Tyler Mark
After winning three CIF baseball playoff games, Culver City High was one victory away from reaching the Division 3 championship game at Dodger Stadium.
However, the Centaurs’ season ended Tuesday in a semi-final 2-1 loss to Woodbridge High of Anaheim.
The win qualified Woodbridge to oppose another Anaheim school, Beckman, today at 4:30 in Dodger Stadium. Both teams are members of the Pacific League.
The loss was a close call for Culver City, which won two playoff games in Orange County and was playing superbly after finishing second to Santa Monica in the Ocean League.
Coach Rick Prieto had his ace pitcher, junior Tyler Mark, ready for Woodbridge and an overflow crowd turned out for the Culver home game.
But Mark was edged by highly regarded senior Brandon Horth, the Woodbridge lefthanded pitcher who began the day with a 0.93 earned run average.
Culver scored its only run in the first inning when Skyler Blocker singled with the bases loaded to score Ryan Mulvhill, who had walked and reached third on singles by Mark and George Aceves.
Horth settled down and Culver’s next threat in the seventh when Christopher Caines walked and then reached third base with two outs. But Rodney Bradley grounded out to end the game.
In the third round last Friday Culver continued its surprising run through the playoffs by traveling to Irvine and defeating University High, 4-1 .
Lukas O’Connor was the winning pitcher with a complete game seven-hitter which ended University’s season after the team had won 12 of its last 14 games.
A capacity crowd turned out, many anticipating a University win that would have set up an all-Irvine semi-final against Woodbridge.
Instead, Culver benefitted from three University errors in the first inning which led to three unearned runs. Mulvhill drove in two of the runs with a double
Culver had 10 hits in the game and it was the second time in the playoffs the Centaurs went to Orange County and won. The other time was the first round victory at Westminster High.
Culver finished the season with a 16-13-1 record.
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