WARRIORS SURVIVE BY SCORING LATE
The play-in game is behind them. So the pressure is off.
But surviving the oneand-done round of the San Diego Section baseball playoffs was anything but easy for Fallbrook High.
Trailing by a run, the Warriors scored a run in the fifth and two more in the seventh to edge Morse 4-2 at Duke Snider Field and advance to the start of today’s double-elimination round.
With their bus arriving at school 30 minutes late, Morse got to Fallbrook 20 minutes before first pitch.
The Tigers got their arms loose, didn’t take infield, and the game started on time.
The umpires said the rule reads that a late-arriving team must be given time to warm up. The rule, however, doesn’t say how much time they must get to warm up.
Seeded No. 5 in Division IV, Fallbrook (16-12) will play at Valley League foe and No. 4 seed Valley Center today.
The season is over for No. 12-seeded Morse (15-11).
“We’re young, but we’re resilient,” said Fallbrook coach Pat Walker, noting the Warriors came from behind to beat Morse 4-3 in April to win a division of the Lions Tournament. “These kids believe in themselves.”
Freshman shortstop Evan Thomas was the hitting star for Fallbrook, driving in a run with a second-inning single and another with a fourth-inning double.
And he was hit by a pitch in Fallbrook’s two-run, seventh-inning rally.
Junior catcher Anthony
Fallbrook 4, Morse 2
Thomas started the rally with a one-out walk. Sophomore Austen Baker walked. Junior Tanyon Smith singled, but Thomas was thrown out at the plate on a great throw from left fielder Diego Sesma to catcher Aeron Salvador.
But Baker and Smith went to third and second. Baker scored on a wild pitch and Smith on a passed ball.
“We played Morse before and knew they were good,” Thomas said. “We wanted to score early. Turns out we scored late.”
Senior Mitchell Baker gave Fallbrook five strong innings on the mound, allowing two runs — one earned.
Sophomore Jace Cervantes came on in relief and pitched two shutout innings to get the win. With a runner on first in the seventh, Cervantes got the last out with a strikeout on a high fastball.
“That’s the pitch I wanted to make,” Cervantes said. “Coming in the game in relief, I had to keep my cool and focus.
“We knew Morse was a good team, a team that brings a lot of energy. And (Alex) Leyva (Morse’s starting pitcher and No. 3 hitter) is a really good player. This is the kind of game we expected.”
The Warriors, who have now won four in a row, beat Valley Center 6-0, lost 2-1 in eight innings and lost 12-1 in league play.
“We had two great games with Valley Center in league,” Walker said.