Torrey Pines gets stellar pitching performance, beats Rancho Bernardo for Open Division baseball title

Brendon Miller pitched the game of his life Thursday, going six strong innings, allowing one run on six hits and striking nine as Torrey Pines High School beat Rancho Bernardo 7-1 before an estimated crowd of 1,200 to win the CIF San Diego Section Open Division baseball championship at USD's Fowler Park.

Miller's was the second outstanding pitching performance in a row for the Torrey Pines, following in the footsteps of Peyton Rodgers, who threw a three-hit shutout Wednesday against Granite Hills to get the Falcons into the championship game.

Rodgers, who has committed to play next season at San Diego State, played center field Thursday and had three hits as the leadoff hitter. He scored a run and drove in one.

Miller, a left-hander, improved to 7-3 on the season.

He worked out of a bases-loaded, one-jam in the sixth inning. Jace Barajas then came in from third base to wiggle out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation, getting a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. Both teams, as well as the semifinal losers — Cathedral Catholic and Granite Hills — advance to the Southern California playoffs. Pairings will be announced Sunday afternoon.

"This is truly awesome," Miller said. "A lot of hard work and great coaching went into this."

Miller abandoned his changeup on Thursday, choosing instead to rely solely on his fastball and his slider. Rodgers, who is 9-3 as a pitcher and is hitting close to .300, was a key to the second-seeded Falcons (23-10) 11-hit attack.

Liam Moran, hitting in the No. 9 slot, had two hits, drove in a run and scored one.

Thomas Maher scored twice and drove in one. Aidan Stroot had a pair of doubles and knocked in two.

Rancho Bernardo (24-8), the top seed, left nine runners on base. The Broncos scored their lone run in the fifth on Brady Strachan's RBI single.

"That young man (Miller) was so nervous before the game, I had no idea what would happen," Falcons coach Chris Possemato said. "But he had great command of his fastball and had a good breaking ball. He has a deceptive arm slot that fools a lot of hitters.

"This was a total team effort from Moran, to Rodgers, to Miller to playing great defense.

"So much of this game is confidence. That's what we've focused on down the stretch.

"Tonight was the payoff."

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .