From the first pitch to the last pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning, there was never any doubt that Tuesday’s Southern Section Division 1 first-round baseball playoff game between Cypress and St. John Bosco would be a special matchup of elite pitchers.
And it was.
Julian Garcia of St. John Bosco had a perfect game through six innings and didn’t allow any hits for eight innings. Left-hander Drew Slevcove of Cypress came close to matching Garcia pitch for pitch until giving up a fifth-inning home run to Jack Champlin. Cypress tied the score with two outs in the seventh when Jake De Laquil walked, stole second, went to third on a ground out and beat the tag at the plate on a ground ball with the infield in.
Brayden Krakowski took over on the mound for St. John Bosco, throwing scoreless ball in the ninth, 10th and 11th. Tate Belfanti of Cypress was equally perfect with scoreless innings in the ninth and 10th. But a leadoff walk to Jaden Jackson, followed by a stolen base with two outs, opened the door for Moises Razo to deliver a game-winning single to left field during a 2-1 Braves victory.
“That was one of the better played games in high school baseball,” St. John Bosco coach Andy Rojo said. “John Weber knows how to coach. Their guy went toe to toe with Julian.”
A year ago, Garcia missed St. John Bosco’s Division 1 title run while recovering from arm surgery. He was fired up for his playoff appearance. “I woke up super pumped,” he said. “I was nervous last night.”
There’s been no stopping Garcia in his last two starts. He hasn’t allowed a hit in his last 14 innings but doesn’t get credit for a no-hitter. He was pulled from his Mater Dei game after six innings. And Tuesday, Cypress was able to manufacture a run in the seventh to leave him with a no decision.
“He’s peaking,” Rojo said. “He’s back to his old form.”
Cypress finished with two infield singles on the day.
St. John Bosco catcher Aaron Garcia came through with a clutch throw to prevent a Cypress runner trying to steal third and also had two hits.
The Braves move on in pool C to host Sierra Canyon on Friday as part of a 16-team tournament with four pools. The winner advances to the Division 1 quarterfinals. The loser will face the winner of the Oaks Christian at Cypress game to stay alive in the tournament. The other matchups of 1-0 teams on Friday are Harvard-Westlake at Huntington Beach; Orange Lutheran at Corona and Norco at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
Sierra Canyon 6, Oaks Christian 5: Brayden Goldstein hit a two-run home run to help the Trailblazers hang on for victory.
Norco 8, Maranatha 7: Down 7-3, the top-seeded Cougars scored two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to pull out the victory in pool A. Elijah Alvarez had a two-run walk-off single to win it.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 9, Ayala 3: A seven-run fourth inning propelled the Knights to victory. Jake Noroian finished with three hits and Troy Tejo had two hits and three RBIs.
Harvard-Westlake 3, La Mirada 0: James Tronstein had a home run and two doubles and Justin Kirchner erased from his memory a loss in last season’s playoffs by throwing a one-hitter for the No. 2-seeded Wolverines.
Huntington Beach 11, Temecula Valley 0: Jared Gringlinger allowed one hit in six innings and Ely Mason and Dane Cunningham hit home runs for the Oilers. Mason finished with three hits and seven RBIs.
Corona 5, Etiwanda 4: A hit pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth inning pushed across what turned out to be the winning run for Corona. Trey Ebel had a home run and three RBIs.
Orange Lutheran 3, Corona Santiago 1: Connor Sides struck out 10 in six innings with Marcus Greis getting the save.
