SOUTHERN SECTION 5-A BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Edison Rallies in 7th to Beat Diamond Bar

Billy Mullee stood at the plate Tuesday with Edison High School’s season on his shoulders and one thought running through his mind:

Get the bat on the ball.

“I had to make contact,” Mullee said. “I had to.”

He did.

Mullee capped a desperate four-run rally with a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh to give the Chargers a 4-3 victory over Diamond Bar in the semifinals of the Southern Section 5-A playoffs. Edison (17-12) will play Millikan (21-5) in the final Saturday at Anaheim Stadium.

“I’ve always dreamed about playing in Anaheim Stadium,” said Mike Bellovich, who singled home the tying run. “I can’t believe it’s come true, but this was my dream.”

Dream? This borders on the surreal.

After all, the Chargers needed an elaborate tiebreaker system just to get into the playoffs. They finished in a four-way tie for third in the Sunset League and got the nod because of a better head-to-head-to-head record.

Once in, they seemed intent on staying. Edison beat third-seeded Riverside Poly in the first round, then rallied to beat Burbank in nine innings. On Friday, the Chargers outlasted Long Beach Jordan to reach the semifinals.

Their run appeared over Tuesday, as Diamond Bar took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh. The Brahmas (21-7) were breezing along behind the pitching of left-hander Mike Corominas, who retired the first 13 batters.

Corominas allowed only two hits--one of which was an infield single--through six innings. The Chargers had hit only four balls out of the infield off him.

“Going into the seventh, I was thinking, ‘Well, it has been a pretty good season,’ ” Edison Coach Paul Harrell said. “Fortunately, the kids weren’t thinking that way.”

Matt Harrell walked to lead off the inning and Darren Brink then blooped a single to left. Although he hadn’t given up a hard hit all night, Corominas was replaced with Jared Janke.

Janke (4-4) threw a wild pitch to advance the runners, then Josh Gingrich singled to drive in Harrell.

Two groundouts and a walk produced another run, leaving runners on first and third. Bellovich, the No. 8 batter, then chopped a single through the left side to tie the score.

That brought up the left-handed hitting Mullee, who had driven home the tying run in the Burbank game. Two innings earlier Tuesday, he had been lifted for a pinch-hitter and then re-entered to play center field.

Mullee grounded a 3-1 pitch into right field, driving in Mike Cunningham.

“This is the way it’s been for the last month,” Paul Harrell said. “A different guy coming through each game. These kids just don’t give up.”