Pitching, Big Inning Put RB Back in Div. I Title Game

With a 31-1 run advantage over its opponents through three CIF playoff games, the Rancho Bernardo High baseball team is showing the form that carried it to a San Diego Section Division I championship last season.

The Broncos secured a spot in Saturday's title game and a chance for a repeat by blanking Vista 8-0 on Tuesday thanks to a three-hit shutout by David Gabel and an offense that produced a seven-run second inning.

After taking home the championship in the Palomar League, RB (26-6) has sailed through the playoffs without much trouble. The Broncos blanked Carlsbad 14-0 then had their way with rival Poway 9-1, to set up the match-up with the Panthers.

Vista (27-7) had beaten RB 7-6 on March 24, but Tuesday was a whole different ball game.

The game was scoreless in the bottom of the second when Becker Sankey started the RB rally with a hit, and Max Homick and Alex Jackson added one-out singles to load the bases.

Chris Douthit drew a walk to force in the first run of the game. Matt Jervis followed with a two-run single, and two more walks forced home the fourth run of the inning. A sharp single to right-center by Branden Berry brought in two more, quickly making it 6-0 Broncos.

RB eventually batted around, with Sankey, who started the rally, putting a cap on the seven-run second with an RBI single.

“We play a pro style, and we don’t worry about small ball or moving the runner over by bunting. We just hit,” said Broncos coach Sam Blalock. “We’re united in our attack. We try to stay simple, using each player's different skills to help in the game.”

One player who enjoyed the offensive support was  Gabel, a senior who started pitching for the Broncos only this season. Gabel struck out two and walked one in raising his record to 8-2.

“It always feels good to contribute to the team’s success,” said Gabel. “We feed off each other’s success. When we see someone doing well, we build off that and feed off of it.”

The Broncos would add one more in the fourth on a solo homer from Andrew Daniel, his 10th of the year.

Rancho Bernardo will face either Grossmont or Torrey Pines, who play an elimination game Thursday, in the title game Saturday at 7 p.m. at SDSU's Tony Gwynn Stadium.

“It doesn’t matter who’s on the other side, we’re just going to focus on our game and what we need to do to win,” said senior shortstop Daniel, who went 1-4 with two runs scored. “We’re going to try to do the same thing we’ve been doing all year. Good pitching, good defense and timely hitting.”