Cypress Finally Defeats Esperanza After a Late Start

Cypress made the best of a difficult situation Wednesday in its National Classic semifinal at Cal State Fullerton by defeating Esperanza, 4-3, in a game delayed 2 hours 34 minutes by the UCLA-Titan baseball game.

The Aztecs threatened in the seventh when Andy Webb drew a leadoff walk and pinch-runner Matt Doty took second on a fielder’s choice.

But Centurion reliever Rusty Murray got David Nicholson to hit a soft liner to third baseman Christian Vitters, who flipped the ball to shortstop Andrew Lara to double off Doty, who was trying to steal third base on the play.

The game didn’t start until 9:34 p.m. because of Cal State Fullerton’s 14-inning victory over UCLA.

Cypress Coach Dave Lewis watched as the Titans’ game went late into the evening. “My guys have been sitting here for hours,” he said. “Who knows how they will respond?”

The Centurions (14-5) responded quite well against Esperanza, the top-ranked team in Orange County, by hitting three doubles in the first to take a 2-0 lead.

Jason Filarey followed Zack Swanson’s double with an RBI double off the base of the wall in center. One out later, Chad Halbert doubled off the wall in left to drive in Filarey.

Esperanza (16-3) rallied with a run in the bottom half of the inning when Matt Lawson walked, stole second and third, and scored when catcher Cody Lovejoy’s throw to third on the steal sailed over third baseman Vitters’ head and into left field.

J.J. Lovejoy’s two-run home run to left in the fifth put Cypress ahead, 4-1.

Rick Taloa responded with a two-run homer to left-center in the sixth to pull the Aztecs back within a run.

Cypress will play La Puente Bishop Amat, which defeated Orlando (Fla.) Lake Highland, 11-0, in Wednesday’s other semifinal, at 7 tonight in the championship game at Cal State Fullerton.

Cypress reached the title game in its first appearance in the tournament.

Both starting pitchers settled down after the first inning. Esperanza’s A.J. Shappi (7-1) faced the minimum number of batters in the second, third and fourth innings before Vitters hit a one-out single in the fifth and scored on Lovejoy’s blast.

Halbert (2-1) was even more effective over the same stretch, allowing only two runners on an infield single and a walk. Halbert allowed only one hit over the first five innings.

Cypress shortstop Scott Moore was a late scratch with a bruised left ankle.

In a consolation game:

El Dorado 5, Antioch Deer Valley 4--Micah Hazen’s two-run single in the top of the seventh gave El Dorado a 5-4 lead. Brian Zurhellen hit a two-run homer in the third, his fourth of the season, for the Golden Hawks (15-4).