Mixed emotions from Cerritos, Valley Christian baseball squads in doubleheader split

By Loren Kopff

When last Saturday’s baseball doubleheader between host Cerritos and Valley Christian began, both teams were trying to extend their own rare winning streaks. By the end of the second game, both head coaches were less than thrilled with the outcomes despite a split.
Cerritos stunned the Crusaders 6-1 in the first game, extending its winning streak to three games, the longest for the Dons since 2007. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Crusaders, their longest since 2007 when V.C. opened that campaign at 5-0. The visitors would then slam the Dons 12-3 in the second game.
Cerritos, under the helm of first-year head coach Chris Aquino, opened the season losing four straight games but won convincing affairs against Santa Ana Valley (15-2) and Downey Calvary Chapel (11-1) heading into the first V.C. game.
In the bottom of the third, freshman second baseman Juan Rodriguez and sophomore left fielder Andrew Ortega led off with back to back base hits. Two batters later, a sacrifice fly from junior center fielder Brian Diaz plated Rodriguez. Then Ortega added the second run when he scored on an error that allowed senior catcher Matt Villalba to reach first.
Cerritos put the game away in the fifth when three errors led to three unearned runs. Seven batters came to the plate but the Dons got only one hit.
“That’s what I’ve been waiting to see,” Aquino said. “That’s what we were seeing in the fall and we definitely showed it today. Hopefully we’ll build off of that.”
Ortega, Rodriguez and sophomore designated hitter Jake Liang all had a pair of hits and senior pitcher Christian Price went the distance, scattering seven hits and striking out five. He lost the shutout bid in the seventh when senior first baseman Ryan Fronke singled and was replaced by sophomore pinch runner Tyler McLurg. Two outs later, McLurg scored on a base hit from senior catcher Jacob Dupuy. Dupuy and senior center fielder Sam Raffaelli each had two hits.
The Crusaders (7-1), ranked ninth in the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Division V poll, were playing relatively shorthanded as senior Michael Fasnacht has been out with a hamstring injury and won’t be back for another three to four weeks, according to head coach Sean Buller. McLurg is battling a shoulder injury which has prevented him from throwing or hitting and before the game during pregame activities, sophomore Nico Morandini rolled his ankle. X-rays came back negative and he should be back in action by the end of this week.
V.C. responded in a big way in the second game posting season highs in runs and in hits. The game was put away when the Crusaders scored eight runs in the top of the seventh.
“That’s what we should be able to do; swing the bats and throw strikes” Buller said. “Unfortunately, the guy’s focus just wasn’t here at all today. That’s the frustrating thing. They couldn’t play 14 innings regardless of win or loss. Their minds were elsewhere.”
“[Our] team got way too comfortable,” Aquino said. “They weren’t applying the pressure every inning like they did for the last three games before that. I think them winning three in a row and having a lot of confidence, they kind of got cocky and it fell apart.”
Cerritos took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when junior left fielder Keenan Parra was walked to lead off the game and came around to score when senior catcher Kevin Vaca was safe on an error with two outs.
But the Crusaders scored single tallies in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to lead 4-1. Eight of the nine starters for V.C. picked up at least one hit and Dupuy and McLurg each had three hits. Of the 15 hits, only two went for extra base hits-a leadoff double from Dupuy in the sixth and a run-scoring double from McLurg in the seventh.
V.C. also went to the small ball as senior shortstop Daniel Hernandez had a pair of infield bunts. McLurg also had a bunt to reach safely.
“That’s part of our issue and we’ve talked about it,” Buller said. “If guys want to increase their average, they can go at least another .500 in a series by just being able to put a ball down.”
Four players scored two runs and Fronke pitched six strong innings yielding four hits and striking out six batters. He escaped a two-out, bases loaded situation in the third.
“Ryan is definitely a competitor and he’s one of our top pitchers,” Buller said. “He’s that number three pitcher right now and he wants to be in the one or two role. He came out and threw strikes. He’s got a naturally tailing fastball and he’s got a pretty decent off speed two pitches with his changeup and curve.”
Vaca drove in the final two runs of the game with a two-out double and finished with a pair of hits. Cerritos was hoping to win four straight games for the first time since 2006. It opened Suburban League action this past Wednesday against Mayfair and will visit the Monsoons today. On Wednesday, the team will host John Glenn.
“I’m confident where they’re at right now,” Aquino said. “As long as they execute and play defense and pitch, we’ll be good to go.”
The Crusaders traveled to Maranatha this past Tuesday for their second Olympic League game and will host Whittier Christian tonight. Then V.C. will be off until a week from today when it makes a trip to Village Christian.
“I don’t know if it’s the guys just don’t realize the importance of the mental toughness of being ready to go for a two-game day like that starting early in the morning,” Buller said. “It was just disappointing just to see our lack of enthusiasm and lack of motivation.”