HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL : Southern Section Playoff Semifinals : Reserves Lead Montclair Prep to 3-2 Victory

Montclair Prep pitcher Russell Ortiz says the team calls them “the Navy” because of their reserve status. And in Tuesday’s Southern Section 1-A Division baseball semifinal at Pierce College, the Mountie subs helped sink San Jacinto.

Forced into action because Coach Walt Steele had suspended three starters for violating team rules, Montclair Prep’s Bud Lawrence, Jeff Shapiro and Marc Goldsman helped Ortiz and the Mounties eke out a 3-2 win that propelled them into Friday’s championship game at Blair Field in Long Beach.

The Mounties (20-3), the defending 1-A champions, have won 17 consecutive games and will face Orange Lutheran, a 4-1 winner over Crossroads on Tuesday.

But Steele was willing to put the winning streak in jeopardy by suspending right fielder Brent Polacheck (.444 batting average), second baseman Shad Knighton (.328) and left fielder J. T. Billingslea (14 RBIs) for one game because of an undisclosed violation of team rules. All three were in uniform Tuesday, and all three will start Friday.

Left to fill the hole, Lawrence came through with a fifth-inning double that scored Chris Portugal with what proved to be the winning run. Shapiro, playing at second, chipped in with fine glove work, including the game’s key defensive play.

In the top of the fifth inning, with runners at first and second and two out, Shapiro dived to stop a ball that appeared headed into right field. He then scrambled to his feet and threw out San Jacinto’s Allen Galbert on a close play at first.

“(The suspension) was not something I pondered,” Steele said. “As soon as I learned of the violation, I acted right away.”

And when the team proved it had something in reserve, so did Ortiz.

The junior right-hander, enjoying a fine season, put a runner on base in five of the seven innings but pushed through each jam. Ortiz (11-1) even contributed an RBI single in the fourth inning.

In the seventh, though, San Jacinto (20-4) stirred things up. Trailing, 3-0, the Tigers put runners at second and third with one out. Ortiz retired Jimmy Manrique on a ground ball to short, but Frank Maciel scored on the play to make it 3-1.

Josh Estavillo followed by poking a 3-1 pitch into right field to score Gerardo Perez, cutting the deficit to one.

Galbert, San Jacinto’s No. 3 hitter, then bounced to third, but Justin Paperny committed a fielding error, leaving runners at first and second.

Ortiz, however, secured the win by striking out cleanup hitter B.J. Kling.