First-inning sequence sinks Norsemen, who were among San Diego’s hottest teams heading into regional playoffs
All good things must come to an end.
After 18 straight wins, a Grossmont Valley League championship and a CIF San Diego Section Division 3 title, the Valhalla High School baseball team saw its quest for a three-championship season come to an end Thursday, losing 6-4 to Oxnard Pacifica in the Southern California Division 4 Regional semifinals.
And the upsetting thing for the Norsemen is that the game took a dramatic turn in the bottom of the first inning.
With the bases loaded and no out, cleanup hitter Julian Jerjees hit a bolt to the right side. Pacifica second baseman Jordan Gonzalez made a diving catch. But the umpires ruled safe, then signaled, out and the runner on second was tagged for the second out of the inning.
The next batter fouled out and the bases-loaded, no-out threat produced nothing.
Pacifica, a No. 3 seed,will host University City on Saturday for the Division 4 title. University City beat top-seeded Chino Hills 3-2 Thursday.
All the other San Diego teams lost Thursday. Poway fell 4-3 to Bakersfield Liberty in Division 2, Point Loma fell 3-1 to Bakersfield Christian and Mount Miguel lost 6-5 to Azusa in Division 5.
“The umpire admitted he screwed up,” said Valhalla coach Ryan Wheeler. “He gave a safe call, then signaled out. I asked other umpires for help, but the call stood. That was a great momentum switch. We had a chance to put up a crooked number, but got nothing.”
The Norsemen (25-7), ranked No, 31 in the state, scored three runs in the fourth inning to tie the game at 3-3, but left the bases loaded. They also left two runners on in the sixth and wasted a one-out walk to Jerjees in the seventh.
Overall, Valhalla left seven runners on base, five in scoring position.
“We had other opportunities,” Wheeler said, “we just needed to execute.”
Pacific (20-12-1), ranked No. 131 in the state, has won 13 of its last 15 games. The Tritons lost to Santa Monica in the Southern Section Division 5 title game, then beat Sun Valley Village Christian on Tuesday in the SoCal quarterfinals.
The Tritons drove four hours from Oxnard to Valhalla on what is Grad Night for their senior players.
Nate Moulton had an RBI single for the Norsemen while Brenan Simonet had two hits and an RBI. Colton Stinkeoway had a double, RBI and scored a run while Tanner Lough and Aidan Treltas scored runs for the Norsemen.
“It never feels good when you lose,” said Moulton, who will attend Boise State next year. “That call in the first inning was big, but we had a great season. I’m so proud of these guys. We were league champions, CIF champions, but fell short of the championship trifecta. This wasn’t how we planned it. We just came up a game short.”
Leadoff hitter Riley Ortega drove in two for Pacifica, as did No. 9-hitter Byron Cibrian. Makaeo Lualemana and JJ Carmona scored twice.
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