Baseball Playoffs: St. Paul’s season ends with loss to Walnut; Whittier Christian also goes down


By Stephen Ramirez
WALNUT >> Walnut High School’s dream baseball season will continue.
Cody Dye tossed a six-hit shutout and the Mustangs, fresh off winning their first league crown in two decades, took advantage of three infield RBIs in the fifth inning en route to an 8-0 victory over visiting St. Paul in a CIF-Southern Section Division 3 game on Thursday.
Andre Alvarez and Andy Rodriguez had two RBIs each for Walnut, which improved to 18-7-2 and advanced to face either No. 4 seed Temescal Canyon or Indio in Tuesday’s second round.
Jake Maier, Fernando Alvidrez and Frankie Espinoza had two hits each for St. Paul, which finished 15-14-1.
Most of the game was a duel between Dye and St. Paul starter Emilio Sansores, who took a no-hitter into the fourth. Walnut finally broke through with a five-run fifth. The Mustangs loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Michael Mora and Dye with one out.
Then little ball took over.
Maxwell Masana laid down a bunt that put St. Paul catcher Juan Zuniga in no-man’s land. He picked it up off the plate but had no play at home, allowing pinch-runner D.J. Lindsay to score for a 1-0 lead.
Steven Canedo followed with an infield hit off Sansores’ glove for a 2-0 advantage. Andy Coronado then had a sacrifice bunt for a 3-0 lead.
Alvarez followed with a two-run single for a 5-0 advantage.

St. Paul coach Casey Morales: “Walnut) just played baseball. They played little ball and did some good things, so you have to give them credit. They took advantage of their opportunities (in the fifth), because they had none to that point. Then they really went after it from there.”

Walnut coach Paul Acosta: “It’s been 20 years since we won a league title. The boys are playing good, they are still rolling. They’re hot, they’re proud to be Mustangs, so it’s nice to get this one and have the community involved.”

Walnut’s Cody Dye: “All I had to do was get ahead of the hitter. I knew I had him from there. I had them guessing when I changed speeds.”

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