When It Counts, Master’s College Defeats CCI

The Master’s College, which was winless against Christ College Irvine in the regular season, defeated CCI, 7-2, in the first round of the NAIA District 3 playoffs Thursday at Azusa Pacific.

Andy Martin hit a grand slam off Gary Sussman in the first inning for The Master’s (24-18), which lost to Christ College, 11-1 and 17-7, this season. Christ College Irvine (28-16), which led the district with a .345 team batting average, managed five hits off two Master’s pitchers.

Three of the hits came in the fourth when the Eagles scored two runs on singles by Robert Campillo and Lonny Zimmerman and a double by Armando Diaz.

Christ College, which moves to the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tournament, will play Cal Baptist, which lost to Azusa Pacific, 6-3, in the other first-round game, at 9:30 a.m. today at Azusa Pacific.