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Trevor Scott (left) and Andrew Mits led Estancia to a semifinal victory. (Photos: OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).
Estancia High School’s baseball team is headed to the CIF finals for the first time in school history.
The second-seeded Eagles pushed across a run on bases loaded walk to Trevor Scott with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat Santa Ynez 1-0 in a high-drama, well-played, entertaining CIF Division 6 semifinal Tuesday at Estancia.
The stands were packed with hundreds of fans and many more were standing watching what turned out to be a classic game which lasted about three hours.
Estanicia moves on to face Anaheim in the championship game either Friday or Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.
“It was a great game, we knew it was going to be a classic,” said Estancia Coach Nate Goellrich. “Just doing our report on Santa Ynez and how solid they are with their guy (pitcher Jackson Cloud) going. He’s been great all year for them. We knew we were going to be in for a long one at the plate at times but our guys just kept battling and battling and battling with Trevor and (Andrew) Mits coming in huge for us on the mound and key defensive plays were huge for us as well.
“I just can’t say enough about it, it was a team win, that’s what we’ve been about from day one. Our whole team can beat you and it came through for us today.”
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Cloud starred on the mound for Santa Ynez. He pitched 7 1/3 innings, striking out 13 and allowing one hit. He walked one and hit two batters before giving way to Vic Hereda in the eighth inning.
Estancia (27-5) got tremendous pitching from Scott, the starting pitcher and Mits, who got the win after coming on in eighth. Scott allowed no runs and six hits through seven innings and struck out four and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth inning.
Mits (10-4) pitched three scoreless innings allowing two hits and striking out two against Santa Ynez (17-12).
Both teams had chances to score in the first seven innings. In the seventh, the Eagles had the bases loaded with two outs, but Cloud was able to work out of trouble.
But in the 10th inning, walks to Blake Peck and John Uchytil and a single by Mits loaded the bases. The next two batters struck out but Scott worked a 3-2 count and got the walk to force in the game winner.
“I was just thinking see the ball, hit the ball,” said Scott. “My defense played great and I had total confidence that I could throw any pitch where I wanted it. I knew I didn’t have to be perfect, because my defense had my back all day.”
Then up was up to Mits to keep the Eagles tied.
“It was definitely a hard-fought win,” Mits said. “We fought until the end, we knew there was something big on the line, obviously a championship game and going to regionals we had on our mind and we were using for motivation. We just used that to our advantage and fought through it and showed that we wanted it more.
“It was the most intense game I’ve ever played in. The stands were packed full of people. The other team even had their people come down, it was such a far drive.
“It’s crazy, knowing that I’m a sophomore and having two more years here, I really have a lot of faith in these guys knowing that we can go get something done that has never been done before.”
Estancia added to its school record of wins with the victory.
Anaheim defeated Bellflower 4-1, in the other Division 6 semifinal.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
