TORRANCE — Torrance baseball coach Rob Ybarra knew the chances would be limited against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks on Friday in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
What Ybarra didn’t anticipate was the Tartars running themselves out of a potential first-inning rally, only to see Notre Dame score six runs in the second inning before cruising to a 16-1 victory.
“We had an early hiccup. We went with a hit-and-run, got hosed at third and that killed our momentum,” Ybarra said. “ You only have so many chances against a team like Notre Dame, and right after that you saw the inning they had. It happens and it’s part of the game. It’s not that we weren’t prepared, but it’s baseball.”
Notre Dame (19-9-1) will host Aquinas in the second round Tuesday.
Slater Nunez led off the bottom of the first inning for Torrance (19-8-1) with a single and took second on a ground out before getting caught trying to steal third.
After that, things began to spiral for the Tartars.
With two runners on and nobody out in the second inning, Torrance’s Mateo Rickman fielded Brody Thompson’s bunt, but his throw to third base was wide, allowing Notre Dame’s John Trainor to score the game’s first run.
Torrance starting pitcher Jared Galang, who allowed seven runs on five hits over 2 ⅔ innings, struck out Jacob Madrid before Brett Binkley’s bunt single scored the second run.
After a fielder’s choice and a walk, Dominic Cadiz came to the plate for the Knights with the bases loaded. Cadiz took the first pitch before unloading on the next pitch, depositing it over the left-field fence to give Notre Dame a 6-0 advantage.
“(Galang) wasn’t hitting the zone. He walked a few guys and we forced a few errors,” Cadiz said. “I was expecting a fastball and drove it off the palm tree (in left field).”
Staked to a six-run lead, Notre Dame starter Nate Kluger kept the Tartars lineup off balance. The right-hander faced the minimum through three innings, and despite Torrance loading the bases on a double and a pair of walks in the fourth, Kluger limited the damage to just one run.
Over five innings of work, Kluger allowed three hits and walked two while striking out five and allowing the lone run.
“When you give up a big lead, it’s hard to play Tartar baseball,” Ybarra said. “We preach pressure offense and putting pressure on the defense and we weren’t able to do that. It handcuffed us all game.”
Galang’s day was over after recording two outs in the third.
Slater Nunez was unable to keep the Knights offense off the board. Kai Gonzaga’s two-out RBI single preceded Cadiz’s RBI double to make it a 9-0 game.
Cadiz went 3 for 5 with six RBIs while Gonzaga went 3 for 4 with three RBIs.
“(Notre Dame) was taking good pitches, pitches (Galang) usually gets swings and misses on,” Ybarra said. “They did a heck of a job on those takes that got them into hitting counts and they were able to cash in on our mistakes. We pride ourselves on playing clean ball and that wasn’t the case today.”
Leading 10-1 in the sixth, Notre Dame didn’t let up. The Knights sent 10 batters to the plate and pushed its lead to 16-1.
“Our coach always tells us to punch (the other team) in the face early, and honestly the first two innings were competitive,” Cadiz said. “That really helped us and it helped (Kugler) gain confidence. For the rest of the game we kept that confidence.”
SOUTH TORRANCE 3, NORTHWOOD 1: Caden Lewis and Gabriel Ibarra both went 3 for 4 with an RBI and Peter Broughton pitched a complete game to lead the Spartans (16-13) to a road win in the Division 3 first round.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for South.
Broughton allowed one unearned run, five hits, walked two and struck out three.
South will host El Modena in the second round Tuesday.
EL SEGUNDO 11, LONG BEACH WILSON 7: The Eagles (20-8) scored four runs in the third inning and four in the sixth in their Division 3 road win at Blair Field.
Five players had two hits for El Segundo and three drove in three runs.
Dylan Alcala pitched 6 1/3 innings for the win.
Wilson scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to get close.
El Segundo will host Fountain Valley in the second round.
LEUZINGER 6, CHANNEL ISLANDS 4: Moises Fonseca pitched a complete game to lead the Olympians (18-3) in the Division 7 first-round win at home.
Fonseca allowed three earned runs, 12 hits, walked three and struck out four. He also had two of Leuzinger’s 12 hits.
The Olympians will be at Desert Christian of Lancaster in the second round.
MARY STAR 3, FOOTHILL TECH 2: Julian Cerventes drove in two runs and Richard Bautista had a pair of hits to lead the Stars (11-7) in the Division 7 first-round win on the road.
Daniel Avila (four innings) and Riley Vuoso (three innings) combined for the win.
Mary Star will host Oakwood in the second round.
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