias Rios followed with a single to put Thompson in scoring position.

Then, Werth delivered the shot which sent the sent the Centurions (31-3) to Dodger Stadium. Cypress will be out to win its third CIF title.

“I was going in there, I had a chance in the bottom of the seventh to walk it off but the pitcher ended up getting me with three nice sliders,” said Werth.

“Then, the bottom of the ninth came around and Coach Web told me to sit (on) the fast ball actually. But then he said after the first pitch curve ball, but he ended up throwing me a fastball. It’s kind of ironic.

“He threw me a low fastball and I tried putting it in play. “

“He didn’t start the season with us, and then we put him in,” Cypress Coach John Weber said. “And then we put him in, we were going through a little bit of issues in the middle of our lineup. It’s funny to say that when we’ve only had three losses in the season.

“But we had some guys who were struggling and we plopped him in there. He’s done a great job for us. He’s a little spark plug.”

“This is my first year at Cypress,” Werth said. “I had to sit out the majority of the season because I transferred from OL (Orange Lutheran) and he gave me a chance against Tustin and I went 2 for 3 with a home run, a single and five RBI, so he wanted my stick in the lineup and ever since then I’ve been starting.”

Senior pitcher Cameron Repetti, who came on in relief of starter Brett Wozniak in the fifth inning, got the victory with a superb scoreless stint.

He came on in the fifth with two on and one out and got La Mirada to hit into a double play. He allowed just one infield single and struck out five.

Repetti had told OC Sports Zone earlier this year that he dreamed of doing a dog pile after the CIF finals and now he will have that chance.

“That was incredible,” Repetti said. “Zero-zero in nine innings. Fantastic. Great job by them but we had runners on in every inning. We knew we were going to get there and finally, Peter just put one into the gap and we took a big breath and we’re moving on.”

Wozniak pitched well in his 4 1/3 innings, allowing just two hits. He struck out five and walked three.

La Mirada (26-7) got an outstanding pitching effort from starter Michael DeHaro, who pitched the first eight scorelsss innings before giving way to Memo Pacheco in the eighth.

Both teams had numerous scoring opportunities to take the lead but could not.

Extra bleachers were brought into the Cypress complex to accommodate the big crowd.

“We win today and it’s great, we could go and lose the next one and everyone’s hearts are broken,” an emotional Coach Weber said. “But what this group has done for this program, and over the last three years is remarkable.

“From the losingest team ever in terms of wins and losses in my tenure to now the winningest team in my tenure, and their perseverance and all that. I’ve been talking about this throughout the playoffs and to watch our kids evolve and going from afraid to lose to not sure if we’re going to win, to we’re going to win, don’t panic, don’t worry about it and that evolution as a coach is why you do it.”

Rios, the left fielder, had two hits and two stolen bases and reached base four times. He was also hit by a pitch and reached on an error.

La Mirada was trying to advance and have a chance at its third CIF title as well.

Lead-off hitter Jared Jones had two of the three hits for La Mirada.

It was a game players, coaches and fans will remember for years. Cypress won CIF Division 2 titles in 2005 and 2013, now goes for the top prize in Division 1 Saturday.

“It’s amazing,” said Werth, who had the game winner. “It’s one of the best feelings ever. You kind of dream of this as a kid to go to Dodger Stadium and here we are now.”

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