University seniors (from left) Michael Dougherty, Chris Conner, Aaron Millman, Adam Kunin, Logan Rome and Alex Zive were honored before Thursday’s game. (Photos: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
University High School’s baseball team, with its back to the wall, responded again Thursday, defeating Sage Hill 7-0 in the Pacific Coast League finale on the Trojans’ senior day at University.
The Trojans, with a record better than .500 can now petition to be an at-large entry in the CIF Division 6 playoffs that begin next week. Pairings will be announced Monday morning.
University (14-13-1 overall) finished in fifth place in the PCL tied with Irvine, recording a 9-11-1 record after winning all four of its games this week on consecutive days.
“It’s up to the baseball gods now to see how we shake out,” said Uni Coach Wes Shaw. “I talked to the athletic director and the principal today and they’re going to do what they can do as far as making an application for at-large. We will see how many automatic qualifiers there are. According to CIF, as of today, we were ranked fourth in Division 6. Maxpreps had us at 10.
“The kids performed well. Sage Hill is undermanned but they are very well coached. Our kids had fun today and they played loose, and that’s better for us.”
On senior day, the seniors came through for Uni. Michael Dougherty threw a complete game allowing four hits and striking out six.
“I thought Mike Dougherty threw fairly well,” Shaw said. “He was efficient most of the game and we got some timely knocks when we needed it. It was a good day for the Trojans.”
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Dougherty, who along with the five other seniors were honored in a pre-game ceremony, also had an RBI single, a triple and scored two runs.
“It was a really good win, our teammates showed up, this is keeping our playoff hopes alive for an at-large bid so we all knew what we had to do out here and I’m just really glad we got it done,” said Dougherty. “Everybody had energy and I’m glad we did it for the seniors.”
Dougherty said he didn’t know so many aunts and uncles and grand-parents would come to the pre-game ceremony, in addition to his parents.
“It was a really nice surprise,” he said.
Catcher Alex Zive, another senior, had a big day too with a solid defensive and offensive effort. He walked twice and scored both times and also had a single.
“It was a real team win, we really needed to put some runs on the board today and I’m really glad we did,” Zive said. “That’s something we’ve had a tough time doing this season and it was really great, especially these last four games, to put some runs on the board when our backs are up against the wall and knowing what is at stake, each one of these games, getting into the playoffs and an at-large bid hopefully and we will let the baseball gods do their work from here on out and we just put ourselves in a good position for them to do their work.
“I’ve been on the varsity program for four years, and this team is the closest and we really fight for each other out here and if anyone deserves it, I think it’s us. We got off to a little slow start, we showed some heart in these last four games and ended the (regular) season with a four-game league winning streak, which is a testament to how hard this team works and how much reslience they show.”
Another senior, center fielder Aaron Millman, drove home Uni’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning off Sage Hill starter Cruz Collier. Junior Riven Ruhanage, who came in to pinch-hit in the fourth innning, drove home two runs in the fourth inning with a single.
In the fifth inning, Dougherty tripled and scored on a wild pitch and sophomore Chase Nguyen walked and scored on a wild pitch.
Sage Hill (4-22, 1-20) had scoring chances in the first, third and seventh innings, but Dougherty was able to work out of trouble.
Shaw started a mostly senior lineup, which also included left fielder Chris Conner, first baseman Adam Kunin and Logan Rome, the Trojans’ ace out of the bullpen, but played right field.
Rome had a big game Wednesday throwing three innings in relief while allowing an earned run to get the win in the Trojans 8-4 win over Sage Hill that kept the team’s playoff hopes alive.
“He did well, without him, I don’t know where we would be to be honest with you,” Shaw said. “Logan has a really good record and a low ERA, makes quality pitches and he’s been a pleasant surprise for me.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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