Last Friday, Coronado’s Varsity Baseball team played in the finals of the CIF Division III Tournament. After several decisive wins against Rancho Buena Vista, San Ysidro, and Bishop’s at the Semi-Finals, the varsity team prepared themselves for their final postseason game of the season to be played at the University of San Diego Fowler Park. The first game against Rancho Buena Vista proved an easy win for Coronado, 9-4. Ben Williams and Brandon Depperschmidt were Coronado’s top hitters, scoring two runs each. The top pitcher for the Islanders was Dylan Miller, who struck out seven hitters and allowed only three runs.
Playing against San Ysidro in the quarter-finals, they were able to secure a 4-2 win, with Williams scoring the most runs (2). Coronado’s pitcher, Raden Perry, played all seven innings, with six strikeouts and allowing only two runs with four hits. The semi-finals against Bishop’s proved to be the closest game this season. In the third inning, Bishop’s quickly gained a 2-0 lead over the Islanders. With a sac fly by Jared Pratt in the fifth inning, Coronado was able to take the lead and win 3-2.
As this was a single elimination tournament, Imperial High School (from Imperial, CA) dominated the other half of the draw. As expected, both the No. 1 Seed (Imperial) and No. 2 Seed (Coronado Islanders), as determined by the CIF Power Ranking system, met at the finals for the first time this season. At the top of the first inning, Coronado was up at-bat.
Both teams struggled to score any runs in the first two innings, but Coronado secured a 2-0 at the end of the third inning. Pitching on the mound was Raden Perry, who, by the end of the game, had thirteen first-pitch strikes and six strikeouts. The Islanders scored two more runs in the fourth inning, while Imperial was able to make one. Nic Kaczowski was Coronado’s top hitter with a total of five hits over five at-bats. Gaining three more runs in the last two innings, Perry gave up only three runs on the mound to lead the Islanders to victory, 7-3. Finalized stats recorded Coronado having eleven total hits, with Heath Miller and Bobby Zajonc getting multiple hits, as well.
After an exciting season, Coach Morgan Cummins says, “The boys showed a lot of heart and grit along the way, and in the end, they earned it.” Congratulations to the Islanders on a great win to end the season!
