Taijuan Walker leads Yucaipa to upset of Crespi

Taijuan Walker is a 6-foot-5 senior who averaged 21 points a game for the Yucaipa basketball team, which makes what he has done as a pitcher this spring even more impressive.

Still learning but loaded with the kind of raw talent that professional scouts dream about, Walker came through Friday with the biggest performance of his blossoming baseball career, throwing a two-hitter to eliminate No. 2-seeded Encino Crespi, 3-1, in a first-round Southern Section Division 2 playoff game at Los Angeles Valley College.

As Yucaipa Coach Jeff Stout remembers telling Walker before the game, “‘You’re the guy who has to step up for us today. You have to challenge these guys and throw strikes and prove you can pitch in a big game.’

“And I think he did a fantastic job.”

Walker struck out three, walked three and gave up only an unearned run in the fifth inning. Crespi (22-6), the defending Division 2 champions, had three runners picked off first base by Walker. And if the Celts were counting on him to have control problems, it didn’t happen because he has come a long way since early in the season when he was still getting into shape after basketball.

“I started getting back into the groove, and it all started coming together,” he said.

Walker, a right-hander, was clocked throwing his fastball consistently at 92 mph and touched 95 mph.

Said Crespi Coach Scott Muckey: “With baseball, there’s a lot of luck involved, and our luck kind of ran out when he took the mound.”

Yucaipa (24-6), the third-place finisher from the Citrus Belt League, took advantage of the wildness of Crespi starter Ryan Brockett, who walked five in 1 2/3 innings. Matt Hardison had a two-run triple in the first inning. Brian Derryberry had an RBI double in the second inning.

The problem for Crespi was despite winning the National Classic tournament title and the Mission League championship, the Celts entered the playoffs without a clear No. 1 pitcher because their ace, Ryon Healy, never made it back on the mound after injuring his arm in the league opener. Healy went 11-0 last season and was 2-0 this season, but his absence left the Celts vulnerable to defeat against a top pitcher.

And what a day it was for the Citrus Belt League. The league champion, Redlands East Valley, defeated Bellflower, 11-2. And the second-place team, Rialto, defeated Mission Hills Alemany, 2-0, on a one-hitter by Julio Espinoza.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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