Ravens fall short in CCS semis

Mountain View did a better job in the running department and the Spartans used that advantage to post a 9-6 win over the Ravens at Willow Glen High School in San Jose Wednesday afternoon.

“It was a good, back-and-forth, high school baseball game,” said Sequoia manager Mike Doyle. “I never thought six runs would be enough.”

The game boiled down to a handful of key plays, with Mountain View (16-13) coming out on top each time. Trailing 6-4 in the top of the fifth, the Spartans scored one run on a Chase Caringella double. Clay White, who had walked ahead of Caringella, was thrown out at the plate for what appeared to be the third out of the inning.

But the lead base umpire immediately called obstruction on a Sequoia player as White rounded the bases and he was called “safe,” which tied the score at 6-all.

The Spartans then used some head’s up base running to take the lead in the top of the sixth. Christian Bandy led off the inning with a double to left and moved to third on a wild pitch to bring up Mountain View leadoff hitter, Austin Xu.

Xu worked the count full before drawing a walk — but he didn’t stop at first. With no one covering second, Xu simply rounded first base and headed to second, drawing a throw from the Sequoia pitcher, who threw the ball into right field.

Bandy would score the go-ahead run during the chaos before Xu was eventually thrown out at home for the second out of the inning. A flyout would end the frame with the Spartans leading 7-6.

Doyle said he knew Xu was one of the best baserunners in the CCS.

“We knew he was going to second. We didn’t know he would do it right away,” Doyle said. “If we had to do it again, we’d probably tell the pitcher to hold it. That caught us a little bit by surprise.”

Sequoia (15-14), which scored all its runs in the first two innings and had chances to add on throughout the game, had a prime chance to tie it in the bottom of the seventh, but the Spartans made the defensive play of the game to keep the lead. Sequoia’s Morgan Winfield blooped a double to shallow right field. Doyle turned to Garrett Johnson to pinch run and he went to third on a Max Stallings infield hit to put runners on the corners with one out. With Brian Casey at the plate, Mountain View reliever Liam Barrett uncorked a wild pitch that went to the backstop.

Johnson broke for the plate as Mountain View catcher White scrambled for the loose ball. He flipped it toward Barrett who was covering the plate and with all his momentum going forward, he corralled the ball and then splayed his body in front of the plate, getting the tag on Johnson for the out and an end to the threat.

“We’re aggressive from third on passed balls,” Doyle said, who did not hesitate in sending Johnson. “[Mountain View] made the perfect play.”

The Spartans then iced the game on a Caringella two-run homer to left in the top of the seventh. Caringella went 4 for 4 with four RBIs for the Spartans Tuesday.

It was a rough finish to a game that started so strong for Sequoia. After Mountain View scratched out a run against Sequoia starter Stallings, aided by a Ravens’ error, the Ravens responded with two runs in the bottom of the first. With one out, Nelson Cross walked, followed by singles from Winfield and Stallings to load the bases. Sequoia tied the score when Casey drew a bases-loaded walk and Logan Mathias drove in a second run when his shot to third went through the third baseman’s legs for an error and a 2-1 Ravens’ lead.

Mountain View came back to retake the lead with two runs in the top of the second, but the Ravens answered four runs in the bottom of the second. Stallings had the big hit, a two-run double and it was the first of three straight doubles as Casey and Mathias followed with RBIs two-baggers of their own to put the Ravens up 6-3.

But they were never comfortable.

“Normally we would win games scoring that many runs,” Doyle said. “It just had a feeling it would be a high-scoring affair.”

Turns out Doyle was right as the Spartans kept chipping away at Stallings. They closed to 6-4 with a run in the top of the third before tying it in the fifth against Sequoia’s ace.

“Our pitching has been our strength all year and Max has been our leader all year,” Doyle said. “They just did a good job executing their plan against Max. … You could tell [the Spartans] were ready to hit today.”