Orange Panthers want to ‘keep that winning feeling going’ in CIF playoffs

Orange players and coaches after Tuesday’s non-league victory over Irvine. (PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Orange’s baseball team is entering the CIF playoffs next with lots of momentum.

The Panthers (19-9 overall) have a five-game winning streak after defeating Irvine 2-1 in 11 innings Tuesday in the final regular season game.

Orange, the Grove League champion, hosts Trinity Classical Academy in a Division 6 opener Thursday, May 14 at 3:15 p.m.

“I challenged the kids before,” Coach George Chace said after the win over Irvine. “We want to keep that winning feeling going in if we can, no matter if it’s their senior day, we got to come to play and take care of business so we can ride that momentum into the playoffs.”

It was Orange’s first league title since 2022.

“I have 11 seniors this year and eight of them were starters as sophomores and they went 6-19 and then they kind of had an underwhelming year again last year where we kind of underachieved and we went 12-15 and finished fourth in our league, so it’s kind of been a culminating senior year where they got better every year and capped it off with a league title and a playoff run hopefully, it’s special.”

Orange has been led by Evan Gonzalez, who is batting .437 with 45 hits, 13 doubles, five triples, one home run and 26 RBI. On the mound, Gonzalez is 6-2 with 70 strikeouts and a 1.76 ERA in 51 2/3 innings.

“Evan has been our ace all year,” Chace said. “Strangely enough, this is his first year pitching. He’s been our guys, he’s been very dominant on the mound.”

Abraham Ontiveros is batting .351 with 34 hits, 29 RBI and 35 runs scored, Alex Mendoza is batting .333 with 30 hits, 16 doubles, 26 RBI, 30 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. Ethan Giraldo is batting .341 with 31 hits, 26 RBI and 24 runs scored.

Other top pitchers have been Daniel Vergara, who is 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 38 1.3 innings and Cooper Gschwendson, who in 35 2/3 innings has a 5-1 record with 41 strikeouts and a 1.96 ERA.

Orange rolled through league play with many decisive wins. The Panthers only league loss came to Anaheim in the third meeting of the season between the teams.

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