Tesoro Tops Cypress in Baseball, 6-2

Tesoro capped off an impressive April on Saturday afternoon, defeating Cypress, 6-2, at home in O.C. Challenge competition. The Titans collected 13 hits and used a four-man platoon of pitchers to defeat the top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division II coaches' poll.

Kyle Goodbrand took the ball first for Tesoro (15-12), tossing two scoreless innings. While the sophomore kept Cypress (19-6) off the board early, the Titans’ red-hot lineup continued to produce.

Catcher Eric Hutting led off the first inning with a single to center field off pitcher Dylan Cole and advanced to second on a walk to senior Kris Paulino. Connor Spencer, Tesoro’s slugging first baseman, brought both runners home with a double to deep center.

"It relaxes you when you get those first runs across," Titans coach Rick Brail said. "We were able to settle in and get comfortable at the plate and allow our pitchers to throw with a lead."

The Titans built on their two-run opening inning with three hits in the second. Outfielders Tanner Donnels and Kevin Co slapped consecutive singles to start the inning, which led to a pitching change for Cypress.

Centurians coach John Weber opted to replace the right-handed Cole with lefty Jeff Gogue. Hutting greeted Gogue by lacing an RBI single to right, extending Tesoro’s advantage to 3-0.

Hutting led all hitters with three base knocks in the contest. The Titans’ junior backstop continues to blossom into a reliable presence at the plate, according to Brail.

"It's nice to have a guy like Eric anywhere in your lineup," Brail said. "He understands the game, works at-bats and can hit to all fields. He's a savvy player and we're luck to have him here."

Tesoro sent senior A.J. Pipitone to the mound for the third inning. The right-hander fell victim to shaky defense, as Cypress third baseman  Dylan Nault reached base on an infield error and scored on David Fletcher’s sacrifice fly after advancing to third base on a single.

With the score sitting at 3-1, the Centurians loaded the bases with two outs. Pipitone prevented any further damage by retiring John Valenzuela with a groundout to first.

The Titans' pitching staff surrendered only four hits on the afternoon to overcome six issued walks and two pivotal fielding errors. Errors played a part in each of Cypress’ runs, including their second score in the fifth inning, which came courtesy of a throwing error.

"Our plan going into today was to use a lot of our pitching staff," Brail said. "We wanted to get some innings for a number of guys who hadn't been pitching a whole lot. They did a nice job limiting scoring opportunities and pitched out of a few jams. I'm very happy with the performance of that group today."

Tesoro took a slim 3-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, but an efficient inning from the bottom of the lineup soon provided the Titans with breathing room.

Senior Connor Fraser sent a one-out single to center to kick-start Tesoro’s offensive efforts. Donnels followed with a grounder to Cypress shortstop David Fletcher, whosw throw sailed into the outfield when he tried to turn a double-play.

Fraser sprinted from first base to home on the throwing error, while Donnels wound up on third. Then Co connected perfectly on a squeeze bunt down the third-base line, bringing Donnels in for the Titans’ fifth run of the game.

Tesoro’s execution at the plate continued in the sixth inning, which Hutting began with his third single of the game. Second baseman Braden Peters pounded a double into the left-center gap to score Hutting with one out in the sixth.

"We want to keep our foot on the gas against a good team like Cypress," Brail said. "Our guys stayed with it and came up with some big hits in key situations."

Sophomore Nate Patton pitched a scoreless seventh inning to put the finishing touches on the Titans’ victory. Saturday’s successful clash with the Centurians gives Tesoro 10 wins in their last 12 games.

The Titans’ 13-hit outburst against Cypress is the team’s 12th double-digit hit total of the season and their eighth in the month of April.

"We've been doing the little things better as the season's gone by," Hutting said. "We've been getting some key two-out hits and we got some momentum as the game went on."

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