Centaurs Cannot Cross Woodbridge to Finals

Being matched against one of the best pitchers in the Southland didn't intimidate Tyler Mark one bit. In fact, it made the Culver City High junior more determined to lead his team to Dodger Stadium. 

Mark and the Centaurs battled right down to their final out but came up short, losing to Irvine Woodbridge, 2-1, in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs Tuesday afternoon at Culver City High.

"Whenever I get the ball my coaches tell me just throw and don't worry about the score," said Mark, who struck out five and scattered seven hits over seven innings. "In the first [inning] I had trouble with my curveball, but I felt under control after that."

Brandon Horth, a senior left-hander, came into the game with a 0.93 earned run average for Woodbridge (19-11), the Pacific Coast League runner up.   

Culver City batters came out swinging and put Horth in immediate trouble. After Tyler Adkison struck out, Rodney Bradley legged out an infield hit but was picked off first. Ryan Mulvihill drew a walk, then Mark and George Aceves each singled to load the bases. Skylar Blocker singled to score Mulvihill, but a strong throw to the plate forced Mark to hold at third base. Darian Sylvester grounded softly to Horth, who flipped to first for the final out.

"Without question that was one of the keys to the game," Culver City Coach Rick Prieto said. "That's been our success all postseason  is getting two or three runs early. It sets the tone and keeps the pitchers loose. After the first inning we didn't have too many chances to get runs. It was one base at a time."

After the four-hit first inning, the Centaurs (16-13-1) managed only one more hit all game against Horth, who struck out four and walked three.

"I give up one run a game so I was like 'That's it, that's all they're getting,'" Horth said. "In my three years on varsity I've learned how to get out of jams. I love the pressure."

The Warriors wasted no time tying the score. Matt Schneble hit a flair over third baseman Ryan Mulvihill's outstretched glove to score Brandon Smith with two outs. 

In the top of the fourth, Woodbridge loaded the bases with no outs and Matt Budgell's fly to center was deep enough to score Ben Wylly with the go-ahead run. Mark escaped further damage when Schneble lined out to center and Brennan Leitao was doubled off second.

"He had his stuff ," Horth said of his counterpart Mark. "He was getting our guys to get themselves out. Our guys were swinging at pitches they shouldn't have, but that's what good pitchers do. Culver City's a legit team for sure."

In the bottom of the seventh inning a seven-pitch at-bat ended when Lukas O'Connor grounded back to Horth for the first out. Christopher Caines walked and took second base on a pitch in the dirt. Adkison flied to right and Caines tagged and moved to third, but Bradley grounded to first to end the game.

"I feel really bad for the seniors, but we have seven starters and all of our pitchers coming back so we should be really good again next year," said Prieto, who said the last time the Centaurs advanced to the semifinals was in 1980 when they lost by one run to Anaheim. "We had a standing-room only crowd and we were trying to make history for the community, for our school and most importantly, these players."