Baseball: El Toro charges past West Torrance

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Andrew Marian never knew he hit it that far. He simply dropped his head and raced to first base, as the baseball eventually landed beyond the left-center field fence.

Marian was suddenly the hero.

His three-run homer in the sixth inning gave visiting El Toro an exhilarating 7-6 victory over second-seeded West Torrance in the Southern Section-Toyota Division II quarterfinals today. The Chargers will play Cypress, a 4-2 winner over third-seeded Vista Murrieta, in the semifinals on Tuesday.

‘I was so stoked,’ Marian said.

Perhaps even more stoked was El Toro Coach Mike Gonzales. ‘It was electric,’ he said. ‘Just an electric atmosphere.’

And it was also a classic one.

The Chargers (23-7), the Sea View League champions, peppered West Torrance’s ace, Kyle Petter, for six hits and four runs, including Nolan Arenado’s two-run double, and they had a 4-1 lead in the third inning.

Then, the Warriors, winners of the Bay League, struck in the bottom of the third. They rapped out three consecutive singles to load the bases for Aaron DeGuire, who crushed a grand slam. West Torrance tacked on one more run on Luke Klocek’s sacrifice fly and had a 6-4 lead, along with the momentum -- until Mirian’s blast off reliever Nicholas Alarcon.

‘That’s baseball. What can I say?’ DeGuire said, fighting back tears.

The El Toro bullpen buckled down, especially winning pitcher Chad Thompson, who closed out the game with four strikeouts in three shutout innings. West Torrance (27-4) lost for the first time in 16 games.

After the game, West Torrance Coach Juan Cueva stood near third base with a bemused grin. ‘Baseball,’ he said, ‘it has ripped out my heart, thrown it on the ground and stepped on it many times.’

For West Torrance, today was one of those times.

-- Anthony Stitt