NORTHRIDGE — El Camino Real catcher RJ De La Rosa had one word on his mind in the bottom of the sixth inning and his team losing to Granada Hills with a chance to play at Dodger Stadium at stake.
That word: resilience. It was a word repeated to him by coach Josh Lienhard.
The left-handed hitting De La Rosa took a breath and lined a changeup for a hit that scored two runners and gave El Camino Real the lead.
That led to De La Rosa being on the bottom of El Camino Real’s celebratory dogpile after the Conquistadors held off Granada Hills in the seventh inning for a 4-3 victory Wednesday in the City Open Division semifinals.
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El Camino Real (21-7) will make a return trip to Dodger Stadium to play No. 1 seed Birmingham on Saturday.
The Royals are looking for their 11th CIF LA City Section title. A win Saturday would move El Camino Real past Chatsworth for the most baseball championships in LA City Section history.
“(Lienhard) gave me the word resilience last year,” De La Rosa said. “These guys are my dogs. We never had a doubt that we were ever going to lose this game. We have so much faith in each other. We just wanted to show the City who we really are and this game we managed to make it happen.”
El Camino Real (21-9) seemed to be four outs away from collapse after a scrappy effort by Granada Hills.
Granada Hills manufactured three runs in the third inning using three consecutive bunts that caught the Royals off guard. Catcher Nicholas Penarada bunted home a runner and third baseman Landon Tuch drove a line drive to left field for a two-run single that put the Highlanders ahead 3-0 with one out in the top third.
Granada Hills finished the season 15-15 and has momentum moving into next season after a 12-17 record in 2025.
“I left our guys with a quote that ‘Success isn’t a destination, it’s a journey,’ ” Granada Hills coach Matthew Matuszak said. “These guys have done it the right way. They’ve worked hard. They’ve overcome adversity. They weren’t even a preseason Top 10 in the City Section. And here we are just four outs away from being at Dodger Stadium.”
Granada Hills senior, left-handed pitcher Luke Chau threw five innings and surrendered just one earned run.
Chau’s pitch count was nearing 100 pitches and Matuszak felt a change was needed on the mound to not overexert the arm of his star pitcher.
“We were going to try and squeeze another inning out of him and then he walks the first guy to open the sixth, and it was just time,” Matuszak said. “He was out of gas and he’s been a bulldog for us all year. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He gave us everything he had. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done there in the sixth.”
El Camino Real pitcher Jackson Sellz, a junior right-hander, threw a complete game with six strikeouts and allowed just one walk.
Sellz became part of the offensive equation in the sixth inning with his hard hit groundball toward the shortstop position and never drew a throw to first. First baseman Rider Mozian came home to score before De La Rosa’s go-ahead, two-run single capped the rally for the Royals.
“At 3-0 I knew my team could score,” Sellz said. “I kept my composure and had the utmost confidence. Absolutely stoked we got it done.”