Del Rio League Dominance
Who says the Del Rio League can't ball?
Congratulations to both the California and La Serna High School baseball teams for tremendous wins this afternoon.
Down 6-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the unseeded Lancers (20-8) rallied for two runs on two errors in stunning Division III No. 1 seed Crespi 7-6.
Afterwards, co-coach Anthony Gonzales Jr. said that "no one gave his team a chance." He might have been right. Congrats and kudos Lancers!
As for the Condors (19-11), they rolled to a 7-3 victory behind another solid pitching performance from starter Tyler Leibert, the Daily News Athlete of the Week.
The Condors scored run five runs over the second and third innings to create some separation.
Congrats and kudos to the Condors!
It's on to Friday's quarterfinals for both squads as the Lancers will either play Don Lugo or South Hills while Cal will battle Quartz Hill or Downey.
The La Serna kids just played better than the more physically talented Crespi. The Lancers are steady, and they play with heart and emotion. An interesting note: of the teams remaining in D3, the Lancers have a 5-0 record (3-0 vs Cal, and wins over both Paloma Valley and Elsinore). No other team can say that! A Cal-LS final at Blue Heaven? Are you kidding me???!!! Go DRL!
The Del Rio League has a playoff best 5-1 record.
all 3 of the LS and Cal games where 1 run games.
Cal has beaten these playoff teams thus far
Bellflower
Mayfair
Campbell Hall
JSerra
Redondo
Schurr
Cajon
La Quinta
only one loss all season by more than 2 runs and 6 one run loses.
Last years team was in the quarter finals as well.
Hats off to The Coaching staff, Coach Neito and the boys.
La Serna has beaten a number of top teams as well.
Long way to go for both teams yet..
Good Luck to both teams
Also have to give props to the Downey boys as they fought hard throughout their run.. Way to go Gentlemen.
All of you doubters of the baseball in the area what do you have to say now? I am glad that La Serna, Cal, Downey, and Paramount enjoyed success in the playoffs. This area never gets any respect in baseball maybe its about time that people give some props to the baseball that is played in the area. Good luck to the teams still playing
In one of the greatest upsets in recent times, La Serna beat Crespi in a game that will be remenber for years to come.
For all of the people who said that LS was given the game, why not mentioned the things that LS did better then Crespi.
-Soto pitched 6 gutsy innings and went 2-2.
-Estrada layed down 2 perfect sacrifice bunts that advanced the runner and led to 2 runs
-The defense was flawless and Sanchez played great at SS.
- Montoya threw out 2 runners and his hustle play to score from first to win on Burke's grounder
- Burke stole 2 bases and went 3-4 with 3 RBI's including a game tieing hit with 2 outs in the fifth off of there 20-0 pitcher.
By the way, there was no way that Crespi was going to turn 2 on Burke, that game was at least going to be tied but LS WON and they deserved it.
It is good to see that the area teams are doing well. It makes reading the WDN sports page better because we have local kids playing good ball. Cal vs. LS in the finals would be great!
With baseball and softball coming to an end. I think i speak for a lot of people when i say the whittier daily news should start focusing on next years football season and what to expect. The competition in the DRL is getting really hot and Santa Fe looks like they're gonna make a come back from a dissappointing season last year.