Miles Souza and the defense behind him made one run stand up, and the Carpinteria baseball team advanced to the first round of the CIF-SS Division 6 playoffs with a 1-0 victory over Crossroads in a wild-card game on Wednesday at John Calderwood Field.
Souza (8-2) needed just 76 pitches to outduel Leo Rochman of Crossroads, who tossed 78 pitches in the loss. Both pitchers allowed three hits and walked one. Souza struck out four and Rochman fanned five.
Carpinteria (12-5) scored its run off Rochman in the first inning. Luke Lounsbury walked, Erich Goebel bunted him to second, Souza moved the runner to third base with a long fly to right field and Hunter Garcia lined a fastball to right to score Lounsbury.
Souza’s shutout was aided by big plays from his defense. In the second inning, right fielder Nico Hernandez made a diving grab on a shallow liner. Goebel ran back to catch a ball that was driven to the fence in right center in the third inning. Souza and first baseman Garcia combined to pick off a would-be base stealer in the sixth. And, in the seventh, catcher Diego Nieves delivered a strike to second base to nab Dylan Beckerman attempting to steal.
The Roadrunners (7-8) kept the game close with some good defense. In the third inning, second baseman Gus Neuwirth made a diving stab at a liner off the bat of Lounsbury. In the fourth, right fielder Jake Dimuro dove to snag a sinking liner from Issac Castillo and Souza lined an “at-’em” ball to left that was snared by Declan Dill.
“It’s a good thing that these games are not played on paper,” said Carpinteria coach Pat Cooney. “The Roadrunners entered the game with a roster that boasted three players with averages above .500 and eye-popping power and speed numbers. They have at least one D1 committed player and the size and height to fill up the small dugout at John Calderwood Field.
“The beauty of baseball is that the little guys can win if they play well. The team played their best game. They earned the chance to play on.”
The Warriors will play at Beverly Hills in the second round on Friday.
“We have about 12 hours to enjoy the win and then we need to regroup,” said Cooney.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.