Jack O’Malley of Crean Lutheran is greeted by teammate Blake Needelman after hitting a home run in the sixth inning. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs / Howard Lyon).
Crean Lutheran High School’s baseball team gave the hometown fans plenty to cheer about Tuesday.
The top-seeded Saints scored three runs in the first inning, then turned to starting pitcher Wyatt Nichol to record a complete game in a 6-2 victory over Los Altos in the second round of the CIF Division 4 playoffs at Crean Lutheran.
Nichol allowed just four hits and struck out eight to notch the first complete game of his career.
It was the first home game in the playoffs for Crean Lutheran, which started out with a 24-3 victory over Pasadena Poly Friday. The victory sends the Saints into the quarterfinals Friday vs. Burbank (13-9) at home.
The stands were packed and many people were in lawn chairs and standing to cheer on the Saints Tuesday.
“We know how important it is, especially in high school baseball, to minimize strikeouts and put balls in play,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Jake Haney.
And the Saints had Nichol on the mound.
“I loved the energy today, I was feeling great, I felt in control of all four of my pitches and I got the best teammates behind me …. my team was back there to make the plays, I was pacing myself and we got it done,” said Nichol. “This is definitely up there, maybe number one, because it was a playoff atmosphere.”
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone
In the first inning, Mark Fedro and Blake Needelman had RBI singles and another run scored on an error to put the Saints ahead 3-0.
Los Altos scored single runs in third and fourth inning to trim the lead to 3-2. But Wyatt Fischer ripped a double in the bottom of the fourth to put Crean Lutheran ahead 5-2.
“I actually didn’t think our at bats early in the game were very good, but we had a big clutch hit from Mark Fedro early and the one late by Wyatt Fischer, who comes up clutch with a two-run double was big-time,” Haney said. “When your nine hitter (Fischer) is that productive, that’s a scary offense.
“I thought after the second inning, we swung the bat really well and didn’t get rewarded. They did a good job, they hit a lot of balls right where they shifted.”
In the bottom of the sixth, Jack O’Malley belted a home run, his eighth of the year tying a team record, for the Saints final run.
“The first two at bats were tough, he kind of had a weird tempo and I’m glad they took him out and put in the righty,” said O’Malley, who is committed to Bucknell to pitch and possibly hit.
“I got down 0-1, he hung the curve and I stayed back and was able to put a good swing on it to right. I fired up the team with it and it was a big momentum shift. We’re really excited, we obviously have two good teams coming up, whoever we draw, and we will try and play a good game.”
“That gave us some insurance,” Haney added. “It’s cool having a guy like that in your lineup, it’s like having instant offense.”
Haney was also impressed with Nichol.
“His growth has been tremendous, he’s a guy who came on the scene kind of late so all of these experiences for him are brand new,” Haney said. “He wasn’t throwing these important innings last year and he’s been really big for us this year and really, really good. He’s super fiery, competitive kid, even though he’s kind of quiet.”
Isaac Gallindo had both RBI for Los Altos (9-17).
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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