Stockdale outslugs Golden Hawks in 3rd meeting of season, earns berth in semis
| Tuesday, May 26 2009 08:17 AM
Last Updated Tuesday, May 26 2009 03:38 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's K.C. Hobson is congratulated by third base coach Greg Showers as he rounds third heading for home plate after hitting a homerun out of the park, Friday, while playing against Centennial at Stockdale.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's K.C. Hobson knocks one out of the park, Friday, at Stockdale while playing against Centennial for a spot in the Division I semifinals.
Casey Christie / The Californian After hitting one out of the park, Friday, against Stockdale High, Tory Blair, #9, left, is congratulated at home by teammates after his blast.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's K.C. Hobson is congratulated by third base coach Greg Showers as he rounds third heading for home plate after hitting a homerun out of the park, Friday, while playing against Centennial at Stockdale.
Casey Christie / The Californian Centennial's Elijah Trail slides past the plate as Stockdale's catcher goes after the ball during a play, Friday at Stockdale. Trail was safe at home.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's K.C. Hobson knocks one out of the park, Friday, at Stockdale while playing against Centennial for a spot in the Division I semifinals.
Casey Christie / The Californian Centennial's Tory Blair, #9 is mobbed by teammates after roping one out of the park during Friday's game against Stockdale.
This is how a Stockdale-Centennial baseball game ought to go -- high tension, high emotion, high scoring.
But no matter how they play the game, the 2009 Mustangs have the Golden Hawks' number.
Fighting back from a three-run deficit to win a home run-filled shootout, fourth-seeded Stockdale advanced to the Central Section Division I semifinals with an 11-8 victory against No. 5 Centennial at home Friday.
Stockdale (24-5) had out-scored Centennial (22-7) 20-1 in two regular-season victories, but this one, in front of a crowd that spread far down both foul lines, was tense throughout.
"When I saw the brackets, my heart sank," Stockdale assistant Greg Showers said, "because you play your rivals three times in a row, you know it's going to be a tough game."
The defending champion Mustangs now advance to the Division I semifinals, where they'll play at home against No. 8 Fresno-Bullard next week. Stockdale has won four straight section playoff games by a grand total of seven runs.
"It's absolutely credit to the kids," Showers said. "We can preach, 'You got to play seven innings and 21 outs' and all that coaches' hyperbole, but they're the ones that have to do it."
This game, a battle of the past two Division I section champions, opened with the teams trading big rallies that would defined many games. But Stockdale's five-run rally in the bottom of the first -- highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Scott Denesha and K.C. Hobson -- wasn't indicative of another blowout. Centennial's seven-run binge in the top of the second -- featuring back-to-back HRs from Tory Blair and Bryan Maxwell -- gave the Hawks control.
"Credit goes to them," Showers said. "They came up there and swung the heck out of the bats. They earned it, and our guys had a real gut check."
Blair's home run was a line-drive grand slam to right field, and it gave Centennial a 6-5 lead. The Golden Hawks stretched it to 8-5 in the third, but Stockdale's offense was too much.
Isaiah Turner hit a three-run home run the other way to edge Stockdale back in front, 9-8, in the fourth inning. K.C. Hobson's RBI double and Ryan Atherly's second RBI single in stretched the lead to 11-8 over the next two innings.
"I think we kind of let them off the hook with the bases loaded (in the third inning)," Centennial coach Randy Roberts said. "We had a chance to sneak another one or two more, and then I'd have felt maybe a little more comfortable. But with their hitters? No, you don't think it's ever out of reach."
Hobson started on the mound for Stockdale, as he had in the teams' past two meetings. But instead of one-hitting the powerful Golden Hawks, as he did in their previous meeting, Hobson was knocked out after two. It was Philip Valos who came on and held Centennial to a lone run the rest of the way, stranding the bases loaded in the third and runners on first and third in the fifth. He allowed one run on four hits in his five innings with seven strikeouts and has won four straight playoff games.
"It was very reminiscent of his effort in the semifinals against Clovis West last year," Showers said. "He came back ... and kept us in the game."
And, clear of this local hurdle, Stockdale was gifted another home game when eighth-seeded Bullard upset top seed Clovis-Buchanan in another quarterfinal. But, as this game taught the Mustangs, a victory there shouldn't be expected.
"There are no easy games," Showers said. "Not in Division I. There are none."
