Northwood baseball team finishes regular season strong, earns CIF playoff berth

Northwood’s baseball team after a victory in the Ryan Lemmon Invitational. (FILE PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

A strong second half in Pacific Coast League play helped Northwood’s baseball team, coached by Ben Owens, secure the fourth and final automatic CIF playoff spot from the league.

The young Timberwolves struggled in the first half of league play, but wound up 8-6 in fourth place after winning seven league games in a row.

Northwood (13-15 overall) finished league play defeating St. Margaret’s 25-5 and 8-1. Northwood won four games by one run including a 4-3 victory over University in eight innings.

“This group of Timberwolves were learning on the job in a very tough stretch,” Owens said. “Spring break really helped us realize that it isn’t just on certain individuals but us as the whole group.

“As we came into the last three weeks we didn’t have any margin for error. The boys treated every game like a playoff game knowing if we had lost again the season would have been over. I am so proud of the boys for what they have done in the month of April fighting our way into the playoffs.” 

In the second half of the season, Northwood was led by Kai Tsuneshige who hit .341 overall and was one of the team’s leader in RBI with 13.

Gabriel ibasitas, who batted .351 and is the leader in RBI, was also solid and was the team’s top pitcher in the stretch drive, Owens said.

In addition, Noah Kim hit .345 and “really solidified the middle of our order,” Owens said. “The list can go on and on but they way we feel right now can hopefully continue on a playoff run.”

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