Baseball: Agoura gets key pickoff to defeat Crespi, 2-0

With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh and Agoura’s starting pitcher, Andy Sondreaal, struggling to throw strikes, Encino Crespi looked in ideal position to make a comeback from a 2-0 deficit.

The count reached 3-0. One more ball and the Celts would cut their deficit to one run and be given a third consecutive walk. But that’s when Sondreeal, on a call from the bench, picked off the pinch runner at first base for the second out. He walked the batter to re-load the bases, but Bryce Fehmel came in to get the final out on a fly ball caught by a sliding Matt Lautz to preserve Agoura’s 2-0 win in a Southern Section Division 1 first-round playoff game at Agoura.

Justin Dehn pitched well for Crespi (14-14), allowing five hits. But mistakes in the fourth inning cost the Celts dearly. First there was a misjudged fly ball that allowed Daniel Cipriano to end up on second base with a double. He moved to third on a wild pinch. Then pinch runner Jacob Stock scored on an errant pickoff attempy by Dehn. On the next pitch, Joey Czarske hit a home run.

“I thought they outplayed us all day, but the opportunity was there and we couldn’t quite get it done,” Crespi Coach Scott Muckey said. “When you look how far we’ve come since last June, holy smokes.”

Agoura (24-5), seeded No. 4 in the tournament, will play the winner of Mater Dei-Capistrano Valley in the second round on Tuesday. Sondreeal had retired 11 consecutive batters until a single by Chasen Gensurowsky in the seventh. He struck out five and gave up three hits.