Prep Baseball Playoffs : Southern Section 2-A : Newport Unable to Hold On as Diamond Bar Gets 3-2 Win

A pick-off throw by catcher Casey Bresnehan turned out to be the key play of the game Friday as Diamond Bar High School held on to beat Newport Habor, 3-2, in a Southern Section 3-A quarterfinal playoff game at Newport Harbor.

Bresnehan’s throw caught Mike Jarbo off second base for the second out of the seventh inning. The Sailors’ Chuck McGavran then followed with a single to right field that would have tied the game.

Tony Wren followed McGavran’s hit by reaching base on an infield error, with McGavran going to third. But Brahma reliever Kraig Washington then struck out Todd Lawrence to end the game and send Diamond Bar into the semifinals.

The top-seeded Brahmas (25-2), champions of the Hacienda League, got two runs in the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Winning pitcher Rich Gonzales (9-1) homered to lead off the inning, and the second run was driven in by Larry Vladic’s single.

Diamond Bar made it 3-0 in the fifth inning when Washington, who reached base on an infield single and moved to third on a single by Gonzales, scored on a error by McGavran. Bresnehan flied to right for the second out of the inning, and Washington tagged up, but turned around halfway to the plate. Sailor catcher Chris Purks, after taking the throw from the outfield, tried to pick him off. But third baseman McGavran missed Purks’ throw, and Washington scored.

Newport Harbor (16-11), the No. 3 team from the Sea View League, scored twice in the sixth. Lawrence walked to start the rally, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Manny Adams’ double to right field. One out later, Adams scored on Chris Hirahara’s single.

Newport Harbor almost took an early 1-0 lead, but Joey James’ bid for a first-inning home run was thwarted by Diamond Bar’s Jim Wolse, who climbed the wall to catch his hit.

Jon Dishon (6-1) took the loss for Newport Harbor.

In other 2-A playoff action:

Mission Viejo 1, Santa Clara 0--Bob Brucato pitched a five-hitter and struck out four to gain his 12th consecutive win of the season without a loss in the 2-A division quarterfinals at Oxnard.

The Diablos (19-7) scored their only run in the third inning when Brandon Murphy walked, moved to second on a passed ball, went to third on a balk and scored on Bob Doran’s single to left.

Santa Clara, which finished 13-5-1, threatened in the first inning by putting runners on second and third with one out. But Brucato got one out on a short fly ball to left and then induced another batter to tap to the mound to end the inning.

Mission Viejo catcher Don Roberson also played a key role in the victory. Roberson made a fine play on an attempted sacrifice bunt in the fifth inning to force a runner at second and later threw out a runner attempting to steal to end the inning. He also picked off a runner at first base in the fourth inning.

“Don Roberson was outstanding today,” said Ron Drake, Diablo coach. “We’ve been making a lot of errors this year, but this was our best defensive game of the season.”

Mission Viejo, attempting to become the third straight South Coast League team to win a 2-A title following Capistrano Valley (1983) and Laguna Hills (1984), faces Mountain View (15-8-1) in the semifinals on Tuesday.