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Beckman’s baseball team, pictured after a victory earlier this season at home, is headed to the semifinals. (Photo courtesy Rosalene Ledendecker).
Beckman High School’s baseball team is moving on to the semifinal round of the CIF Division 3 playoffs.
The Patriots captured a 6-1 victory over Newbury Park Friday on the road to earn a trip to the next round Tuesday at Los Alamitos.
Patriots senior Zach Ireland pitched a complete game and got the win to pass Trevor Ernt on Beckman’s all-time career wins list with 20. Ireland struck out nine and allowing four hits. He did not walk a batter. Ernt, a 2019 Beckman graduate, is now the Patriots pitching coach.
Ethan Rhee had the big hit in the sixth inning, driving in Ken Tomitaka and Connor Perea with two outs and two strikes on him, according to Beckman Coach Kevin Lavalle. Rhee was 2 for with two RBI and Jack Terry had two hits for Beckman (23-6-1).
Newbury Park (17-12) held a 1-0 lead before Beckman began its comeback.
“We’re just incredibly resilient,” Lavalle told OC Sports Zone on his way home with the team. “This game can be so difficult at times and it’s just really rare when you have a group of kids completely committed to each other, no matter the circumstances, the score, the opponent.
“They play together, they play hard and they compete every pitch. I wish I could take some of the credit, but I can’t. I just sit back and watch it happen.”
Los Alamitos (24-7) advanced to the semifinal round with a 2-1 victory over Mission Viejo Friday.
—-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
