SOUTHERN SECTION 3-A BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Tustin Loses 6-0 Lead, Wins in Ninth

After watching a six-run lead fade with the setting sun, the Tustin High School baseball team needed some help with its hitting. And quick.

Enter pitcher Andy Gonzales.

Gonzales’ single to center in the bottom of the ninth scored Shawn Green from second as Tustin defeated Calexico, 7-6, Friday in a Southern Section 3-A quarterfinal game.

Tustin, the 3-A runner-up last season, advances to Tuesday’s semifinals against La Mirada, an 11-6 winner over Antelope Valley.

Gonzales was three for four with a walk Tuesday, his best performance in the playoffs.

“There’s been a lot of pressure on Andy during the playoffs,” Tustin Coach Vince Brown said. “He pitched and won our second-round game against Estancia. Today was his opportunity to help us with his hitting.”

The game-winning hit made up for a rough day on the mound for Gonzales, who pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief of starter Chris Cunningham.

Gonzales entered the game with Tustin leading, 6-1, in the third. He gave up a two-run single to Charles Garcia in the third and left after the fifth, when David Jiminez belted a two-run homer off him to cut Calexico’s deficit to 6-5.

Ben Munoz (1-1) entered the game in the sixth and pitched the rest of the way for the victory. Munoz’s only difficult inning was the seventh, when he walked Garcia with the bases loaded to tie the score at 6.

Munoz also supplied some early offensive punch. He drove in three runs in the second with a double to right-center, and finished two for six with four RBIs.

The Tillers (20-7) tagged Calexico starter Jiminez for two runs in the first and four in the second to take a 6-0 lead.

Jiminez (5-3) settled down, giving up three hits in the next five innings as the Bulldogs began chipping away at the deficit.

“Jiminez got better as the game went on,” Brown said. “He started throwing his breaking ball, and he was tough.”

But Tustin finally got its offense going in the ninth.

Green led off with a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Munoz. Calexico then intentionally walked Nick Cantu to pitch to Gonzales, who had doubled and singled in his two previous at-bats.

“I would have gone ahead and pitched to Cantu,” Brown said.

But Calexico didn’t, and Gonzales made the Bulldogs (15-7) pay.

Unseeded Calexico had rallied for a 10-8 victory over Colton in the first round and a 5-4 upset of second-seeded El Segundo in the second round.

Brown said he feared Tustin might be the third victim.

“But we didn’t sit back after the second inning and say, ‘It’s over,’ ” Brown said. “That’s what happened to Colton and El Segundo. Calexico is the kind of team that can come back and haunt you.”