The Bakersfield Californian

Bakersfield Christian advances to SoCal regional semifinals

Eagles hits three home runs to advance to SoCal Regional D-III baseball semifinal

BY RON STAPP rstapp@bakersfield.com

The hits just keep coming and there are certainly no complaints from the Bakersfield Christian baseball team.

The Eagles launched three solo home runs and three pitchers combined on a three-hitter as No. 2 BCHS cruised to a 5-1 victory over No. 7 Long Beach Poly in the opening game of the Southern California Regional Division III playoffs.

“It was a great team win,” BCHS coach Mark Ratekin said. “Our pitching was good, we didn’t allow a lot of extra base hits, our defense was solid and we hit three home runs, which isn’t typical for us at home. We did what we needed to win the game.”

Bakersfield Christian (26-7) will host No. 3 San Diego-Patrick Henry (20-12) in Thursday’s regional semifinal, with a berth in Saturday’s final on the line. The Patriots defeated No. 6 Whittier-La Serna in their first-round matchup.

“It all comes down to pitching this time of the season, and I feel like we have one of the best pitching staffs in the Valley and the state,” Ratekin said. “We have a lot of depth and that’s the key going forward.”

Mason Brassfield got things started with a solo home run in the second inning to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead, and then after the Jackrabbits (24-5) tied it in the third, he held his opponents in check in five innings of work.

“For me, I know I’ve been struggling a little bit at the plate, but I also understand that I still need to provide for my team,” said Brassfield, who was hitless in his last three playoff games entering Tuesday’s contest. “So I’ve been trying to just keep my head down and keep grinding. So when I was at the plate I was looking to hit the ball hard to provide for my team.”

The junior left-hander allowed just two hits, striking out eight and pitched around five walks to improve to 3-0 in the postseason and 9-1 overall.

“When I was pitching, I knew I was supposed to go in there and compete and pound the zone,” Brassfield said. “And that’s what I was able to do today.”

And his performance at the plate helped him settle in.

“Once I hit that ball, I knew I could finally relax,” Brassfield said. “It was like, I have run-support, I’m OK so I could just go out there and compete like I normally do.”

Tied 1-1, BCHS took the lead for good on a solo home run by Luke Mann to lead off the bottom of the fourth.

Bakersfield Christian added another run when Trent Martin followed with a walk, was balked to second and scored on a double by Toby Twist to make it 3-1 off Poly right-hander Lucas Scott.

Scott, who drove in the Jackrabbits’ only run with a double in the third, limited the damage in the fourth, but relinquished another solo homer in the fifth, this one by Shaine Heriford, to make it 4-1. Scott gave up four runs on five hits, with two walks, a hit batsmen and five strikeouts in four innings.

The Eagles manufactured another run in the fifth, making the most of two walks, a stolen base, a balk and an infield single by Diego Sanchez.

Broc Redenius and Chris Hernandez each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, with Heriford ending the game with a highlight-reel, running, full-extension, catch in left-centerfield.

The victory was Bakersfield Christian’s seventh in a row, pushing the team to its first regional semifinal. The Eagles won the section D-IV title in 2021 and lost its D-V opener at home to Lancaster that year, the inaugural year of regional play in the state.

“Even though we’ve got the Valley ring, we’re still hungry,” Brassfield said. “I want the state title; I want to keep going because I think we have a legit shot at winning state, and I’m pretty excited to see (what we can do).”

Ratekin added, “I’m excited for our program and for the players. We are two deep at every position so we feel good where we’re at right now.”

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2023-05-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://bakersfield.pressreader.com/article/281767043605723

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