Having never trailed all season, No. 1-ranked Corona High faced its first bout with adversity on Wednesday in an opening game of the National High School Invitational baseball tournament in Cary, N.C.
Down by two runs with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Panthers (15-0) pulled out an 8-7 victory over Queen Creek (Ariz.) Casteel.
Ethin Bingaman delivered the walk-off two-run, two-out single on a 2-and-2 count. Before that, with a runner on first and two outs, Trey Ebel walked. Jesiah Andrade singled on a two-strike pitch to load the bases. Anthony Murphy, on a 3-and-2 count, drew a walk to make it 7-6. That’s when Bingaman, during a nine-pitch at-bat, finally hit the ball on a line drive to left field to deliver victory.
Corona started its No. 4 pitcher, Mason Sims, and now will have Seth Hernandez, Bingaman and Jason Gerfers set to pitch in the remaining games.
Huntington Beach 5, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Poly Prep Country Day 4: The Oilers got the walk-off win in the eighth inning on a fielder’s choice in Cary, N.C. They trailed 3-2 going to the bottom of the seventh and tied the game on a sacrifice. In the bottom of the eighth, they scored two runs to advance. Ethan Porter had three hits, including an RBI single in the eighth to tie the score.
Venice (Fla.) 3, La Mirada 1: In the bottom of the eighth inning, Eddie Zaun hit a two-run home run to defeat La Mirada in a first-round game in Cary, N.C. Maverek Russell had two hits for La Mirada (13-3).
St. John Bosco 5, Santa Margarita 3: James Clark continued his torrid hitting in Trinity League play with two hits and three RBIs for the Braves.
Cypress 3, Villa Park 0: Wyatt Rosales threw five scoreless innings and had two RBIs for Cypress.
El Camino Real 4, Cleveland 3: Parker Hamilton had a walk-off RBI single in the seventh to give ECR its seventh consecutive victory. The Royals came back from a 2-0 deficit. Ezra Preis and Joshua Pearlstein each had two hits for Cleveland.
Birmingham 7, Taft 2: The Patriots stayed one game ahead of El Camino Real in the West Valley League. Freshman Carlos Acuna struck out seven and allowed one hit in six innings.
Granada Hills 2, Chatsworth 1: Max Szczech had an RBI single in the seventh to break a 1-1 tie and lift Granada Hills to the win. Jaiden Williams threw four innings of scoreless relief.
Banning 3, Carson 1: The Pilots stayed in first place in the Marine League. Anthony Camarena threw a three-hitter. Jared Nakazawa had a two-run single.
Softball
Granada Hills 15, Cleveland 0: The Highlanders began West Valley League play with a mercy rule win. Lainey Brown and Elysee Diaz each had three hits.