Yucaipa closer shuts down Cypress in CIF Playoffs

"We knew we had some pretty good pitching in Frank (Martin), Pedro (Cota), and Taijuan (Walker)," Stout said. "So I asked Matt, 'Matt what can you give us this year?'"

"He said, 'coach, I can close for you all year long and if you need an occasional starter I'll give you an occasional starter.' He throws in the low 90s, and he's got a pretty good breaking ball, but we need him to play third and swing the bat."

The entire team was swinging the bat off five Cypress pitchers, pounding out a total of 13 hits led by Davidson along with Walker, who drove in two runs and was 1-for-4, Chad Erickson, 2-for-3, with 2 RBI's, and Martin, 2-for-3 with an RBI.

But the score is a bit deceiving. Cypress hung dangerously close with the Thunderbirds, and the score was tied at 4-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth when Yucaipa erupted for six runs on Walkers' two-run double, and Davidson's three-run homer.

"They hit over .400 (batting average) as a team," said Cypress Head Coach John Weber. "They are lethal offensively. The big thing was not to let those guys put up big numbers - they thrive on that. If we did that then we thought we had a good shot to win. And we did all the way to the sixth."

Cypress scored first in the second inning by taking advantage of an infield error that allowed lead off hitter Trent Zaks to score, who led off the game with a single to right-center. But Yucaipa answered in their half on designated hitter Brian Derryberry's single up the middle that scored Martin, who led off the inning with a single.

Through the first five innings the game was hotly contested with both teams coming up with big defensive plays, and with both teams stranding runners. The Centurions had an excellent opportunity in the fourth after starting the inning with a Matt Brokel single and Zack Ortiz double. But that's when Davidson came on in relief to squelch that uprising.

Chad Erickson, who took over at third base when Davidson came on in relief, made the major league play-of-the-game when he backhanded a scortching one-hopper to rob David Nick of a sure lead off double in the seventh.

But one player in particular has performed well over the past two games: Catcher, J.T. Sandberg. The sophomore catcher had never caught a varsity inning until the first game of the playoffs. In fact he hadn't seen the varsity play at all because he was catching for the junior varsity team.

Sandberg was called in to emergency duty when senior catcher Cody Meservey was ejected during the opening playoff game with Cresenta Valley last Thursday and subsequently was suspeneded for one game.

And Sandberg - just a sophomore - responded with a splendid game against Cypress with ringing double to the base of the right-field fence, and by throwing out a runner at second base on an attempted steal.

"He has done a very good job, he's a good catcher, good blocker, and he threw out a guy when we needed the out," Stout said, adding that Meservey will be back for the next playoff game. "Cody has apologized to the team and he has apologized to the coaches and he has been doing some leg (running) work all week."

The game also featured a rematch for the two squads as the Centurions and Thunderbirds met at Los Angeles Angels Anaheim Stadium in the 2005 CIF championship game. So for Stout it was a bit of redemption.

"That was an ugly game," Stout said. "Something like 7-1 or 8-1. They scored seven runs in the first inning but we played pretty well after that."

The Thunderbirds have been playing pretty well all season long in winning the Citrus Belt League with a 13-1 record, while establishing an overall mark of 27-2. With each game, Yucaipa sets a new school win record. The previous record stood at 25 back in 1994 when Yucaipa last won the CIF Championship and had a season record of 25-5.

The Thunderbirds now advance to the quarterfinals where they will meet Huntington Beach on Friday at Huntington Beach. The Oilers finished third in the Sea View League with a 8-7 record, 17-12 overall. They knocked off Arlington of Riverside, 3-1, to advance.

"They are a good all around ball club," Stout said. "But we feel we've got a good shot at beating them."

YUCAIPA BATTING: Frank Martin 2-3, RBI; Matt Davidson 2-2, 3 RBI; Chad Erickson 2-3, 2 RBI; Grady Espinosa 1-2; Matt Hardison 1-1; J.T. Sandberg 1-3, Matt Marnati 1-3, RBI; Taijuan Walker 1-4, 2 RBI; Brian Derryberry 2-2, RBI.

YUCAIPA PITCHING: Pedro Cota (10-0, 1.39 ERA) 3 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 strikeouts; Matt Davidson (4-0, 5 saves, 1.60 ERA ) 4 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 2 strikeouts. Win, Davidson.

CYPRESS BATTING: P.J. Purtle 1-4, Trent Zaks 2-4, Matt Brockel 2-3, Zack Ortiz 1-1, Johnny Valenzuela 1-1, Rudy Ledesma 2-3.

CYPRESS PITCHING: Ortiz, Valenzuela (4), Dennis Waites (6), Jeff Gogue (6), Mike Hoffy (6) and Perry. Loss, Valenzuela.