Pacifica players celebrate after Friday’s Empire League victory over Cypress. (Photos OC Sports Zone, Tom Connolly).
After suffering a heart-breaking loss to Cypress on Wednesday, the Pacifica High School baseball team felt it had some unfinished business to attend to on Friday afternoon.
And the Mariners did just that.
Chad Gurnea pitched a four-hit complete game to propel the Mariners to a 2-1 victory over the Empire League-leading Centurions at Pacifica.
“I really wanted to throw a complete game, I felt strong and I threw strikes and got ahead in the count and my defense did the rest,” said Gurnea, a junior righthander who improved his record to 7-2 and snapped Cypress’ nine-game winning streak. “My fastball and slider were working well and despite losing Wednesday, we felt we could come back and win today. This win really gives us a boost of confidence.”
Gurnea gave up only one run, struck out six and walked three as Pacifica dealt Cypress its first league loss and prevented the Centurions from claiming at least a tie for the league title with two games remaining. The Mariners (17-8, 5-3) are tied with Tustin for second place and finish the regular season with two games with Valencia, while the Centurions (20-4-2, 7-1) go head-to-head twice next week with Tustin.
“It was like a playoff game today, it’s the way it should be at this time of the season,” said Cypress Coach John Weber. “I have to give Gurnea credit, he did a great job. However, we still control our own destiny.”
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Ryland Chastain singled to center with one out in the second inning and went to third on Justin Aguinaga’s single to right center. He then scored when Johnny Morales hit a high chopper 30 feet down the third base line and beat it out for an infield hit giving Pacifica a 1-0 lead.
Bren Wilkinson led off the Centurions’ third inning with a single and was sacrificed to second by Danny Garcia. Wilkinson took third on an infielder ground out and then scored on a passed ball tying the score at 1-1.
Luke Matlock of Cypress was just as effective on the hill as his counterpart as he limited the Mariners to six hits while going the distance. He struck out one and walked only two batters.
“I felt strong but I missed some spots and they took advantage of it,” he said.
Cypress nearly took the lead in the sixth but an excellent defensive play foiled the rally. Matlock led off with a walk. One out later, Matthew Morrell drilled a double to right center. Matlock never slowed as he tried to score but was gunned on a close play at the plate by a pair of perfect relay throws from right fielder Morales to second baseman Tristan Brinkman to Aguinaga, the catcher.
“I knew when he hit it, he hit it hard, but the defense executed to perfection, just like in practice, to get him at home,” said Gurnea.
Chad “CJ” Brown led off the Pacifica sixth inning with a single to center. He moved to second after Gurnea missed the pitch while trying to sacrifice. Cypress’ catcher, Bren Wilkinson, threw down to first to get Brown, but Brown took off for second and was safe on a close play.
Gurnea then successfully sacrificed Brown to third. Chastain followed by belting a single to left, just over the outstretched glove of shortstop Abbrie Covarrubias. Alertly, Cypress left fielder Morrell quickly threw home, but Brown scored, giving the Mariners a 2-1 advantage. The Centurions got a runner to second with two outs in the seventh but Gurnea retired Garcia on a fly to right to end the game.
“I just wanted to hit the ball hard in a gap,” said Chastain. “We really felt we could win this game today. We got clutch defense and clutch pitching.”
Both teams displayed outstanding defense. Mariners third baseman Aiden Marguez was flawless.
“It feels great to win this game,” said Marquez. “We should have beaten them the other day, but today we came out with increased energy.”
Pacifica coach Mike Caira agreed.
“We felt like we let one get away on Wednesday,” said Caira. “Gurnea has been our guy all season and we played solid defense today and we got the big hit we’ve been needing. It’s a shame these two teams only play each other twice a season. It seems like the teams in every other league in Orange County, play each other three times.”
—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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