COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASEBALL / STATE TOURNAMENT : Rancho Santiago’s Irvine Pitches a Five-Hitter to Beat Fresno

When it comes to postseason performances, few can match the accomplishments of Rancho Santiago pitcher Kirk Irvine.

Irvine pitched an impressive five-hitter as the Dons beat Fresno, 4-1, in the first round of the State baseball tournament Saturday.

Irvine, a sophomore right-hander, had nine strikeouts, as he improved to 12-3. He was at his best near the end, retiring the final 13.

He retired the last 10 in a 14-3 victory over Saddleback in the regional playoffs May 19.

“I think I get stronger as I go,” Irvine said. “I try to pace myself early so I can throw harder in the late innings.”

Irvine is 3-0 with three complete games in the the playoffs. He has given up 17 hits and 10 runs, seven earned, and struck out 24 in that span.

“You’ve got to like Irvine,” Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon said. “It was just another clutch performance by him.”

Irvine relied mostly on his fastball Saturday and held Fresno (39-12) to five singles. Fresno’s only run came in the fourth when the Rams put together three singles; the last with two out by Mike Hughes drove in a run.

Irvine gave up another single in the fifth.

“I didn’t have my good stuff,” he said. “I couldn’t control my breaking stuff very well but even in the late innings they couldn’t catch up to my fastball.”

Rancho Santiago had nine hits but none drove in runs. The Dons scored once in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

In the fourth, Toby Sanchez walked, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on ground out by David Mallas and scored on another wild pitch. The ball bounced about 10 feet away from catcher Tony Sciola but Sanchez gambled, going when the ball hit the ground, and scored to break a 1-1 tie.

Sanchez hit a sharp grounder that should have been an inning-ending double play in the fifth but second baseman Lance Backowski’s relay throw to first was low and went into the dugout enabling Kyle Evans to score from third. Evans, the co-most valuable player in the Orange Empire Conference, singled to start the inning.

The final run came in the fifth when Evans grounded out with the bases loaded to drive in David Schueller. Schueller, usually the Dons’ backup catcher, became the starter earlier in the week when Jaime Estrada broke his left ankle while dancing.

Tony Zuniga, who had three hits, scored Rancho Santiago’s first run in the third. He doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ryan Fullerton’s ground out.

Rancho Santiago, which has won 13 in a row, advances to play Cerritos at 11 a.m. today at Fresno. Cerritos beat Sacramento, 11-5, Saturday.

Ted Lilly (10-2) was the loser for Fresno, which plays Sacramento at Clovis High.

The championship game is 11 a.m. Monday.