Knights off to semis on Gonzaga's bunt
Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks baseball's Brandon Gonzaga knew he was going to get the signal before he even looked at assistant coach Randy Thompson.
Orange Lutheran had intentionally walked Dean West, loading the bases in the eighth inning. Gonzaga received confirmation from Thompson, then subsequently laid down the bunt that would send the Knights to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals.
“We've had a strong trust with each other all year when it comes to the bunt,” Gonzaga said. “I was just thinking to myself, if I can get it down, I know I'm fast enough to get there.”
After beating the Lancers, 5-4, in the quarterfinals on Friday, the Knights will play Huntington Beach in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals on Tuesday.
Orange Lutheran forced extra innings with a fourrun seventh inning that tied the game at 4-4. Karson Bowen scored a run on a sacrifice fly for the Lancers' first run. Mikey Romero was walked immediately after, then Casey Borba hit a threerun homer that tied up the game.
“Right before that pitch, I said a little prayer,” coach Eric Borba, who is also Casey's dad, said. “It's about as joyous an occasion as you can have. To see him have that at the end was a pretty cool way to end the season.”
While the Lancers (228) went scoreless through the first six innings, Notre Dame (23-7-1) started the scoring in the third inning.
Greg Pierantoni and Gonzaga (3-for-5) both singled to get on base, Jack Gurevitch was hit by a pitch, then Madden Ocko singled to drive in Pierantoni. Christian Miranda doubled off the wall after that for two more runs.
“He came up big with that,” Knights coach Tom
Dill said of Miranda. “That was a big moment in the game, timely hitting and you've got to be able to do that.”
Ocko hit an RBI single in the fifth inning to give Notre Dame a 4-0 lead while the defense worked tirelessly, at one point turning three double plays in four innings. Gurevitch, a first baseman, also had a diving catch to get out of the third inning.
“Our guys just stuck their nose in it and picked them clean,” Dill said. “I told the guys I thought we had 12 (double plays). It was amazing.”
It's another example of that trust between players as well as coaches. As the Knights posed for photos after the win, they each formed an “O” with their hands, a symbol of looseness and the team's mentality.
“(The `O') emits positive energy for us,” Gonzaga said. “At the end of the day, this is still a game, and we always want to stay mindful of that.”