By Stephen Ramirez
steve.ramirez@langnews.com
@SteveRRamirez on Twitter
SANTA FE SPRINGS — St. Paul High School began the week knowing it was three wins short of winning a Del Rey League baseball title.
The Swordsmen got a big one on Saturday.
Bryan De La Torre and Jacob Guzman combined on a four-hit shutout and host St. Paul took a big step toward the league championship with a 1-0 victory over rival Bishop Amat.
Juan Zuniga had a RBI bunt for the only run of the game for the Swordsmen, who improved to 14-12-1 overall and 7-3 in league play. They trail first-place Cathedral by a half-game going into the final week and can win a share of the league title with a sweep of the Phantoms, who they face at home on Monday and on the road on Wednesday. Cathedral also has a game vs. Serra, scheduled for next Friday.
Bishop Amat is still in the hunt at 14-12 and 8-4. The Lancers, who missed on a big scoring chance in the sixth, have completed their regular-season schedule, but can gain a piece of the league crown if St. Paul were to split with Cathedral.
“This is the position we want to be in,” St. Paul coach Casey Morales said. “You want to control your own destiny, and that’s what we got. Now we control our destiny to take on an opponent and take a league title. The work these guys have put in and progressed. We’re such a different team now than we were at the beginning of the year, I like our chances.”
St. Paul, which also had four hits, scored the only run in the third. The Swordsmen loaded the bases on singles by Fernando Alvidrez and David Castillo and a walk to Isaiah Donahue. Zuniga got down a squeeze bunt to score Alvidrez for a 1-0 lead.
De La Torre and Guzman took care of the rest.
De La Torre gave up four hits and struck out two in five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. Enter Guzman, who after loading the bases with a walk, got a ground out and strike out to keep the lead intact.
“I just had to come in throw strikes and produce,” Guzman said. “I just had to trust my mechanics and just let it go.“
Guzman got Amat in order in the seventh to win it.
“I don’t want to take credit from them, obviously the guy did enough,” Bishop Amat coach Joe Hoggatt said. “I think we chased, got a little excited, didn’t control the moment. But you have to give them credit.”
