Crescenta Valley High baseball knocks Arcadia out of playoff chase

ARCADIA — It took all of one inning for the Crescenta Valley High baseball team to delight two fanbases, while frustrating another at the same time.

The visiting Falcons scored five runs in the bottom of the third and pulled away for a 7-2 victory over rival Arcadia High in a Pacific League finale with big postseason ramifications.

With the victory, the Falcons (22-5 overall, 11-3 in league) finished in second place in league behind Burroughs (23-4, 13-1) and ahead of Pasadena (17-10, 9-5) in the final standings.

The loss was particularly devastating for Arcadia (13-11-1, 7-7), which fell back into a tie for fourth place with Burbank (12-12, 7-7). By virtue of a league sweep, Burbank earned a tie-breaker for the league’s final automatic playoff berth.

The CIF Southern Section Division II postseason will get underway next week with the pairings set to be released on Monday.

“It’s nice to come here and get a big win,” Falcons Coach Phil Torres said. “[Arcadia Coach] Nick [Lemas] has run a great program since he’s been here and his team just had a tough season. But, it’s always fun to come to Arcadia and get a win.”

Crescenta Valley scored all the offense it needed in the third when the Falcons plated five of their seven runs and smacked six of their nine hits for the game.

Nico Arredondo started the Falcons’ rally with a single to lead off the third inning.

Following an out, Crescenta Valley’s next four batters connected on hits.

A single from Ryan Lynch was followed by a run-scoring single from Adrian Damla, a two-run double from Kewin Ledesma and a RBI single from Weston Walker.

The final run of the inning came two batters later when Brett Klein doubled in Walker to give the Falcons a 5-0 advantage.

“Coach told us before the inning that we were having [bad] at-bats,” said Ledesma, who finished with two RBI and a run scored. “So, we focused on just a better approach at the plate and getting a good hit.”

Falcons ace Brian Gadsby certainly took advantage of his team’s offense by going the distance in a complete-game victory.

Gadsby allowed two runs on four hits with five strikeouts.

The senior’s only difficult inning was the sixth, when the Apaches rallied from a 6-0 hole with a pair of runs, highlighted on a run-scoring single from AJ Jimenez that brought home John Woo (double).

The Apaches still had a runner on with two outs before Gadsby coaxed a flyout to center field.

While Arcadia did get runners on versus Gadsby, the hurler was stout in holding the opposition one for nine with runners in scoring position with two RBI.

On the flip side, Crescenta Valley was an exceptional six for 13 in the same situation with two doubles and seven RBI.

Damla delivered two such hits, including when he connected on a two-out single in the sixth to score Chase Walker for a 6-0 lead.

“I know there’s some disappointment [about not winning league], but we’re not even thinking about that,” said Damla, who finished two for four with two RBI and a run. “We’re staying positive and we know we’re going to the playoffs and we’ve got to get ready for that.”

Crescenta Valley added its last run in the seventh on a single from Gadsby that scored Jamie Blank.

“Listen, we won 22 games this season, so we have nothing to be ashamed of,” said Torres, whose Falcons had won three straight league titles heading into this season. “We had some injuries and some setbacks that hurt us. But, if you look at our losses, four of five are by a run.

“So, we can’t be upset. We have to move forward and look ahead to the playoffs.”