Paraclete Is Left Blowing in the Wind

The final score doesn’t indicate a rout, but Paraclete was blown out by Cerritos Valley Christian in its Southern Section Division V baseball semifinal Tuesday at Highland High.

The Crusaders hit three home runs in the gusty high-desert winds, including two by shortstop Kirk Saarloos, and held off a late Paraclete rally to win, 10-8.

Valley Christian, seeded fourth, advances to Friday’s championship game at Cal State Fullerton against third-seeded La Salle, a 4-3 winner over Santa Ana Calvary Chapel.

The Spirits (14-10) scored on a wild pitch and a run-scoring single by Ben Joyce in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying runs at first and third with two out. But Saarloos relieved Jeremy Silva and struck out Jason Larsen on three pitches to end the game.

“I told the team that it wasn’t over until there were three outs in the seventh,” said Paraclete left fielder Vinny Pagan, who had three hits, two runs batted in, two stolen bases and scored twice.

“Nobody thought we could get this far, even me. The chance to play for the [Southern Section] championship is unreal.”

Paraclete fell behind early, when Saarloos belted a two-run homer to left field with one out in the first. The Crusaders (21-7) added two more runs in the third, but Paraclete came storming back.

The Spirits sent 10 batters to the plate in the third and scored six runs to take a 6-4 lead. A two-run single by Pagan and an RBI single by Travis Studt, who had three hits, highlighted the inning.

But the long ball haunted the Spirits again in the fourth when Crusader pitcher Matt Beck hit a three-run home run and Saarloos hit a two-run shot, both with the help of a the stiff breeze blowing out to right field as Valley Christian took a 9-6 lead.

“It was a small porch in this wind,” Paraclete Coach Mike Fulmer said.

Fulmer added that he was surprised his team got eight runs and 12 hits against a Crusader team that had given up just one run through the first three rounds of the playoffs.