Woodbridge players, including No. 3 Vincent DeMarco, celebrate after the win. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Woodbridge starter Vincent DeMarco was almost untouchable on the mound Wednesday in a key Pacific Coast League game against Sage Hill.
The senior ace allowed just one hit which came in the first inning and struck out 11 in six innings to lead the league-leading Warriors to a 6-0 victory over Sage Hill at Ryan Lemmon Stadium.
DeMarco, who walked one, pitched to the minimum in six innings as a result of two double plays to improve his record to 5-1. With a commanding lead and the CIF playoffs coming up, Caden Camacho was brought in to pitch the seventh inning and allowed one hit.
Woodbridge (15-10, 11-2) has a one game lead over second place Irvine, which defeated Laguna Beach 6-0 on Wednesday. Woodbridge can clinch the title with a victory over Sage Hill Friday or if Laguna Beach defeats Irvine.
To see additional photos, click on the first picture:
However, if Irvine (13-12, 10-3) beats Laguna Beach and Sage Hill (7-13, 3-10) defeats Woodbridge, Woodbridge and Irvine would share first place and Irvine would be declared league champion because it won the league series with Woodbridge, according to Woodbridge Coach Ryan Brucker.
“We would be tied and Irvine would be the league champs, since they beat us twice,” Brucker said.
“We will take a good attitude into Sage Hill, they’re a tough team to play at their place on the turf, we will have to be ready to go to be able to beat them on Friday,” Brucker said. “The good thing is we control our own destinty so that’s all you can ask for on the last day of the season is to be able to win a game and be league champions. We will give it our best shot.”
The Warriors put themselves in position to win the title with the win on Wednesday vs. Sage Hill extending their win streak to seven games. Caleb Cuo had the only two hits for Sage Hill. He also walked in the fourth inning.
“We go as Vince goes and he established early and was around the zone all day,” Brucker said. “He was doing what he does, he had really good command of the zone, his offspeed and fastball pitches and he gave up just one hit. When he sets the tone like that, it makes it a lot easier.
“I was happy with the way our guys approached the offensive side. We had a lot of good hits up the middle. I don’t think we struck out today which is good, it means we’re putting the ball in play.”
Alex Johnson was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. He drove in Caleb Camacho who walked to lead off the first inning and was sacrificed to second by DeMarco.
Johnson also tripled in the fourth inning and came around to score on a double by JJ Metcalf. Vaughn Tase then reached on an infield single, Kyle Underwood had an RBI single and Caden Camcho followed with a two-run single to make it 5-0.
Caden Camacho also had an RBI single in the sixth inning, driving in Tase, who walked with one out.
It was more than enough for DeMarco, who has committed and signed to play college baseball at St. Mary’s.
“We’re still in first place, we just got to win Friday, that’s all we’re focused on now,” DeMarco said. “It was a big win today, but all focus is on Friday. Today, the stuff was there, it was probably pretty close to an A plus effort. Stuff was there, always in the zone, really efficient today. I’m proud of the way me and the team performed. I had some great plays behind me which helped, which is always nice.”
DeMarco said a league title would be important to he and his teammates.
“It would be really, really great,” he said. “The past two years, just coming up a short was a little tough, so I really want to get this one, it means a lot, and then hopefully go make a run in CIF. I’m confident in our guys, our bats are waking up since the start of the year, we’re putting great swings on the baseball. We just got to keep that going and we’re going to go make a run.
“We got two good arms, a few guys out of the pen, it’s what you need to go make a run.”
—-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
The post Woodbridge inches closer to league crown behind pitching of ace Vincent DeMarco first appeared on .