BASEBALL / DIVISION I : Katella Sails Past Mater Dei

Katella Coach Tim McMenamin didn’t allow for any optimism, not until the ball hit the ground.

But when Drake Gustafson’s bases-loaded double landed beyond Mater Dei center fielder Ed Marquez, McMenamin and the Knights were true believers. They had a 5-1 victory over Mater Dei and a spot in Friday’s Southern Section Division I quarterfinals.

Katella (20-8) will play La Puente Bishop Amat, which beat Arcadia, 2-1.

Gustafson lined a two-out, two-strike pitch to center field to break a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning. Marquez appeared confused on the play, turning right, then left.

By the time he retrieved the ball, the Knights had a 4-1 lead.

“I kept thinking, ‘He’s going to catch it, he’s going to catch it,’ ” McMenamin said. “I just didn’t believe it was going to get over his head.”

It did, and broke open a game that had been dominated by pitching.

Katella’s Joe Fraser struck out six in the first three innings and gave up three hits through five.

Mater Dei’s Jason Saenz gave up a first-inning run, then mesmerized the Knights through six. He finished with eight strikeouts and had retired 10 of the last 11 batters with two outs in the seventh.

That’s when it slowly unraveled for the Monarchs (20-6).

Chris Dominguez beat out a ground ball. Geoff Burgueno then hit a ground ball at second baseman Brad Ticehurst, who had the ball go under his gloves. After Geno Ramirez walked, Gustafson worked the count to 2-2.

“I just used my bat speed,” he said.

The hit was his second of the game. He had singled and scored on Jason Stockstill’s double in the first. Gustafson scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to give the Knights a 5-1 lead.

“I was just hoping to win a 1-0 game after the first,” McMenamin said.

Fraser looked capable most of the game. At one point he struck out five of six batters.

“We decided to throw fastballs at them,” Fraser said. “They’re known as a fastball hitting team, so no one throws them any. We decided to challenge them.”

It worked until the sixth, when Ticehurst’s two-out single tied the score, 1-1.

Then it was left up to Gustafson to remove McMenamin’s doubts.

In other Division I games:

Chino Hills Ayala 3, Marina 0--Travis McCall pitched a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts and four walks to lead Ayala (22-5). McCall and Jeff Bajenaru each had an RBI for Ayala. Marina finishes 21-7.

Playa del Rey St. Bernard 3, Huntington Beach 2--Jason Bartusick had a two-run single in the first inning to give Huntington Beach (15-13) a 2-0 lead, but that’s all the runs the Oilers could manage.

Capistrano Valley 1, Long Beach Wilson 0--Paul Day pitched a five-hit shutout with five strikeouts and John DiCorpo doubled and scored on Rik Currier’s double in the second inning for Capistrano Valley (17-10).