LOS ANGELES – Luke Eubank might not have been the most well-known baseball player once the CIF Southern Section playoffs started two weeks ago. The same thing, in fact, could be said about his team from
Newbury Park (Calif.). Rest assured, Eubank & Co. are known now around Southern California after Friday night's finishing touches at Dodger Stadium.
Luke Eubank
File photo by Larry Gasinski
The senior right-hander kept
Corona off-balance throughout the Division I title gem and finished with a three-hitter, highlighted by eight strikeouts and no walks, in a 2-1 victory. The result capped off a rather remarkable postseason run by the Panthers (21-7 overall record).
In the same division as powerhouses such as Orange Lutheran (Orange) and Mater Dei (Santa Ana), both nationally ranked by MaxPreps, few gave Newbury Park much of a chance.
Eubank and the Panthers, however, had other ideas. They scored both their runs on a pair of doubles from
Taylor Zander and
Ricky Davis in the third inning. Eubank took over from there. He gave up the lone run in the fourth inning.
All told, Eubank won three games in the postseason and saved two. He ended the season with three no-hitters, six shutouts and an 11-0 record.
Corona (19-15) did not expect to be in the position it was either The Panthers qualified for the playoffs as a wild-card team after finishing in fifth in the Big VIII League. Corona also survived being on the same side of the bracket as Orange Lutheran.
In the end, Newbury Park, Eubank in particular, proved too tough. The days of flying underneath the radar are a thing of the past.
Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.) 3, Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) 2: Trent Chatterton was in one of those positions most only dream about Friday. With the title game on the line, he delivered the big hit for Pacifica. Chatterton's single scored
Daniel Ferell with in the bottom of 10th inning to secure the Division II title victory at Dodger Stadium.
Aliso Niguel (23-12) got off to a good start in the first inning and appeared in control.
Matt Molnars single scored
Kyle Paris Paris and
Justin Fowler.
The Mariners (28-5), responded as Chatterton had an RBI double in the third inning.
Kyle Davis added an RBI on a groundout, to tie the score, 2-2. The sequence set the stage for Chatterton to seal the deal in extra innings.
Bonita (La Verne, Calif.)) 5, Alhambra 1: There were mutliple times when Bonita's
Justin Garza was unhittable on Friday at Dodger Stadium. That fact did not bode well for an Alhambra group in search of answers either. He gave up one run on three hits and struck out seven batter for the Bearcats (32-2 ) in a Division III title game.
Garza got stronger as the game went on. He didn't allow a hit from Alhambra (24-4) after the second inning and retired the final 12 batters in order.
Offensively,
Thomas Castro proved the run support Garza was in search of. He reached base in his three appearances at the plate and was 2-for-2.
