Frustrated for eight innings, held to one hit while stranding 10 runners, the Mt. Carmel High School baseball team finally pushed across a run in the bottom of the ninth.
Ethan Coyle’s sacrifice fly scored Bryce Miller and the Sundevils walked away with an improbable 3-2 win over Venice in the semifinals of the Division 3 Southern California Regionals.
Mt. Carmel (23-12), seeded No. 2, will host No. 5-seeded University City on Saturday after the Centurions upset top-seeded Goleta Dos Pueblos.
Mt. Carmel doesn’t graduate until Thursday, so there are no major distractions Saturday.
“Unbelievable,” said Mt. Carmel coach Keith Johnson. “We get one hit, but we battled and found a way.”
Tied 1-1 after seven innings, Venice (29-4) scored in the top of the eighth.
Mt. Carmel answered when Ethan Coyle drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on a ed ball.
Coyle was in the middle of things in the Sundevils’ ninth, too.
With one out, Bryce Miller drew a walk. He stole second and went to third on a ed ball.
The Gondoliers then walked the next two batters intentionally and Coyle delivered a fly ball to right that was deep enough to score Miller with the game-winning run.
“I was looking for a pitch I could drive deep enough to score the run,” Coyle said. “I got a fastball at the top of the zone, and took advantage of it. It was a little frustrating today. We got guys on, hit balls hard, but couldn’t score. Coach tells us to stay focused, concentrate on the next at-bat and take care of business.”
Venice pitchers walked 11 Sundevils — two intentionally in the ninth. The Gondoliers also hit a batter.
But Mt. Carmel left 10 runners on in the first eight innings, including the bases loaded in the fourth and leaving two on in the second and sixth.
The only Mt. Carmel hit was an infield single by Atticus Enriquez in the fourth inning.
“This was a really good matchup against a good team,” said Miller, who came in to pitch in the eighth after catching the first seven innings. We knew Venice was a good team, but they hadn’t faced us yet.
“Their pitchers were dealing, but we managed to take advantage of a couple of mistakes to stay in the game. We hit some balls hard, made some mistakes in the field. But we stayed focused, didn’t get too frustrated.”
Asked if he had any legs left while pitching after catching seven innings, Miller was quick to answer.
“I do a lot to stay loose during games,” he said. “These kinds of situations come up and I have to be ready, have to be loose.
“Coach brought me in to pitch, and I needed to compete. The fact we get to host the championship game is crazy. We have a great group of guys. Now we need to get it done.”
