EL SEGUNDO HERALD May 24, 2018 Page 5
Baseball Team Falls in CIF Thriller While Softball Team Gets Win
By Gregg McMullin
The final leg of the El Segundo High School
spring sports ended for one team in thrilling
fashion while another continued their playoff
run in a rout. The baseball team’s recent success
over the past few seasons meant that the
CIF Southern Section’s decision to reward
the Eagles was placing them in Division 2.
The softball team, which has done well, was
quite content in playing in the Division 5.
Baseball Team Loses
Heartbreaker
The Eagles, the Ocean League champions,
were gunning for their 20th win of the season
in the first round of the CIF Southern
Section Division 2 playoffs. Playing in the
Division 2 playoffs meant the highest division
El Segundo had played in since 1996
when head coach Billy Traber was a junior
pitching for the Eagles. The Eagles first round
playoff game paired them with Alemany, the
third place team from the Mission League.
This game became a classic pitchers’ duel
between El Segundo’s Jaime Galicia and
Alemany’s Blaine Traxel. Galicia pitched
well enough to win, but the Eagle offense
came up short and El Segundo fell 2-1 with
the winning run stranded on second base in
the seventh inning.
This was a classic contest between two
teams equally matched. Each team would
send out their ace and any offense would
be at a premium. As good as each pitcher
was, the defense behind them made it tough
to get base runners. The game’s first stellar
defensive play came on the third pitch of the
game. The Warrior leadoff hitter hit a pop-up
behind third base. Eagle third baseman Ethan
Burner backpedaled, circled around and made
an over-the-shoulder catch that delighted the
large El Segundo crowd. Galicia would strike
out the next two batters.
Alemany, not a great hitting team by any
means based on their team .267 batting average,
gave Galicia fits. Not only did Galicia
strike out the least amount of hitters in any
start this season, but he also gave up eight
hits -- the most he’d allowed in any game
this season.
The Warriors scored their first run in the
second inning when Jesse Parraz singled and
went to third on Ethan Hagen’s double off
the right field fence. Dirk Ryan then lifted
a fly ball to centerfield that scored Parraz
for a 1-0 Alemany lead. Julian Rodriquez
and Mateo Camano gave the Eagles hope
with consecutive singles with two outs in
the bottom of the second inning, but Traxel
Julian Rodriquez made a great running catch to rob an Alemany hitter as Eagle shortstop Benny Casillas looks.
got a strikeout to end the inning.
In the fourth inning, Alemany threatened
to score again. Caden Miller had doubled
and reached third base with two outs. With
the Warriors’ best hitter Parraz at the plate,
Galicia was pitching him carefully with a
speedy Miller on third base. Galicia threw
one in the dirt that had Eagle catcher Brendan
Casillas scrambling back to get the wild
pitch. Miller made a dash towards home
plate while Casillas tracked down the ball.
Casillas retrieved the ball in time and made
a leaping tag of the sliding Miller. Home
plate umpire Tom Fitzpatrick signaled it as
an out to end the inning. Parraz led off the
fifth inning with a 375-foot solo home run
to give Alemany a 2-0 lead.
In the seventh inning and trailing 2-0, the
Eagles looked like they would pull off a
comeback win. Ian Bonham singled to open
the inning. Then Ryan Sullivan slapped a
single between third and shortstop. Burner,
who may be the team’s top bunter, placed
a perfectly executed sacrifice for a base hit
to load the bases with no outs. With one
out Galicia hit a sharp ground ball to first
base for a force out, while Bonham scored
El Segundo’s only run. With two outs Matt
Romero walked to load the bases, but the
Eagles’ season came to an end when Warrior
closer Donovan Waitman got a strikeout on
a 3-2 pitch.
It marked the end to a successful season for
the Eagles, who won their second consecutive
league title (36th overall_ and advanced to the
CIF playoffs for the 10th consecutive year.
Softball Team Advances
Over Palm Springs
While the baseball team was playing a
nail-bitter that ended in a loss, the softball
team flexed its winning ways by pounding
out a 13-0 win over Palm Springs. It was
the team’s ninth win in their last 10 games
and the Eagles improved to 16-9 overall.
The game was halted by virtue of the 10-
run mercy rule in effect after Palm Springs
batted in the fifth inning and failed to score.
Prior to the game, Samantha Quevedo sung
such a moving and heartfelt rendition of the
national anthem that both teams stood on their
respectful foul lines. Coach McCann said,
“The team has been very proactive during
practice or prior to our games to stand and
honor our flag. This is a very respectful and
great group of kids.”
The Ocean League champs took care of
business in the first inning by scoring 10
runs. The Eagles, who have been blistering
the ball all season long, had RBIs from Adri
Hebert, Katherine Kakuske, Julia Chavez,
Kaelyn Kearney and Kaili Reitano in the
first inning. Monique Benjamin’s mammoth
two-run home run in the first inning nearly
hit the pitcher on the baseball diamond and
play had to stop.
Benjamin not only had a big day at the plate
going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs
scored, but she was dazzling on the mound
in giving up just one single in the fourth
inning to Jasmine Lara. Benjamin struck out
four and walked none to improve her record
to 7-3. Audrey Butler, Katie Croxall and
Reitano had two hits apiece, while Kakuske
drove in three runs.
Head coach Megan McCann was excited
for her team and the way they’ve been
playing. “We’re gelling and hitting our
stride,” she said. “The pitching, defense
and hitting are really showing how good
we are. It’s a total team effort from a
15-player roster where each one of the girls
is contributing.”
The Eagles traveled Thousand Oaks on
Tuesday to face top-seeded La Reina in the
second round. The Regents are 20-4 overall
with a 12-game winning streak going, but
are a very beatable team. Should the Eagles
win, they would play the winner of the JW
North/Santa Ynez game today at 3:15 p.m.
The Eagles would play host to JW North
(Riverside) if the Huskies win and would go
on the road if Santa Ynez wins. •
Brendan Casillas tags out Alemany’s Caden Miller at the plate in the fourth inning of the CIF playoff game.
Katherine Kakuske strokes a two-run double in the third inning against Palm Springs in the first round of the CIF playoffs.
Jaime Galicia threw well enough to win, but couldn’t get the run support in a 2-1 loss in the first round of the CIF playoffs.