Bellflower gets walk-off victory to advance to its first D6 semifinal
BELLFLOWER » Why not us?
That's the question the Bellflower baseball team asked themselves before the Buccaneers played host to No. 1 seed Arrowhead Christian in the CIF Southern Section Division 6 quarterfinals at Bellflower High School on Friday.
With the bases loaded in extra innings, Bellflower junior outfielder Jackson Wilson definitively answered that question with a walk-off RBI hit that propelled his team to a 2-1 win against Arrowhead Christian in eight innings. The Eagles finished the season with a 20-6 record.
“I knew today was going to be the day,” Wilson said after the game. “God talked to me.”
“This team has become a family,” said Bellflower baseball coach Keith Tripp. “It did not start out as a family, and they've become one. Now they literally believe no one can stop them... and so they're having fun going out swinging the bat and not worried about failing and I guess that's the whole point, they're not worried about failing so why not us?”
The win also was historic because it marked the first time the school's baseball program has ever made it to the CIF Southern Section baseball semifinals in any playoff division.
Bellflower (16-13-2) will play at Anaheim (20-9-1) in the CIF-SS D6 baseball semifinals on Tuesday, May 17 at 3:15 p.m.
The Buccaneers got a strong start from Branin Seibert, who pitched 6 1/3 innings without giving up an earned run.
Bellflower jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Seibert hit an RBI single, which scored sophomore infielder Jessie Cadenas from second base.
In the top of the second inning, Arrowhead Christian battled back with a leadoff double by senior third baseman Nick Martinez.
Seibert struck out the next two batters, but Martinez would eventually score from second base on a passed ball, tying the game at 1-1.
Seibert struck out Eagles junior first baseman Mason Lackey to get out of the top of the second inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, Siebert pitched out of a jam with runners on second and third base with two outs by striking out Arrowhead Christian sophomore starting pitcher Bradley Gilbert.
Seibert, who will play NAIA college baseball next season at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, only gave up two hits and had seven strikeouts before being relieved in the seventh inning after throwing 109 of the maximum allowable 110 pitches.
Junior relief pitcher David Martinez came in and pitched the final 1.2 scoreless innings in relief.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Bellflower junior right fielder reached first base after being hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Wilson moved Guillen into the scoring position.
Cadenas hit a single and Seibert was intentionally walked, which loaded the bases with one out.
At that moment, it appeared Bellflower was prepared for a walk-off.
However, Martinez, who was started at third base but was now pitching, hit a ground ball into a double play to keep the game alive.
Martinez would regroup to retire the Eagles' lineup in the top of the eighth inning and preserve the 1-1 tie.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Buccaneers senior catcher Gilbert Sanchez, who went 2-3, reached base after being hit by a pitch. Sanchez would go on to be tagged out at home when tried to score the game-winning run.
But luckily for Bellflower, it was only their second out of the eighth inning. The Buccaneers would not be deterred or denied and kept morale high.
“A good dugout helps a team win,” Seibert said.
However, with the bases loaded and two outs... Wilson delivered a walk-off RBI after the ball bounced over the Eagles' third baseman's head.
Wilson said the playoffs have brought out the best in the Buccaneers.
“We came together as a team and we started competing more, had more faith, more energy,” Wilson shared when asked what's been different for the Buccaneers in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Bellflower will continue answering the question `why not' as they are now two wins away from winning the school's first-ever CIF baseball championship.
“I'm stoked,” Seibert said. “We're all just family. We hang out with each other all the time... and I think that really helped us on the field.”