Baseball: JSerra’s comeback caps a wild day in Division 1 playoffs

There was plenty of drama and upsets during Tuesday’s Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoffs. By the end of the day, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, Loyola and Fountain Valley, couldn’t hold on to leads of 4-0 and 5-0, respectively, and were knocked off by Trabuco Hills, 5-4, and Santa Margarita, 8-7.

The No. 1 seed, JSerra, survived by scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh and three in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Valencia, 6-5. “It’s the most amazing game I’ve been a part of,” JSerra Coach Brett Kay said.

Valencia received a two-run home run from Keston Hiura, his 14th, and seemed on the verge of a shocking upset on the road. The Vikings took a 3-2 lead in the sixth on an RBI single by Chad Bible. But JSerra tied the game in the seventh on a single by Chase Strumpf.

In the eighth, Valencia took a 5-3 lead on a two-run double by Anthony Lepre. In the bottom of the eighth, with the bases loaded, Ryan Pena singled to center, and all three runners scored when the ball was misplayed.

JSerra advances to play Edison, which knocked off defending champion Harvard-Westlake, 3-1. Two errors by the Wolverines enabled Edison starter Noah Kronfly to take advantage. He threw 6 1/3 innings, and Michael Mahoney got the save, escaping a bases loaded situation in the seventh.

Loyola was cruising behind Stanford-bound Quinn Brodey when Trabuco Hills scored five runs in the fifth inning for the victory. Robbie Biehl had two RBIs on the day.

Left-hander Sebastian Lopez, out because of a freak concussion when he was hit in the head in the dugout, returned to throw a seven-hit shutout in Foothill’s 1-0 win over Huntington Beach. He walked none and struck out none.

Norco defeated Riverside Poly, 12-9. Kyle Hatton in a three-run home run the sixth for Norco. Cole Young also hit a three-run home run, his 11th of the season. Santa Margarita got a three-run double from JJ Carr in the sixth inning to tie the game, and then Carr came home on a wild throw off a pick-off attempt to give Santa Margarita an 8-7 win over Fountain Valley.

Matt Lautz threw the shutout in Agoura’s 6-0 win over Capistrano Valley. Albee Weiss and Joey Czarske each hit home runs.

In the final game of the day, Orange Lutheran defeated Long Beach Wilson, 7-2. Toby Dunlap struck out four and walked none in six innings. Josh Morgan, Ryan Watts and Bobby Fulkerson had two hits apiece.

The quarterfinal matchups: JSerra vs. Edison; Foothill vs. Agoura; Norco vs. Santa Margarita, and Trabuco Hills vs. Orange Lutheran.