Temecula Valley starts fast to beat Aliso Niguel in 2014 CIF Southern Section Division 2 baseball final

LOS ANGELES -- When you survive America's toughest baseball league, the CIF Southern Section Division 2 final becomes a little easier to handle.

Add in experience playing in the section final last season and a quick four-run lead in the top of the first inning, and you get all the ingredients necessary to create the first baseball section title in school history at Temecula Valley (Temecula).

The Golden Bears dogpiled on the mound at Dodger Stadium Friday after dispatching Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo) and star pitcher Kyle Molnar by a 5-3 score in the day's middle game. It started out heavily in Temecula Valley's favor and stayed that way all the way until the end - with a little drama in the final half inning.

Down 5-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Wolverines loaded the bases with one out against closer Jared Morton with a hit batsman, an error and a single. Molnar obliterated a liner deep to left that Jordan Gardner caught on the run for a sacrifice fly (it would have been a homer in quite a few prep venues) and that brought up Eric Wagaman in a two-out spot with runners on second and third.

A hit would have likely tied the game, but aided by a little encouragement from his middle infielders, Morton struck Wagaman out with a two-seam fastball to end the game.

"My first words, I said to Nick (Juhl) 'I'm pretty jacked right now. He said to breathe five seconds in, five seconds out. It was a good reminder to calm me down. I'm a new pitcher so they come to me and say 'You need to breathe,'" Morton said, adding that he was on the bottom of the dog pile. "It was awesome. I was screaming my brains out."

Temecula Valley, which returned nine starters from last season's finals team, got the benefit of two errors in the opening frame and combined with four hits managed to tack on four runs against Molnar. It was the opposite of what happened in last season's title game, where Cypress won 5-0 and the Golden Bears didn't even get a baserunner until the fifth inning.

"That first inning, I can relate to what they went through. We did the same thing last year," Golden Bears coach Tony Nobiensky said. "I'm happy we capitalized.

"The book on (Molnar) is to get to him early. You saw how he settled in. We were fortunate to get some extra outs in the first inning."

That all especially helped Brandon Koch, who was solid as the Golden Bears' starter. The senior went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks. He yielded baserunners in all but one of his innings, but just kept throwing strikes and let his defense do the work.

"It makes life a lot easier. When you're up 4-0 you just basically need to get your team back in the dugout and start hitting again," said Koch, a UC Riverside commit who struck out two.

See the MaxPreps Southern Section Division 2 playoff bracket

Molnar, a UCLA commit, struck out three in seven innings, allowing seven hits and a walk. His catcher, Blake Sabol, went 3-for-4. For Temecula Valley, David Maldonado was 2-for-4.

The win for Temecula Valley, ranked No. 4 in the state and 19th nationally in the MaxPreps Computer Rankings, still won't mean a move up in the Southern California Top 25 from the No. 2 spot. Aliso Niguel may stay near its No. 8 spot in the SoCal Rankings, and is ranked seventh in the state and 38th nationally in the computer poll.

Temecula Valley may not have won the Southwestern League title (that honor went to Great Oak), but when it came time to get through one of the most brutal postseason brackets in the nation, the Golden Bears proved they were more than up to the task.

"No one knew about us last year but this year we were favorited and had to battle. It wasn't easy," Nobiensky said. "In our league have to go through some really good pitching day in and day out. That prepared us for a playoff run. Our league's pitching is unbelievable."

Bishop Amat (La Puente) 4, Palm Desert 3

The Lancers came up huge in the bottom of the sixth inning in the Division 3 game, as they trailed 3-1 before scoring three times in the frame.

According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Scott Hurst, Michael Palos and Bryan Menendez each knocked in runs in the game-changing inning that left Palm Desert stunned.

Amat won its ninth section title, and Palm Desert was in its fourth final in five years