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After making a run to the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball quarterfinals the Los Alamitos High Griffins saw their playoff run come to an end with a bloop single to right field that gave the Santa Margarita Eagles a walk-off 5-4 win to send the Eagles to the semifinals.
Junior Warren Gravely chipped a ball over first base that landed just inside the foul line and pinch runner Aramis Perez came around from second base to score the winning run. The rally in the bottom of the seventh inning followed a wild exchange that saw the Eagles break a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run by Lucas Owens that gave the Eagles a 4-3 lead with the Griffins just three outs away from being eliminated.
But in the top of the seventh inning, senior Sutton Deninno was brought in to pinch hit and he delivered a deep shot down the left field line and cleared the fence to bring the Griffins back to even with the Eagles, 4-4. The two home runs cleared the finance in nearly identical locations.
“We were talking about that in the dugout, I mean, that was crazy, but also it’s playoff baseball and anything can happen,” Griffin Head Coach Scott Talanoa said.
However the Eagles would push across the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh.
The Griffins entered the playoffs as the third-place team out of the Sunset League, with 19 wins. They came into the season with a new coaching staff, led by Head Coach Scott Talanoa. According to Talanoa, the players were ready to work from the start.
“They have really bought in the whole year to a new concept and the new standards that we brought on with the new coaching staff,” Talanoa said.
The game started with the Eagles scoring two runs in the first inning. Los Alamitos was able to rally for two runs of their own in the top of the third inning to tie the game 2-2. The Griffins would take a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth when Devin Porch reached on a walk and then stole second base. Kaden Carrion would then drive him in with an RBI single.
The Eagles would tie the game in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out rally that loaded the bases and brought the run in with a hit batter. With the bases still loaded, the Griffins escaped more damage with a diving catch by Wyatt Joyce on a low line drive.
Carrion would finish the game with three hits, a run and an RBI. Porch had a double and two runs scored. Joyce also had a double.
