Rancho Santiago Reaches Semifinals

Joe Secoda, a freshman right fielder for Rancho Santiago, said he was a wreck before Saturday’s state tournament baseball game against Lassen at Fresno College.

He was overcome by playing in his first state tournament game, but he was able to recover to get three hits, including a key eighth-inning double that drove in two, as the Dons won, 11-6.

Secoda, who was in and out of the lineup most of the season, has started the last six games, all Rancho Santiago playoff victories.

“I took the worst pre-game I’ve ever had,” he said. “As it got closer to game time I started to get better. I just tried to remember what Coach [Don Sneddon] always says, ‘That it’s just another game.’ ”

Secoda had a single in his first at-bat, walked and scored and doubled and scored in his next two at-bats before the eighth.

The teams were tied, 6-6, when Ryan Fullerton opened the eighth with his Rancho Santiago single-season record 22nd double.

Two outs later, Kevin Duck was intentionally walked. Fullerton scored when Scott Glasser’s hard bouncer was mishandled by second baseman Zack Wilson who was charged with an error.

Secoda, who had been given the sign that a fastball was coming from third-base coach Don Popovich, drove it into the left-field corner, scoring two.

Duck added a two-run single in the ninth for defending state champion Rancho Santiago (37-12), which plays Cypress at 3 p.m. today in the semifinals.

“Joey had a great game,” Sneddon said. “Once again he came up big.”

The Dons also got big hits from sophomores Derek Baker and Tony Zuniga.

Baker had been hit in the nose with a bad-hop grounder during infield practice before the game and went to the bench to clear his head and stop his bleeding nose.

Sneddon said he prepared an alternate lineup in case Baker couldn’t play, but he was fully recovered by his first at-bat.

He said he got a “hanging slider” and drove it over the right-center field fence for a three-run homer. It was his team-leading 16th of the season.

Brent Howes had started the game with a single and Zuniga followed with another. Howes is 22 of 37 (.595) in seven post-season games.

Lassen got one run in the second and two in the third to tie it, but Zuniga hit a two-run homer, his 10th, in the fifth. Zuniga’s homer also added to Rancho Santiago’s single-season record, which is up to 72.

Zuniga had two home runs and was the state tournament most valuable player on the same field last season.

Matt Ward (8-2) gave up two hits and no runs and struck out three in the final 2 2/3 innings of relief for the victory.

Lassen (34-10) plays the Cypress-Fresno loser at 11 a.m. today in an elimination game.