Pasadena Poly baseball does everything right in playoff win

PASADENA — The Pasadena Poly baseball team is used to opening the CIF Southern Section playoffs at home.

“We have been at home to open the playoffs for the last 20 years,” Panthers veteran Coach Wayne Ellis said. “We’re used to it.”

The Panthers were able to do almost everything right in their Division VI first-round game Friday against Bloomington Christian. Along with quality pitching, good hitting and sure fielding, Pasadena Poly was also able to take advantage of miscues by the Ravens to record a 6-0 victory.

“They had some errors, and they were giving us four or five outs in a few of those innings,” Ellis said of Bloomington Christian. “We were just able to take advantage of that.”

The win puts Pasadena Poly (16-7) into a second-round game Tuesday against St. Margaret’s at a site to be determined. St. Margaret’s beat Hamilton, 16-4, on Friday.

Pasadena Poly received steady performances on the mound from starter David Orndorf and reliever Caleb Lee, who surrendered just one hit apiece. While Orndorff struck out eight in five innings, Lee fanned five of the six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings

The Panthers scored the only runs they would need by posting two in the bottom of the second. Pasadena Poly drew three walks and took advantage of an error to score the two.

“It gives me some security when the offense can score some runs early,” Orndorf said. “I’m able to make some mistakes here and there and I’m not as worried about doing that.”

Orndorf also helped his cause at the plate, going three for four with a double.

The Panthers were able to make it 3-0 in the third when Luke Asperger singled and scored one batter later when Lee powered a long single to deep right-center field.

A run-scoring triple by Griffin Carter highlighted a fourth inning in which the Panthers drew two walks and benefited from a Bloomington error to score three runs.

The Ravens were able to get a runner into scoring position just once in the game. Myles Lukes drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and went to second on a fielder’s choice. However, he was left stranded when Orndorf ended the inning with two strikeouts.