2 weeks Ago
NORWALK — Nothing comes easy during the CIF Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoffs, and La Mirada is proof of that, having to squeeze out every run to pull through. La MIrada manufactured runs in every which way, small ball and long ball, and came away with a 4-3 victory over Oaks Christian on Friday in a game played at Glenn High school. La Mirada (22-6) will be on the road in the second round on Tuesday against Foothill (22-8), a 7-5 first-round winner over South Hills.
“Runs are at a premium in the playoffs,” La Mirada baseball coach Jimmy Zurn said. “You gotta find a way to win any type of game — a slugfest, a one-nothing game — and we’ve done a heck of a job being able to take advantage of other people’s mistakes. I thought we had a lot deep at-bats that drove (Oaks Christian starting pitcher Jack Laubacher’s) pitch count up and got some clutch hits.
” The Matadores, who previously defeated the Lions 6-5 earlier in the season, relied on the small-ball and solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning by Tyler Primanto to build a comfortable 4-0 lead. Through the first four innings, Matadores starting pitcher Walker Calvo looked in control as the Lions (14-14) struggled to push runs across despite loading the bases in the second inning. Oaks Christian’s big breakthrough came in the fifth inning with one swing of Elijah Clayton’s bat.
After Calvo, an Army West Point commit, put two runners on via hit batter and a single, Clayton smashed Cal.
