Baseball: West Ranch stuns No. 1-seeded Orange Lutheran, 5-4
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Freshman Jagger Rusconi hit a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning to drive in the tying and winning runs as Valencia West Ranch upset No. 1-seeded Orange Lutheran, 5-4, in a Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal playoff game in Valencia.
Cody Bennett got the final two outs of the game for the save. West Ranch will play Corona in Tuesday’s 4 p.m. semifinal at Blair Field. Corona, a wild-card team, won its fourth playoff game, defeating El Dorado, 7-4. Patrick Duarte, who earlier beat UCLA-bound Hunter Virant of Camarillo, beat USC-bound Kyle Twomey. Zak Cavazos had a bases-clearing triple for Corona, the fifth-place team from the Big VIII League.
The other semifinal at 7 p.m. at Blair Field will match Mater Dei and Newbury Park. Mater Dei defeated Esperanza, 5-2, on a complete game by Ty Moore. Newbury Park defeated Saugus, 7-3. Luke Eubank (10-0) struck out seven and walked none. Daniel Barnett had three hits and three RBIs, including a home run.
In Division 2, Kyle Davis hit two home runs in Pacifica’s 17-2 win over Mission Viejo.
In Division 3, Beckman defeated Los Altos, 2-1, despite committing five errors. James Kaprielian threw a two-hitter.
In Division 5, Paraclete won its 20th consecutive game, defeating Santa Ynez, 7-0. Joseph Rodriguez threw a complete game. Billy Sitz had four RBIs. Cathedral was beaten by Tahquiz despite three hits from freshman Bryan Duenas.
-- Eric Sondheimer