Baseball:
A famous professional wrestler had a saying that went “to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.”
And while that’s a staged event, what the Rancho Cucamonga baseball program did on Tuesday was very real.
The Cougars defeated top-seeded Murrieta Mesa, 2-0, in the semifinal round of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs.
Nick Sanchez was tremendous.
Sanchez threw a four-hit shutout.
He walked three and struck out eight.
It took the RCHS senior 108 pitches to earn the program a spot in the D-4 finals.
Below: Sanchez gets out of a first-and third jam with a strikeout:
Derek Hurtado, Carter Garate, Makana Olasso and Jack Kelley had one single apiece for Murrieta Mesa.
Jack Kelley was stuck with the loss.
Kelly went all six innings for the Rams, and allowed the two runs on six hits.
He walked three and struck out four RCHS batters.
Wilson Dunn’s RBI base hit in the bottom of the second inning scored Jacob Billings and gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead
Jake Brown put the nail in the Murrieta Mesa coffin with his solo blast to left in the sixth inning.
Sanchez would take the 2-0 lead out to mound and finished off the Rams with a strikeout of Cal State Fullerton commit, Carter Garate.
Brown went 2-for-3 on Tuesday.
Jacob Billings singled and scored.
Jacob McCombs went 2-for-4.
And Wilson Dunn had the RBI base hit.
Below is the final out of the Division 4 semifinal, as Nick Sanchez ends Murrieta Mesa’s season.
Up next: RCHS will face the Royal on either Friday or Saturday at Cal State Fullerton, according to CIF.
Quotable:
RCHS coach, Tony Garcia: “Nick was a bulldog for us. I knew he would be up for it. He had a two-seamed fastball and a great curveball that were really working for him today. They couldn’t figure him out. His fastball runs into the righties and away from the lefties.
This is something I couldn’t have scripted. I have told college recruiters that if the game is on the line, Nick is going to be the one with the rock. He plays with a lot of heart. Wilson had a huge hit to get us going and Jake’s bomb gave our confidence level a huge boost.”
RCHS senior, Nick Sanchez: “Honestly, I started feeling good in the bullpen and I had this feeling and mentality that I wasn’t going to let them beat me. In the first inning, they had runners on first and third and two outs. I got my slider going and struck the kid out. When we got the first run, I got even more locked in. And when Jake homered, I knew it was gone just from the sound. We all got so excited and it gave me more of a cushion. The feeling after striking the last batter out was amazing. I looked into the dugout at my guys, hugged my catcher (Josh Farner) and just enjoyed the moment. Josh has my back throughout every game and if he can tell I’m a little worked up, he comes out to the mound and calms me down.”
RCHS senior, Jake Brown: “It’s pretty beautiful feeling, because we worked so hard to get this point. When Wilson drove in a run in the second, it was exciting, but none of us took anything for granted because we were playing a great team. Before I hit the home run, I was thinking about how he had been throwing me offspeed pitches all game, and I just missed one earlier. But this time, I was looking for it and I knew it was gone right after it left the bat. I didn’t show it at first and started running, but the excitement caught up with me, especially when I saw my teammates. Nick was lights out today. I’ve seen him like this before and when he’s on, the other team doesn’t have a chance against him.”
Box Score:
MM: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-(0)
RC: 0-0-0-0-0-2-x-(2)
Win: Nicolas Sanchez
Loss: Jack Kelley
HR: Jake Brown (RC)
Records: Murrieta Mesa (26-7); Rancho Cucamonga (22-11)
** A big thanks to Lisa Prouty for the videos.
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