On Saturday, June 1, Cypress High starting pitcher Kevin Lillicrop tossed his second consecutive shutout in the postseason – and the most important of his high school career – against Temecula Valley in the CIF Division-II championship game at Dodger Stadium. His effort led the Centurions to a 5-0 victory, which also marked their first playoff title since 2005.
Lillicrop was truly masterful, allowing just three hits while tossing the complete-game shutout. He also struck out four and retired 13 straight hitters to open the contest. The Bears finally touched him with a single in the fifth inning.
The Cypress offense, on the other hand, had little trouble denting the board early in the contest. In fact, it struck in the bottom of the first. Steven Andrade, who reached on an error, scored on a sacrifice fly that David Fletcher hit against Bears pitcher Brendon Koch to take a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth, Fletcher came through again for the Centurions. He reached on a single, stole second and then third – due to a passed ball – before coming home on a sacrifice fly lifted by catcher Tyler Alamo.
In the sixth, the Centurions took advantage of one of the many errors committed by the Bears to break open the game and plate three runs. During that stretch Stephen Lohr delivered an RBI triple. Alamo also knocked in his second RBI of the contest with a single.
Cypress finished the season with a 26-8 overall record. It also finished in first place in the Empire League.
