“The mood is excitement, our boys are determined, our boys are playing well and they plan on making the best of it,” Walnut coach Paul Acosta said of facing San Dimas. “We respect (San Dimas) to the highest degree. We understand all the USA Today stuff, the undefeated record, the incredible pitching staff, but we have a confident group of guys that look at San Dimas as just another team standing in the way of our ultimate goal. We’ve got to go through them, just like they have to go through us.”
By Fred J. Robledo
Extra seats are on its way for one of the most highly anticipated non-championship games in recent years with surging Walnut (20-7-2), winners of 17 straight, visiting undefeated San Dimas (31-0) in Tuesday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3 semifinal at 3:15 p.m.
The winner advances to Saturday’s championship at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino.
“Obviously there are going to be a ton of fans,” San Dimas co-head coach Mike Regan said. “They’re (Walnut) hot and are playing extremely good baseball. I don’t expect anything except a very good baseball game and a battle.”
San Dimas, also USA Today’s No. 1 ranked team in the country, has even managed to take it up a notch in the playoffs, having not surrendered a run.
The Saints squeaked by Santa Monica 1-0 in the quarterfinals behind another great pitching performance from UCLA-signee Peter Lambert, whom some Major League Baseball mock drafts have going late first or early second round in this month’s draft.
But on the hill against Walnut will be Saints junior Jacob Castillo, who has put together one of best statistical seasons in section history.
The San Diego State commit is 11-0 with a 0.09 ERA. He has allowed just one earned run in 76 innings with 109 strikeouts.
According to the CIF-SS record books, it’s the lowest ERA for a pitcher with a minimum six games in 36 years.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Bob Westland finished with a 0.00 ERA in 1979 to share the all-time record with South Pasadena’s Bob Coleman, who finished with a blank sheet in 1959.
Castillo currently sits fourth all-time in season ERAs behind Bob Goodyear, who had a 0.08 ERA with Los Angeles Lutheran in 1973.
In the second round all Castillo did was throw a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 17-0 win over Garden Grove.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Regan said. “He throws hard, he’s got good secondary pitches. Everything he does, he does well and to top it all off, he’s just an amazing competitor.”
Like everyone else, Walnut coach Paul Acosta has been impressed with San Dimas, but he loves the opportunity it presents for his Mustangs.
“The mood is excitement, our boys are determined, our boys are playing well and they plan on making the best of it,” Acosta said. “We respect (San Dimas) to the highest degree. We understand all the USA Today stuff, the undefeated record, the incredible pitching staff, but we have a confident group of guys that look at San Dimas as just another team standing in the way of our ultimate goal.
“We’ve got to go through them, just like they have to go through us.”
Walnut knocked off second-seed Temescal Canyon 4-1 in the second round, then beat Quartz Hill 5-2 in the quarterfinals.
Walnut will likely send junior Christian Longoria (5-3, 2.40 ERA) against Castillo.
“Hey, Castillo, Lambert, their entire pitching staff, their squad and coaches are special.” Acosta said. “You have to be special to do what they’ve done, they’ve got all my respect in the world.
“I get it, they’re Goliath and we’re David. But our mindset is we’re not expecting to lose. This isn’t football, we don’t have to line up against a 6-foot-6, 300-pound guy. That’s the beauty of baseball, it’s one game and he’s (Castillo) got to do it again against our lineup, against our group of hitters and they’ve got to face us. That’s what this is about.”
Acosta said it would probably take hours to explain how a team that started 3-7-2 that nobody talked about is now on the verge of playing for a championship with the second longest winning streak in the section behind San Dimas.
Acosta’s even bought into the #WhyNotUs Walnut hashtag trending on Twitter.
“We went through a lot of stuff,” Acosta said. “I knew this team had talent, but early on it was me, me, me, me. They were selfish and sometimes it’s hard to understand team chemistry and all that it takes to win.
Acosta explained what turned them.
“They bought in, they really did,” Acosta said. “In an era of travel ball, you’ve got to sell your players on what the value of playing for a team gives you. In our case, it was what does Walnut give you that you don’t already get from travel ball? I told our boys it gives you the opportunity to play for something bigger than yourself. It offers you the ability to play for something greater than yourselves.
“I graduated at Walnut and have been here for more than 20 years, and I haven’t seen 500 plus fans at our games until now. That’s what our guys have created. This run they’re on right now, they’ll remember it forever. That’s a memory and an impact on a community they’ll never get anywhere else.
“So, yeah, it’s a why not us thing? We don’t fear San Dimas, we welcome it. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime and we’re going for it without any fear at all.”
Redondo Union (27-7) at Bishop Amat (17-12-1, 1:30 p.m.
The winner of Walnut-San Dimas faces the winner of this game.
The Sea Hawks are probably looking forward to this meeting since it was the Lancers who knocked them out of last year’s semifinals, 3-1, which paved the way for the Lancers’ Division 3 title, beating Palm Desert 4-3 in the championship.
Defending champion Bishop Amat has won eight straight playoff games dating back to last year and advanced with a tough 3-2 win over third-seed Paloma Valley in the quarterfinals.
The Sea Hawks upset second-seed Palm Desert 6-3 to advance and were mighty impressive in the first two rounds with back-to-back shutouts over Santa Maria St. Joseph (15-0) and El Segundo (5-0).
CIF-SS SOFTBALL SEMIFINALS
Division 2
No. 1 Mission Viejo (29-0) at South Hills (20-7), 3:15 p.m.
The undefeated and defending champion Diablos are the consensus top-ranked team in the country in nearly every poll, leading the nation in rankings for USA Today and MaxPreps, to name a couple.
The Diablos are nearly untouchable with Arizona-bound senior pitcher Taylor McQuillin, the reigning Gatorade national player of the year after leading the Diablos to the Division 2 championship last year.
During last year’s title run, the Diablos were 25-1 and McQuillin had a 0.69 ERA with 316 strikeouts.
The Diablos also have a powerful home run hitter in Alyssa Palomino.
South Hills counters with sophomore pitcher Natalie Lugo, who has verbally committed to defending NCAA national champion Florida.
South Hills advanced with a 6-1 victory over fourth-seed Agoura.
Mission Viejo beat Sunny Hills 8-0 in the quarterfinals for its 34th consecutive win dating back to last season and are 81-3 over the past three seasons.
Division 3
No. 2 La Serna (24-6) at Bishop Amat (20-7), 4 p.m.
A rematch from last year’s second round in which La Serna knocked off Bishop Amat 6-0 and advanced all the way to the Division 3 championship game before losing to St. Paul, 2-1.
La Serna has been even better this year, easily beating St. Paul in a rematch during the March Charter Oak tournament, but it did struggle in the quarterfinals to advance.
La Serna pulled out a 3-2 victory in 12 innings over Redondo Union while Bishop Amat held on for a 3-1 victory over San Clemente.
La Serna pitcher Jamie Wren is 23-3 with a 1.67 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 178 innings.
Bishop Amat, in its first semifinal since 2012, has a pair of juniors pitchers it rotate’s with Samaria Diaz and Alexis Vargas.
Division 5
No. 1 St. Bonaventure (20-7) at San Dimas (21-9), 3:15 p.m.
The Saints have been extremely impressive in the playoffs. After knocking off undefeated Edgewood 8-1 in the second round, the Saints pounded fourth-seed Mary Star of the Sea 8-2 to advance to the semifinals.
The Seraphs, however, have been even more impressive, showing why they’re the top-seed with three straight playoff shutouts, blanking Sierra Vista in the quarterfinals 6-0.
The Seraphs have outscored their playoff opponents 21-0 behind pitcher Cielo Meza who has a 0.86 ERA with 319 strikeouts in 143 innings.
