PHOTOS: Gahr celebrates after defeating Centennial in Ryan Lemmon Tourney final

Gahr players celebrate after winning the Ryan Lemmon Invitational Wednesday night. (Photos: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Gahr built a three-run lead in the third inning and went on to defeat Corona Centennial 5-1 in a battle of two highly-ranked CIF baseball teams Wednesday night in the championship game of the Ryan Lemmon Invitational at the Great Park.

Gahr (14-2-1) is No. 1 in Division 2 and Corona Centennial (15-4) No. 2 in Division 3. Both came into the game with undefeated records in the 32-team tournament.

Gahr jumped to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the third inning and reliever Jake Ourique, who came on in the fourth inning, got the final out after hitting two batters in the bottom of the seventh.

The Gladiators back-ups poured out onto the field to celebrate with the starters and the team was congratulated after the game by Guy Lemmon of the Ryan Lemmon Foundation and tournament director Dick Owens.

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

Gahr’s Angel Cortez, a University of San Diego commit who scored two runs, was named the tournament MVP.

“I would like to pay tribute to the Lemmon Foundation for having us,” said Gahr Coach Gerardo Perez. “They took us on, they’ve done a great job of running the tournament and giving everybody an opportunity. It’s a first class tournament so we’re very appreciative of having an opportunity to compete in it.”

Perez was pleased with the effort of his squad, which had to battle through-out the four-day tourney to reach the final.

“I’m very excited for our team,” he said. “We were challenged not only by several good teams, but the elements. We had some cold nights that we’ve had to play. We’ve had different guys step up for us in every game and I’m very proud of that.

“We are a team. We definitely have some good players. Angel Cortez, MVP of the tournament, deserves it, Kyle (Panganiban) had a bunch of great hits, Jaden Alba and Noah Andrunas pitched their butt off. I’m very proud of the fact that someone different stepped up every night, I’m very excited for the energy we brought to the tournament.

“I’m very happy; hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

Alba, an Arizona State commit, pitched the first three innings, allowing no runs and two hits. Ourique, a freshman, finished the game, allowing a run and striking out five.

Gahr scored a run in the first inning. Cortez and Panganiban were hit by pitches and Alahni Salcedo delivered an RBI single.

The Gladiators added two more runs in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Bryce Morrison, a USC commit and a groundout by Salcedo.

Centennial cut the lead to 3-1 with a run in the fourth inning. Jake Morrell singled and scored on a double by Edgar Gonzalez but Gonzalez was thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple.

Gahr added two more runs in the sixth inning, Panganiban had an RBI single driving in Jose Perez. Panganiban later score on an error to make it 5-1.

Corona Centennial had other chances to score but hit into two double plays.

“That’s a tough one, but they’re a great team, hats off to those guys the way they competed,” said Centennial Coach Ryan Simpson. “Pitchers did a great job keeping them off balanced. We just had a couple tough breaks, some miscues and against a team that’s this good, you got to play pretty flawless in order to be able to beat somebody like that.

“We’ve had a motto, ‘anyone, anytime, anywhere.’ We love to play in games like this, we love the competition and we love the environment. When you’re playing against guys like this, it does nothing but get you better and prepare you for a CIF (playoff) run hopefully.”

EXTRA COVERAGE

For post-game video reaction, go to OC Sports Zone’s Twitter page @ocsportszone

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Scores and highlights for final day of Ryan Lemmon Baseball Invitational

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

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