Ailing Ross tosses Conqs from playoffs

BEVERLY HILLS - Cabrillo baseball coach Jonathan Osborne felt his team was prepared for Beverly Hills' hard-throwing Matt Ross Tuesday night - but, in a perfect scenario, Osborne hoped his Conqs could avoid him altogether.

“We noticed he had taken some time off, and we were hoping they didn't throw him today,” Osborne said.

Not even a week removed from getting the “green light” to pitch from his doctor, Ross returned from an injury Tuesday and threw Cabrillo out of the playoffs.

Ross pitched his customary complete-game, allowing just three hits as Beverly Hills defeated visiting Cabrillo 6-1 in a CIF Division IV Wild-Card game at La Cienega Park in Beverly Hills.

It was Ross' seventh start of the season, and his seventh complete game. He might have had gaudier numbers this season if not for a recent injury to his throwing arm, which sidelined one of the Ocean League's top hurlers for three weeks.

“He's still injured,” Beverly Hills coach Vonzie Paysinger said. “He has a stress fracture in his throwing arm (left) and was cleared just last week. We were debating how much pain he could be pitching with.”

Cabrillo did not make it easy on Ross, leading for the opening couple frames before falling behind late.

Cabrillo faced Carpinteria in its last regular season game Thursday, and had some success against a left-hander comparable to Ross. Cabrillo beat Carpinteria 5-3.

“We played well against Carpinteria, so we knew that if they (Beverly Hills) threw their left-handed pitcher, we could hit him,” Osborne said.

And after the first inning, that assessment seemed on point.

Cabrillo's Aaron Naputi led off the game with a walk and moved to second on Zach Pecyna's sacrifice bunt. Ryan McGinty's single to left field scored Naputi for a 1-0 lead. At the time, Cabrillo had already done some damage to Ross' ERA, which was .818 in 43 innings of work before Tuesday's game.

Cabrillo starter Brian Engler made easy work of the Normans until the third inning. The Normans tied the game on Justin Schwartz's sacrifice drive to deep center - scoring Charlie Bogart from third base.

It should have been much worse - but Naputi, a defensive-standout in center field, ranged to his left and made a remarkable leaping catch to rob Schwartz. And it may have been Naputi's second-best catch of the day.

“He's made plays like that before,” Osborne said. “They're spectacular plays. We expect that from him.”

Beverly Hills' center fielder, Monty Zimmerman, equaled Naputi's feat in the top of the next inning (fifth) when he caught a ball heading toward the 340 sign in center field - slamming into the fence seconds after the ball nestled in his mitt.

Not to be outdone, Naputi did another Andruw Jones impression in the bottom of the frame. He dove forward on a sharply hit fly ball to center field, catching it airborne to save a run.

By that time, however, the Normans had already taken a 3-1 lead. Their game-winning run came in the fourth inning on Erik Munzer's RBI single. They scored the other run on an RBI triple.

Engler ran into further trouble in the sixth inning, before he was replaced by Justin Boggs. He inherited two runners and no outs. The Normans brought home three insurance runs and were not threatened in the top of the seventh.

Despite the loss, “Our team played really well,” Osborne said. “I'm proud of our guys.”

Cabrillo finished the season 13-14 overall, having secured a playoff spot with a fourth-place finish in the Los Padres League.

SY 4, Oaks Christian 1

Chase Yost and Evan Soliman hit solo home runs, and Todd Whitmore threw a four-hit complete game. They helped the Pirates move into the first round of Division IV with a wild card win.

Whitmore struck out seven and walked just one. The Pirates were errorless.

Santa Ynez coach Dave Kuehn praised sophomore shortstop Nicoh Dellavalle in particular. Kuehn said Dellavalle, who moved up to the varsity in mid-season made two outstanding plays in the field.

Santa Ynez plays at Sunkist League champ Riverside Patriot at 3:15 p.m. Friday.

Sports Writer Dan Watson can be reached at 739-2235 or by e-mail to dwatson@santamariatimes.com.

May 14, 2008