De La Maza Prolongs a Win Streak

About the only question left after St. Genevieve High’s 13-4 victory at Whittier Christian in the second round of the Southern Section 2-A Division playoffs Tuesday was whether the Valiants will win their first championship since 1979.

Ask someone who knows what he’s talking about.

“I think they’re ready,” said Whittier Christian Coach Thomas Caffry, who guided the Heralds to a Southern Section championship last season. “They’re as good as anybody we played last year.”

St. Genevieve, the No. 2 ranked 2-A team, extended its winning streak to nine and improved its record to 20-2-1, leaving even the inexperienced pondering the title game June 4th at Anaheim Stadium.

“Things are looking good right now,” first-year St. Genevieve Coach Kevin Kane said. “I know the players are thinking about it.”

Kane’s players, however, are taking it one game at a time.

“Our record means nothing now,” starting pitcher Roland De La Maza said. “It’s one-game elimination now. But I think we can do it. We have the potential.”

The win is even more impressive considering that the strength of the Valiants, their pitching, was not up to par. De La Maza (8-1), who entered the game with 112 strikeouts and just 18 walks in 67 innings and an earned-run average below 1.00, was less than spectacular. The junior walked four in six innings but allowed only two hits and struck out six to register the win. De La Maza’s replacement, senior Mike Rohrbough, faced nine batters in the seventh and allowed three runs.

“It was a tight strike zone,” De La Maza said. “I wasn’t getting any corners at all. I had to pitch out of a stretch the whole time, and I’m not used to that. But my fastball was moving. My catcher said I was throwing the hardest I have all year.”

Left-hander Mike Farley (3-2) failed to survive the first inning for Whittier Christian. Joe Cascione’s sacrifice fly scored Joe Chaparro and the Valiants proceeded to mount a two-out rally. De La Maza doubled and scored on Javier Garcia’s single to right. Dan Alvarez followed with a walk and catcher Frank Aguirre delivered a two-run double to give the Valiants a 4-0 lead. Farley was replaced by Mike Arriaya, the second of four Herald pitchers.

St. Genevieve’s success against a left-hander surprised Kane.

“We haven’t faced that many this year,” Kane said. “The only time we did face one we were too aggressive at the plate against him.”

A six-run seventh gave the Valiants a 13-1 lead. The Valiants collected 16 hits. De La Maza went 3 for 4 and other multiple-hit performances were turned in by Alfonso Gutierrez, Garcia, Chaparro and Wence Ramirez.