SANTA CLARITA – Warren’s baseball team was trailing for most of its game at West Ranch on Friday, but the Bears rallied to score a combined seven runs over the sixth and seventh innings to win the game, 8-3, in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs.
Warren (16-13) led 1-0 in the middle of the third courtesy of an RBI single from Jose Eljaik.
West Ranch (15-13) responded with two runs in the bottom half of the third to take a 2-1 lead. Blake Johnson drove home the go-ahead run with a groundout.
The 2-1 lead for West Ranch held up behind a five strong innings on the mound from starting pitcher Orlando Gutierrez, but Warren’s offense found its footing in the top of the sixth.
Eljaik led off the inning for Warren with a single to center field. He advanced to second base on a groundout to second by Josue Evangelista.
Senior Carlos Navarro tied the game at 2-2 with a single to right field.
Ivan Martinez had a chance later in the inning to give Warren the lead. The Bears’ No. 6 hitter was at the plate with runners at first and second and two outs. He roped a fastball down the left field line for an RBI double that gave Warren a 3-2 advantage.
“He’s good, he’s always been in the middle of the order for us and he’s gonna play a big role,” Warren head coach Cesar Martinez said about Ivan Martinez. “Honestly, that’s kinda what we expect and that’s why he’s there.”
“We know it’s a game of failure,” the coach added, “but today was his day, so kudos to him.”
The Bears scored another run to take a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
Warren starting pitcher Jeremiah Juarez kept West Ranch off the scoreboard in the sixth inning, which was his final inning of work.
The Bears held a two-run lead heading to the top of the seventh.
Cesar Martinez was complementary about Juarez’s long outing.
“He’s been a dude,” Cesar Martinez said. “I think he’s gonna carry us through (the) playoffs. He does a good job at competing and keeping our infield on their toes and he’s gonna throw a lot of strikes. … But that was huge. We don’t play until Tuesday, so we were hoping for a nice deep outing from him and that was a hell of a job by him.”
Warren ultimately put the game out of reach by scoring four runs in the top of the seventh to extend the lead to 8-2.
West Ranch scored one run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Bears were never seriously threatened.
Cesar Martinez credited his team’s culture for the comeback win on the road in the playoffs.
“Our team? United,” the coach said. “The energy was great and I think our guys do a pretty good job at feeding off of that. … It’s a good program win. We knew we were coming into a winning program’s home and so we told the boys, ‘hey man, we gotta supply the energy. Home-field advantage and just keep that up, fight, fight, fight.’ And we’re not gonna stop fighting until the last very out.”