CIF-Southern Section Division 2 baseball championship at Lake Elsinore
Hart 7, Moorpark 6 — FINAL
- Hart: 102 004 0 — 7 13 1
- Moorpark: 000 204 0 — 6 6 3
After Stotts puts Hart down in the top of the seventh, the Musketeers will send their 2-3-4 hitters to the plate trailing 7-6 in bottom of the seventh.
Greg Lareva singles to right field and Moorpark has the leadoff man on.
Taylor Busch drives a shot to left field. The umpire signals for a walkoff home run. Moorpark celebrates at the plate. The lights flash on and off to celebrate.
But wait a minute, the umpires meet and rule the walk-off home run is actually a ground-rule double. That puts Lareva at third and Busch at second with none out. What is going on?!
Leddy lines out to third. Mai grounds out to shortstop. And now Cerny comes to the plate with two outs.
His fly out to shallow right field ends the game. Moorpark comes up just short in as cruel a circumstance as you’ll ever find. Unbelievable.
Watch and decide for yourself:
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Moorpark coach Aaron Garcia brings closer Derek Nickels in out of the bullpen.
Nickels, who threw three innings of shutout relief in Tuesday’s come-from-behind semifinal win over Ayala, is 2-0 with three saves and a 1.40 ERA in a team-high 17 appearances. He’s struck out 35 in 30 innings.
Cerny allowed nine hits, two walks and three earned runs in five innings pitched. Not the cleanest night, but he leaves with his team in the game late.
Gutierrez draws a leadoff walk and steals second for Hart. It looked like Moorpark catcher Rob Perez threw him out at second, but Hart got the call.
Turns out it’s a big call because Ryder Frithsmith follows with an RBI triple down the right field line to put Hart up two runs.
Hart 4, Moorpark 2
Brayden Jeffries strokes an RBI double to left field and the Hart lead is back to three with one out in the top of the six.
Hart 5, Moorpark 2
Tanner Stotts comes in to pitch for Moorpark. A HBP and error load the bases and a Brar sac fly pushes the lead to 6-2. Michael Hogen follows with an RBI single to make it 7-2.
Hart 7, Moorpark 2
Moorpark escapes further damage, but a four-run inning gives Hart a five-run cushion with six outs to work with.
Leddy is hit by a pitch and Mai walks with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. That will chase Cooper. The Hart starter allowed just two hits, two walks and two earned runs (and leaves two baserunners). Michael Hogen takes the ball for Hart.
Carson Cerny greets Hogen with an RBI single to centerfield.
Hart 7, Moorpark 3
Cameron Johnson follows with a single to centerfield to load the bases. Perez is hit by pitch to drive in another run. He's the tying run and suddenly he's on base!
Hart 7, Moorpar k 4
Now Leo Chavez is plunked on a 2-2 count. That pulls Moorpark within two. The tying run is on second base and the leading run is on first with the top of the order coming to the plate.
Hart 7, Moorpark 5
Shannon-Wilkerson singles to the right side to drive in Cameron Johnson. The ball ricochets off the first base umpire into the field of play and pinch runner Nolan Johnson is gunned out at home attempting to tie the game! He’s questioning the call at the plate.
Unbelievably bad luck for the Musketeers. The game would be tied if the umpire is able to elude the drive.
Hart 7, Moorpark 6
Hart puts two on with one out in the top of the fifth, but Cerny gets an pop out to first base and a ground out to second base to escape the jam.
The sophomore lefty has thrown 87 pitches through five. Anticipate seeing Derek Nickels — the relief star of Moorpark's semifinal win — soon.
Moorpark can't take advantage of the clean inning, going 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning.
Cerny gets Hart 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth with a flyout and two strikeouts. He’s thrown 67 pitches through four.
Jacob Shannon-Wilkerson draws a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth to break up the Cooper perfect game.
Shannon-Wilkerson takes second on a wild pitch and advances to third on a Lareva groundout. Busch is hit by a pitch and steals second to put two Musketeers in scoring position with one out.
After a strikeout, AJ Mai drive a two-run single to right field to plate Shannon-Wilkerson and Busch. The first hit for Moorpark drives in its first two runs.
Hart 3, Moorpark 2
Cerny reaches on an infield single and an error sets up the tying and leading run in scoring position. Mai briefly scored to tie the game, but umpires called him back from the dugout and placed him on first after the two-base overthrow error.
Cooper gets a strikeout to strand two Moorpark runners, but the Musketeers are back in the game after four complete in Lake Elsinore.
Hart loads the bases with none out in the top of the third on a single, a walk and a sac bunt that turns into a bunt single. Michael Hogen’s RBI single to right field doubles the Hart lead.
Hart 2, Moorpark 0
Derek Nickels leaves left field to warm up in the bullpen.
Hart gets a third run on a sac fly by Hayden Rhodes. Moorpark cuts down the lead runner so it's technically a double play.
Hart 3, Moorpark 0
In the bottom half of the inning, Johnson grounds out after a seven-pitch at bat, Perez grounds out and Chavez flies out. Hart's Troy Cooper has faced the minimum through three complete.
Three more hits for Hart in the top of the second, but Cerny escapes further damage thanks to his infield’s second double play of the night.
He gets Jeffries to ground out to second with two on and two out to get out of the jam.
In the bottom half of the inning, Leddy, Mai and Cerny ground out in order. Hart starting pitcher Troy Cooper has retired the first six Musketeers.
Brayden Jefferis singles to centerfield to leadoff the game, advances to second on a sacrifice and scores on a double play turned by Moorpark’s Chavez to Mai to Leddy.
Hart 1, Moorpark 0
Moorpark goes 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning. Didn't look like Shannon-Wilkerson liked the call on a 3-2 pitch leading off the inning.
The starting pitching matchup is Moorpark's Carson Cerny (4-1, 2.10 ERA) vs. Hart's Troy Cooper.
Moorpark's starting lineup:
- Jacob Shannon-Wilkerson CF
- Taylor Greg Lareva RF
- Taylor Busch SS
- Michael Leddy 1B
- AJ Mai 2B
- Carson Cerny P
- Cameron Johnson DH
- Robert Perez C
- Leon Chavez 3B
Moorpark has won 11 straight games, dating back to April 6. It has beaten Crescenta Valley, Valencia, Crean Lutheran and Ayala in the postseason and has already booked a ticket to the CIF-State regionals for the first time.
Moorpark first-year coach Aaron Garcia will send Carson Cerny to the mound. The sophomore lefty is 4-1 with a 2.10 ERA.
Cerny, who was 2 for 2 when he shut down Crean Lutheran for a 2-1 quarterfinal win last week, will both pitch and hit.
“He has that baseball mentality where he gets fired up, but it’s hard to bring him down,” Garcia said. “He’s going to keep fighting, keep throwing pitches, regardless of the position he’s in.”
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A long time coming
Moorpark High was one of the best programs in Ventura County for decades under long-time coach Scott Fullerton, who handed over a program that had enjoyed 16 straight winning seasons to former player Aaron Garcia in the offseason.
After finishing second to Camarillo in the Coastal Canyon League, the Musketeers have gone on a postseason run, reaching the section final for the first time in program history by coming back from 5-0 down to edge Chino Hills-Ayala in Tuesday’s Division 2 semifinals.
“Congratulations,” Fullerton told Garcia after the win. “It’s a great day to be a Musketeer.”
“Scott’s been checking in regularly,” Garcia said. “He’s been very supportive. It’s special for everyone associated with the program.”
Joe Curley is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com . For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook .
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: LIVE — Moorpark High baseball plays for CIF-SS Division 2 championship
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