It was one of those memorable Southern California afternoons — clear blue sky, the ocean nearby and multi-million dollar homes visible from the Palos Verdes High baseball field.
Except there was nothing normal about what was happening on Day 2 of an unfinished Southern Section Division 1 scoreless baseball playoff game between Harvard-Westlake and Palos Verdes that was halted by darkness going into the 14th inning on Thursday. Players showed up Friday with dirty unwashed pants. Palos Verdes declined to take pre-game infield. Fans filled the stadium seats not knowing if the game would last 10 minutes or 30 minutes.
It ended up taking 21 minutes to declare a winner. Two walks and two wild pitches in the top of the 14th inning allowed Cade Goldstein of Harvard-Westlake to score from third. In the bottom of the 14th, with a Palos Verdes unner on second, pitcher Eli Weinbach picked up a comebacker and made the underhand toss to first to deliver a 1-0 victory. Players sprinted from the dugout. Harvard-Westlake found a way to advance to a Tuesday matchup against Orange Lutheran at Hart Park.
“I was pretty excited,” said Weinbach, a senior who was the No. 3 starter for Harvard-Westlake and threw one scoreless inning on Thursday. “I got eight hours sleep. I knew what I had to do. It was the biggest situation of my life. After I fielded the ball, I was screaming on my way to first base. It was the craziest game I’ve been a part of.”
It was a wild pitch in the seventh inning on Thursday that almost made a winner of Palos Verdes, but the umpire ruled Harvard-Westlake pitcher Thomas Bridges tagged out the runner at the plate.
Goldstein saw the ball start rolling toward first base on Friday and easily scored, finishing with a fired-up salute. It was the first time Harvard-Westlake had scored after a drought of 22 innings and it happened without the aid of a hit.
“I’m definitely thanking the pitchers and the baseball gods,” Goldstein said.
Crespi 9, Grace Brethren 0: Chris Arce went four for four in the Division 2 playoff win. The Celts helped the Mission League go 4-0 in the playoffs. Isaiah Magdaleno struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings.
Sierra Canyon 2, Bishop Amat 1: Caden Sramek threw a complete game with nine strikeouts in the Division 1 opener. Kehden Hettiger had two hits and two RBIs for Sierra Canyon.
Long Beach Millikan 3, Maranatha 2: Austin Paul threw a complete game and Cameron Hegamin contributed two hits for Millikan.
Etiwanda 5, Capistrano Valley 2: Austin Roellig had three RBIs and Anthony Huezo hit a home run to lead Etiwanda. Dylan Goff struck out four in six innings.
Aquinas 7, Moorpark 3: Top-seeded Aquinas advanced in Division 2. Nate Christman had a home run.
Corona Santiago 6, Kaiser 5: The Sharks came back from a 4-1 deficit with a four-run sixth inning. Chris Ramirez had two hits and two RBIs.
Anaheim Canyon 11, Oak Hills 2: Cohen Gomez struck out six in five innings and Christian Tapia had three hits for Canyon.
Calabasas 9, Norco 3: The Coyotes rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win their Division 2 opener. Phoenix Call had three RBIs, Matthew Witkow had two RBIs and Desi Gonzalez went three for three.
South Hills 6, Great Oak 0: Sterling Patick struck out nine and allowed one hit for South Hills.
Campbell Hall 4, Providence 1: The Vikings advanced in Division 6.
San Clemente 7, Cerritos 5: Mike Erspamer allowed one run in six innings for San Clemente.
Simi Valley 1, West Torrance 0: Matthew Cuccias struck out eight in a complete game for the Pioneers.
Tesoro 2, Paloma Valley 1: Jackson Freeman hit a walk-off home run in the eighth inning, his 12th homer of the season.
Cleveland 5, Granada Hills 4: The Cavaliers handed the Highlanders their first West Valley League loss. Matthew Sanders threw a complete game and Richard Libby, Gabriel Rubin, Kevin Vazquez and Quinton Riepl each had two hits. Easton Hawk had a home run and three hits for Granada Hills.
Birmingham 9, Chatsworth 2: Trevor Sostman had a home run and three RBIs for the Patriots.
El Camino Real 3, Taft 0: Tyler Sileo threw the complete game for ECR.
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