From the sports archives: SHP baseball claims CCS crown

Make that a Gator pile.

Sacred Heart Prep baseball (21-12) closed out the 2015 season in style, capturing the program’s first all-time Central Coast Section title with a dramatic 4-2 win over Carmel in Saturday’s Division II championship game at Municipal Stadium.

The dramatics were fueled by the No. 4-seed Gators rallying for four runs in their final at-bat to overtake No. 7 Carmel (23-8). The sixth-inning comeback rewarded freshman starting pitcher Angelo Tonas with the win after the left-hander battled through control problems to limit Carmel to two runs through six innings.

Bird emerged in the seventh to set down the side in order. The big right-hander finished with a strikeout of Carmel senior Joseph Bifano to notch his first career save, setting off the spirited celebration in the middle of the diamond.

“It was unreal,” Bird said. “Senior year, it’s what you dream of is winning the championship with your team and being the guy to strike out the last batter of the game.”

For Gators manager Anthony Granato, his connection with Tonas speaks volumes to the faith he has in the southpaw. Not only is the rookie manager Granato as new to the varsity ranks as the freshman Tonas. The pitcher is also a private student at Granato’s GamePrep Baseball Academy.

Tonas surrendered a pair of runs in the second inning, walking back-to-back batters to start the frame before junior John Stivers ripped a two-run double up the left-center field gap. Tonas’ wildness amounted to five walks, two hit batsmen and even a wild pitch on a third strike. Yet Granato kept his faith in the only freshman to accrue playing time for SHP throughout the playoffs.

“He’s the kind of kid, if you let him settle in, he usually does a pretty good job,” Granato said. “You’ll usually figure it out by the third or fourth inning if he’s got it for that day, if he can bounce back ... and he really did after the second inning. And he did a great job. So, that’s why I stuck with him.”

Through the early going, it seemed two runs might be enough for the Padres as right-hander Tanner Koopmans settled into a groove. The senior set down the first six Gators he faced, including four by way of strikeout. Koopmans went on to strike out six through 5 1/3 innings.

But Gators senior Will Johnston proved a thorn in the changeup specialist’s side. Johnston has proven invaluable as SHP’s ace pitcher this season. The left-hander closed out his varsity career by firing 20 consecutive scoreless innings, including 17 through two postseason starts. And while Johnston hit just .239 as SHP’s No. 2 batter this season, he came up big Saturday with a 2-for-3 day including an RBI and a run scored.

“I was just trying to make use of every at-bat I was given,” Johnston said. “It just so happened I was able to come up with a couple big hits in pretty clutch situations, which turned into big runs for us. It was good that it helped us win the game.”

Johnston’s two-out single in the third-inning got the Gators on the board. Andrew Robinson led off the frame with a single to center. Robinson moved to second when, with one out, Shaefer Kraemer got hit by a pitch. Then with two outs, Johnston shot a single into center to drive home Robinson.

Meanwhile, Tonas pitched through trouble in nearly every inning. After the freshman retired the side in order in the first, the Padres put runners on base in each of the next five frames. But Tonas soldiered through, stranding six Carmel runners throughout. And he ended his afternoon by inducing an around-the-horn double play in the sixth.

“The kid is awesome,” Johnston said. “He has the maturity of an upperclassman. He goes out there, he gets in trouble in the [second] inning ... he wasn’t frustrated or rattled by it. He just kept his head up and kept throwing.”

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, SHP’s big guns delivered at the plate. Johnston led off the inning by falling behind in the count 0-2, but he deposited the next pitch into left field for a leadoff single. Cole March followed by executing a first-pitch sacrifice bunt to move Johnston to second.

That’s when cleanup hitter Andrew Daschbach seized the Gators’ championship destiny. The junior third baseman went 5 for 10 with five RBIs throughout the CCS playoffs, and he capped his performance by raking a hanging curveball down the left-field line for a game-tying double, knocking Koopmans out of the game.

John Van Sweden kept the hit parade going, greeting the Carmel bullpen with the eventual game-winner on a sharp RBI single to right-center. After Michael York got hit by a pitch, Robinson delivered an insurance run with an RBI single to center to score Van Sweden.