When Connor Wagner stepped up to bat in the fifth inning with runners on first and second, one out, and a one-run lead he just wanted to hit the ball hard somewhere.
Despite a batting average over .300, hitting the ball hard somewhere has not been the easiest thing for Wagner this year. All 24 of his hits this year had all been singles entering the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 playoffs.
Wagner, usually hitting from the nine spot in the batting order, is no stranger to being a run-scorer. He is third on the team in RBIs.
If Wagner wanted the chance to score both runners he knew he would have to hit the ball hard for extra bases.
On the second pitch of his at-bat, Wagner blasted a ball to deep center field. The ball carried enough to go over the centerfielder’s head and bounce against the wall.
Both runners scored as Wagner pulled up to second base, stunned at how far that ball went.
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“I’ve never hit the ball that far this year,” Wagner said. “I didn’t even know what to do at second, I was so hyped.”
His teammates yelled and cheered at him from the dugout and Wagner took a second and yelled right back.
“In our program, we call that the magic moment, and that was a magic moment for that young man,” Oak Hills head coach Sean Sers said.
Wagner’s two RBIs were in the middle of a stretch of eight unanswered runs from the Bulldogs that gave them the win against San Marino to punch a ticket to the quarterfinals with a 9-6 victory.
Pitcher errors lead to rallies
Oak Hills scored the opening run of the game in the second inning but a costly error by Austin Allan made way for a San Marino rally.
After the first two batters of the third inning reached with back-to-back singles, San Marino’s JJ Wilson laid down a bunt that went right to Allan.
The starting pitcher had time to get the lead runner out at first but threw the ball wide of the bag allowing that runner to score and tie the game. Two batters later, Chase Mena singled to right to score two more runs for San Marino.
Allan would get one of those runs back with a run-scoring double the next half-inning.
The bottom of the fourth inning saw San Marino pitcher Brandon Strauss commit a costly error of his own.
With one out and Patrick Dufer on first, Wagner lined a ball back to Strauss for an out. Dufer was sure to be doubled up at first base for the inning-ending double play but Strauss’ throw back went wide and Dufer advanced to second base.
Dufer eventually scored on a Jacob Webster single and Oak Hills scored again that inning to take a 4-3 lead.
“It makes them hungry and just gets the next batter up and we just want to move the line along,” Sers said about the team taking advantage of mistakes.
Bulldogs survive late comeback attempt
With a 9-3 lead in the sixth inning, Allan was pulled on the mound for Angelo Rizzo.
Rizzo was planning on pitching that final two innings to close the game but things went awry in the sixth.
After getting out with their first two batters of the inning, San Marino scored three runs with a hit-by-pitch, an error by Webster and three singles.
Rizzo finished the inning but was pulled in the seventh for Pauly Montoya, Oak Hills’ ace.
A leadoff strikeout followed with the next two batters reaching base, with the tying run stepping up to the plate.
Montoya got two strikes on Tomás Bilvado and threw a big looping curveball over the plate for strike three. Montoya threw the same pitch on two strikes to the next batter and got him to swing and miss for the final out of the game.
“It feels really good to just be able to get that last out with just having confidence,” Montoya said.
What’s next
Oak Hills continues its playoff run into the quarterfinals on the road Friday afternoon against Culver City.
The two teams had one common opponent in Roosevelt this season. Oak Hills lost to Roosevelt 5-0 in February, while Culver City is coming off a 1-0 victory over Roosevelt in the second round of the playoffs.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Prep Baseball: Oak Hills beats San Marino to reach the CIF-SS Division 4 quarterfinals
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