Story by Matthew Van Bergen
Staff Writer
LA PUENTE- The Bishop Amat Lancers (17-11) defeated the Santiago Cavaliers (13-7) of Garden Grove, 12-3, in the first round of CIF Playoffs on Wednesday.
Coming off a somewhat disappointing season, the Lancers had something to prove after barely making it into CIF.
The Cavaliers’ Franky Raigoza started the scoring early with a two-run homerun off of the Lancers’ Andrew Eppenbach giving Santiago the early lead, 2-0.
The Lancers’ answered back in the bottom of the inning by Evan Claproth’s double reducing the deficit to 2-1.
The Lancers’ continued the scoring in the second inning with a sacrifice fly by Scott Hurst scoring Michael Hernandez, tying the score, 2-2.
The Lancers scored big in the third inning due to the Cavaliers’ poor defense. Christian Moya’s double drove in two runs and Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly extending the Lancers’ lead, 5-2. Anthony Walters tripled, scoring Hernandez.
The Lancers’ DJ Daniels hit an inside-the-park home run widening the gap, 9-2. The Lancers’ added an extra run off an error by the Cavaliers’ center fielder, pushing the lead to 10-2.
The Lancers’ Eppenbach would only give up one more run to the Cavaliers after being relieved by Alan Rodriguez to start the sixth inning.
The Lancers’ relief pitching wouldn’t allow a single run and the Lancers’ would hold on to the lead, ending with a final score of 12-3.
The Lancers will play next Tuesday against the winner of the matchup between Downey and Palm Desert in the second round.