San Marcos ace Cole Schoenwetter made an impact with his bat in the Royals’ 12-1 win over California High in a first-round CIF-SS Division 3 baseball playoff game on Thursday at Joe Mueller Field.
Schoenwetter hit a bases-loaded triple in the second inning to extend San Marcos’ lead to 5-0 against the team from Whittier.
“Having all the pressure on him to pitch and then being a three hitter, at this point in the season he’s doing just a fantastic job of being able to flip from hitting to pitching,” said San Marcos coach Wes Ghan Gibson of Schoenwetter.
On the mound, Schoenwetter pitched 4.2 innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out seven.
“I can’t say enough about his work ethic and his belief in himself. He’s a great player that’s just going to keep working hard,” said Ghan Gibson.
The San Marcos coach, who has guided the Royals to three straight Channel League titles, was pleased how his players responded at the plate in the pressure of a playoff game.
“I thought we did a good job. The offense did a good job of not swinging at pitches that were out of the zone.”
Caden Hodina continued his hot hitting in the second inning with an opposite-field double that hit the fence on the bounce.
“He was trying to drive the ball the other way, not just hit it the other way,” said Gibson. “I saw it yesterday and I just saw it today. He works his butt off every day, he’s our lead-off guy.”
Hodina went 2 for 3 and walked twice.
Brad Cekada produced a big hit in the third inning, poking a ball up the middle for two RBIs to make an 11-0 game.
San Marcos added one more run in the sixth inning on a Hodina RBI single.
Erik Perez relieved Schoenwetter in the fifth and pitched 1.1 innings. He allowed one earned run and struck out two.
Darren Orlando closed the door on the Condors, picking up a strikeout in the top of the seventh.
The Royals move on to a second-round game at Tahquitz in Hemet on Tuesday.
