Katella Makes the Best of a Wild Situation

It probably wasn’t a game Katella wanted to play, but the Knights made the best of it on Tuesday.

Katella, which lost its last two games to fall from a first-place tie to third in the Empire League, beat Troy, 3-2, at Boysen Park in a Division II wild-card playoff game.

The Knights (18-9) took a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run, one-out single by David Alcantar.

Troy cut the lead in half in the fourth when pinch-runner Jon Salazar scored from third after Katella starter Phil Tyson hurled a pitch to the backstop.

Katella took a 3-1 lead in the fourth, then Tyson took over, retiring nine in a row entering the seventh.

Troy’s Willie Keene opened the seventh with a single off Tyson and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Rauly Gutierrez then lined a shot at third baseman Alcantar, who made a diving stop and threw Gutierrez out.

Jeremy Arbiso followed with a hit that carried to the left-field fence and scored Keene, but Arbiso was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple.

Tyson then struck out pinch-hitter Brian Campbell to end the game.

Tyson (9-2) struck out seven for Katella, which moves on to play Villa Park in the first round Friday.

“I’m more concerned with our team than Villa Park right now,” Katella Coach Tim McMenamin said. “Our games against El Dorado [the last week of the season] were super intense, and we came out flat today. If we can play like we did against El Dorado, I’ll have no complaints.”

Troy, which won its last three regular-season games to make the playoffs, finished the season 12-14.