Golden Bears take second, Great Oak wins Temecula city championship
— The Vista Murrieta Broncos baseball team wanted to make sure there were no questions about who the rightful Southwestern League champions would be this year. It was them. Point made. Loud and clear. In their final game of the regular season, at Murrieta Mesa High School, the home of the 2021 Southwestern League title holders, the Broncos did what they have done best all season by playing hard-nosed baseball.
The game, like most that the Rams played this season, was tight, until it wasn’t. The former league champions took an early 1-0 lead into the top of the fourth inning before Vista Murrieta would tie things up on an error at third base. A 1-1 tie lasted until the top of the sixth when Bronco second baseman, Ryland Duson, singled on a 0-1 count, scoring one run. From there, the gates opened up, and the Bronco stampede commenced.
Five more runs would score in the inning thanks to a 3-run shot by Joe Guetterman, as well as hits by Jake Ledford, and D.C. Ruth, who also drove in run for the Broncos. The top hitter for Vista Murrieta in the game was Luke Matthews with his three hits in four at bats.
In the bottom half of the sixth, Murrieta Mesa outfielder, Derek Hurtado, energized the home dugout when he ended his senior campaign by answering Guetterman’s long ball with a 2-run bomb of his own, but that would be the final push for runs the Rams would make in the game.
“I am proud of this group of guys,” says George Jones, Vista Murrieta’s head coach. “They worked really hard in the fall and set high standards going into the season. We have great leadership from our seniors and our younger players stepped up.”
Lukas Pirko led Vista Murrieta to victory on the pitcher’s mound. Pirko went five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and striking out six. Senior reliever, Nathan Lee, closed up shop with his two innings of relief out of the bullpen.
Cole Warner started things off on the mound for Murrieta Mesa (3-12). Warner allowed eight hits and six runs over five and a third innings, striking out five and walking one. Seniors, Eli Baca, and Chase Enenbach, entered the game from the bullpen, throwing one inning and two-thirds of an inning, respectively.
With their 10-3 routing of the Rams, the Broncos, who pounded out thirteen hits in the game, will be the No. 1 seed out of the Southwestern League in the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs. Matthews, Vaughn Neckar, and Jerrad Gonzalez all collected multiple hits for the newly crowned league champions.
This 2022 Southwestern League title is the eighth overall for Vista Murrieta since 2003. They also won in 2006, ’08, ’11, ’12, ’15, ’17, and 2019. When it comes to postseason play, in 2006 the Broncos were a CIF Southern Section finals runner up, they won a 2007 CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship and in 2013 they were a CIF Southern Section semi-finalist.
“It has been a lot fun coaching them this year, and I’m looking forward to them competing in playoffs,” added Jones.
As for the league’s No. 2 and No. 3 seeds for this year’s playoffs, a major focus was on the game between Temecula Valley and Great Oak Thursday, April 28. If you have been following, a co-league championship was on the line, kind of.
Despite a valiant effort by Temecula Valley, including a league leading 5th home run in the game by Golden Bear MVP candidate, Zach Anderson, which plated 2 two runs, Great Oak swept both games this week and shattered any hopes of their opponent taking that co-title this season.
A late lead played out to a 5-3 victory for the Wolfpack, who would not know if they would be a No. 2 seed, or a No. 3 seed in the upcoming CIF-SS baseball playoffs, just yet. With their win, behind a Michael Rodda victory on the bump, and great at-bats by junior Dylan Fein (3-4, 2 RBI) and senior Shea Lake (2-4, RBI), Great Oak moved to 10-5 on the season.
The Wolfpack’s season record put them at third place in the standings, behind the Golden Bears, who sat at 10-4-1 after the game. The tie in Temecula Valley’s record came at the hands of a misinterpretation of NFHS baseball rules by the umpire staff at a game against Murrieta Mesa on Thursday, April 21.
Since the league bylaws state that no Southwestern League game can end in a tie, the game between the two teams was picked back up in the eighth inning Friday, April 29, at Temecula Valley High School. Senior lefty, Harrison Bodendorf, made quick work of the Rams in the top half of the eighth inning, and fellow senior, Darin Chapman did his part to walk-off the game with an RBI single that plated pinch-runner, Jack Milewski. Now, there is no confusion. Temecula Valley will be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and Great Oak will be the No. 3 seed.
All three playoff teams will be competing in Division 2, which could play out interestingly because Temescal Canyon and Paloma Valley are also in the same bracket. That could make for a great freeway series if things work out for any of them the farther they get. Vista Murrieta (20-8) has the only opening round game at home and will play Rancho Cucamonga (16-11-1), Temecula Valley (17-10) travels to face Etiwanda (20-8), and Great Oak (18-10) will be on the road headed for Maranatha (20-4). Round one begins Thursday, May 5.
As for Chaparral (3-12) and Murrieta Valley (5-10), they concluded their seasons Friday, April 29, at the home of the Pumas. The Nighthawks took the lead early and never let it up, defeating the Pumas 5-1. Charlie McBride earned the win for Murrieta Valley. The righty went four innings, allowing one run on one hit, striking out five with zero walks. Ayden Tauscher went 2-for-3 at the plate, with one RBI, to lead the Nighthawks in hits.
All-Southwestern League selections will come out once the playoffs are over, or once the final local team left standing, wins, or gets knocked out. Based on where a team places in the standings, determines how many First and Second Team selections they get.
Article contributions made by Valley News Sports intern Daniel Sheridan, G.C. Narrative, and Valley News Sports Editor JP Raineri.
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