The Cypress High baseball team, the favorite the capture the Empire League crown, battled Western High last week.
The Cypress High baseball team, the favorite the capture the Empire League crown, battled Western High last week.
On Wednesday, April 10, the Centurions smashed the Pioneers with a 27-4 victory at home to kick off the two-game series. However, the Pioneers responded by delivering a 2-1 victory on Friday, April 12.
The Centurions (12-5, 3-1) dropped to second in the standings while the Pioneers (10-8, 2-4) crept out of last into fifth place.
In the first game, a handful of Cypress players went deep. First baseman Nick Valdez returned from his ankle injury, which hasn’t affected his swing. In the second inning, he smacked a two-run homer that helped spark a 10-run frame. He would finish with three hits, a walk, two RBI and scored twice. This marked his first game back.
However, the biggest hit of the day belonged to third baseman Stephen Lohr, who plans to attend Cal Baptist University in the fall. The senior crushed a grand slam that plated Dominic Fletcher, David Fletcher as well as Brandon Alamo.
In the second game, the Pioneers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Though the Centurions managed to tie the score in the third, the Pioneers regained the lead in the fifth.
The Pioneers finished with seven hits while the Centurions had six. Western’s Jacob Warken earned the win, going the distance while striking out four and walking one. He also went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI.
Joe Gandara knocked in the other run.
Though the Pioneers have struggled in Empire League play, they managed to string together a six-game winning streak prior to running into the Centurions. That streak featured a victory against Valencia, which split a two-game series, as well as Costa Mesa, Segerstrom, Jordan, Godinez, and Flintridge Prep.
The Pioneers transferred to the Empire League at the start of the 2011 season to replace Loara High, which moved to the Orange League. The Pioneers have not quailed for the postseason since 2005, when they took second place in the Orange League and later fell to La Habra in the first round of the postseason.
