Rancho Bernardo blasts Cathedral Catholic for spot in Open Division baseball final
Top-ranked Rancho Bernardo (24-7) will play No. 2 Torrey Pines (22-10) in the Open Division final on Thursday night
Rancho Bernardo High School’s baseball team lost its starting catcher to season-ending shoulder surgery a month ago. The Broncos lost their best player to a freak ankle injury on Saturday night at the prom.
On Tuesday, RB lost to Cathedral Catholic in a semifinal of the CIF San Diego Section Open Division playoffs, forcing a second semifinal against Cathedral in the double-elimination tournament.
Then Wednesday, the Broncos showed why they are the top-ranked team in the county. Despite those setbacks, they erupted for a 9-3 rout of Cathedral to advance to the Open Division championship.
“We’re super pumped to get there,” sophomore Nick Reed said. “It feels amazing.”
Top-ranked Rancho Bernardo (24-7) will play No. 2 Torrey Pines (22-10) in the Open Division final at 7 p.m. Thursday at USD’s Fowler Park The Falcons shut out No. 3 Granite Hills in Wednesday’s other semifinal. Fourth-seeded Cathedral finishes 23-9.
Rancho Bernardo, which finished 15-1 at home, took a big hit when catcher Josh Hartman (Cal Baptist) was lost for the season. Then, while celebrating at the prom, third baseman/pitcher Tyler Arnold broke his ankle. Arnold (Hawaii-Pacific) is the Coastal League Player of the Year after leading the team in batting average (.363), HRs (7), RBIs (31), runs (20) and slugging percentage (.670).
“For him to have a freak injury heading into the semifinals, it was pretty devastating … for about half a day,” said RB coach Jeff Baumback. “But we’ve stepped up all year. Everyone has had their moments. Our entire lineup has really chipped in.”
That lineup included four sophomores on Wednesday and six on Tuesday. Every Bronco scored a run and/or drove one in against the Dons.
Fortunately for RB, Reed had returned from his own shoulder injury that limited him to 15 at-bats all season. Against the Dons, he was 2-for-2 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. He is now 6-for-17 with six RBIs and four runs.
Brady Dockan (9-0, 1.61 ERA) yielded eight hits but threw a complete game with eight strikeouts and zero walks.
“I used a lot of adrenaline out there,” said Dockan, the Coastal League Pitcher of the Year who is headed to Cal State Fullerton. “It’s a blessing to be part of this.
“Cathedral is one of the best-hitting teams in the county. To grind it out and get it done, I’m really happy.”
The Broncos, who won seven CIF titles under former coach Sam Blalock, are returning to the championship for the first time in Baumback’s seven seasons at RB.
“Brady’s been our ace all season, so we have a lot of confidence with him out there,” Baumback said. “It was a really big deal for him to finish the game. It gives us a lot of options in the championship.”
RB went ahead 4-0 in the first inning. Hudson Bradvica drove in two runs with a lined double to right field. Reed drove in two more with a lined single to center.
The Dons trimmed that to 4-2 in the third. Trey Godoy hit his second home run of the season. Elijah Selga then doubled and scored on a single by Anthony Perritano that short-hopped RB center fielder Nathan Bembenek.
RB scored one in the fourth without a hit. Reed walked, advanced to third on two groundouts and scored on a wild pitch.
RB scored four in the fifth with five hits. Sophomore Brady Strachan singled and scored on a triple by sophomore Hugo Gonzalez. Jordan Rocha drove in Gonzalez with a double. Reed singled, and Jayden Bess drove in Rocha with a single. Reed scored on a sacrifice fly to right by sophomore Owen Glick.
The Dons’ Joseph Anderson hit a solo homer in the sixth to complete the scoring.
“We ran into a good pitcher and a good team,” Dons coach Gary Remiker said. “The difference was they got hits with runners on base, and we didn’t.”
Lindgren is a freelance writer.
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