With one week left in the regular season, and two games to go, except for Vista Murrieta and Murrieta Mesa who had a game to make up Monday, April 24, due to rainouts earlier this month, the Broncos sit atop the Southwestern League standings after winning their rubber match last week against Great Oak (Friday, April 21).
It was a bit of a heartbreaker for Great Oak as they lost the lead late in a 9-2 defeat. The game was tied at two runs apiece with Vista Murrieta batting in the top of the fifth when Kaden Spencer singled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring one run. The Broncos would then pile it on with back-to-back three run innings, distinguishing any hopes the Wolfpack had of getting out of second place in the standings.
Lucas Pirko led Vista Murrieta to victory on the mound. The hurler allowed nine hits and two runs over seven innings, striking out nine and walking zero. Vista Murrieta gathered 11 hits with Spencer and Vaughn Neckar paving the way with their multiple hits on the day. Spencer went 3-for-4 at the plate with 3 RBIs to lead the offensive charge.
Braden Wauschek led things off on the pitcher’s mound for Great Oak as he went four innings, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out eight and walking zero. Wyatt Toth, Matthew Vadaboncoeur and Cade Johnson each contributed in relief for the Wolfpack, who also tallied nine hits behind Brenden Shanahan, Ryan Lee and Nate Smith who all collected multiple hits.
The season concludes this week with a tight race for the playoffs, and as we all know, anything can happen. The top three spots from league will advance, and maybe a fourth, should the brackets need an at-large team to even out wild card play. Right now, those three teams are Vista Murrieta (10-3), Temecula Valley (8-5), after they also fought off the Wolfpack in a Saturday matchup 9-0, which dropped Great Oak to third place at 7-6.
With only two games remaining, that’s how many games separate Murrieta Valley and Chaparral from a possible date with the postseason. Prior to falling 6-3 in their Monday, April 24, matchup, Murrieta Mesa would of needed to win out this week (one game versus Vista Murrieta, two games against Temecula Valley) to have any sort of chance to even talk about the playoffs.
Murrieta Valley wraps up the season against Vista Murrieta, who claimed their share of a back-to-back SWL title with their win over Mesa on Monday, and Great Oak welcomes Chaparral, so things could get very interesting as the week progresses. Two Vista Murrieta losses, and two Temecula Valley wins, could tie things up at the top this week…so we will see it how shakes out.
*League leaders (overall season stats, taken from MaxPreps):
Batting Average: Dylan Fein, Great Oak – .500, 33 for 66; Braylon Doughty, Chaparral – .486, 28 for 61.
Home Runs: Gavin Fein, Great Oak – 3; Braylon Doughty, Chaparral – 2
ERA: Adler Cecil, Temecula Valley – 0.67, 42.0 innings pitched, 4 earned runs; Braylon Doughty, Chaparral – 0.97, 43.1 innings pitched, 4 earned runs; Ian Mowad, Murrieta Valley – 1.43, 44.0, 9 earned runs; Cody Liscio, Temecula Valley – 1.66, 46.1 innings pitched, 11 earned runs; Tanner Blackmon, Murrieta Mesa – 1.68, 33.1 innings pitched, 8 earned runs.
Strikeouts: Braylon Doughty, Chaparral – 71; Adler Cecil, Temecula Valley – 55, Cody Liscio, Temecula Valley – 50. Braden Wauschek, Great Oak – 43; Ian Mowad, Murrieta Valley – 42.
Wins: Adler Cecil, Temecula Valley – 5, Braylon Doughty, Chaparral – 5; Brady Pavlovsky, Chaparral – 3; Cody Liscio, Temecula Valley – 3.
*Must be consistent and averaged with top stats reported.
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