Branham stuns Wilcox with pinch-hit HR, reaches final
SANTA CLARA >> The sound off the bat rang so pure Thursday night at Washington Park.
For a split second, the stands went quiet.
While the Wilcox fans remained stunned, the Branham supporters suddenly erupted in euphoric fashion.
With Branham two outs from elimination in the Central Coast Section Division II baseball semifinals, pinch-hitter Nolan Rodriguez crushed a pitch over the leftfield fence that changed the fortunes of everyone involved.
“It was a feeling off the bat,” Rodriguez said. “I just knew it was gone.”
Branham right-hander Evan Williams, who pitched five innings of scoreless relief, promptly set down the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, including a three-pitch strikeout to seal an unforgettable 3-2 comeback.
The only thing left is today's title game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose against top-seeded Archbishop Mitty (20-10), which earlier in the doubleheader delivered a 2-0 victory over No. 4 Serra.
Branham scored an upset over No. 2 San Benito in the quarterfinals before another against No. 3 Wilcox.
No. 7 Branham (21-8) never appeared ready to admit defeat on Thursday, and that's the mindset moving forward in its quest for a fourth CCS title in program history, the most recent coming in 2014.
“I think this just gives us a lot of momentum going into Saturday,” Williams said. “And everyone in the dugout believes in each other because we've been working so hard all year. So I feel we have a really good chance.”
For most of the night, Wilcox (21-10) kept things in cruise control.
That was especially true when it came to freshman left-hander Jaccob Prettol, who completed five innings, allowing just one hit and three walks.
“The kid's got no fear,” Wilcox coach Matthew Huth said. “He just goes out there and slings it.”
The Chargers jumped ahead 2-0 early by taking advantage of two hit batsmen in the top of the first. Designated hitter Justin Emgushov produced the game's first run with an RBI single.
In the second inning, a wild pitch with the bases loaded allowed freshman Matthew Tiendas to score.
But Wilcox stranded five runners on base over the first two innings.
“We just didn't capitalize on the stuff that we could've offensively,” Huth said.
That left the chance for Branham to battle back.
In the sixth, a leadoff walk and a hit batter set the stage for an RBI double by Williams, which cut the deficit in half and put the tying run on third base with no outs.
Wilcox went to its bullpen and after a harmless fly ball, Elijah Bustamente seemingly delivered a tying sacrifice fly. Except, after appeal, the runner was ruled out for having left early from third base for the final out of the inning.
It didn't matter in the end. Branham senior Liam Thompson led off the seventh with a double to the left-center gap. The first pinch-hitter grounded out.
Next up? Rodriguez, who'd never previously homered on varsity.
“I was kind of nervous myself; I tried to calm down,” Rodriguez said. “I was going as slow as I possibly could with my movements at the plate, and then I just destroyed the ball.”