Stoffel saves Agoura

A DAY TO REMEMBER- Agoura's 4-3 12-inning victory over Valencia Tuesday afternoon in the second round of the Division I playoffs was nothing short of phenomenal. Above, the Chargers mob Cole McCune at home after J.T. Wright's gamewinning hit. Left, Robert Stock is tagged out at the plate by Casey Mulligan in the bottom of the sixth inning. Below left, Agoura senior Jason Stoffel pitched eight shutout innings in relief. Below right, Valencia head coach Jared Snyder jaws with the umpire but miraculously doesn't get tossed. Photos by JANN HENDRY Acorn Newspapers Superman wears a No. 26 on his back.

Agoura senior Jason Stoffel pitched eight innings of scoreless relief Tuesday afternoon as the Chargers defeated Valencia, 4-3, in 12 innings during the second round of the CIF-SS Division I playoffs at AHS.

"I've never even thrown eight innings in a start before," Stoffel said. "I didn't expect it today, I'll say that. My whole body feels like it's about to fall apart. I'm tired. I'm going to the hottest hot tub I can find and I'm going to jump in."

Charger head coach Scott Deck said Stoffel's effort was pure guts.

"Stoffel was Stoffel," Deck said. "He didn't want to come out of the game. We were trying to take him out, but he just said, 'I'm not coming out.' It was impressive."

Valencia finished the season 25-4 overall, with two of its losses coming against Agoura. The Vikings had won 15 c o n s e c u t i v e games prior to Tuesday's defeat.

Agoura (19-8) now advances to F r i d a y ' s q u a r t e r f i n a l matchup at home against Mater Dei.

In an epic contest that seemed as if it would never end, Agoura senior center fielder J.T. Wright drove in Cole McCune with the game-deciding run with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning.

McCune led off the final inning with a single. Stoffel followed with a strikeout, but McCune advanced to second base on a passed ball. Matt Prater struck out. Wright then ripped a shot down the first-base line to win the game.

It was sweet redemption for Wright, who had gone hitless in four previous at-bats and had a costly error earlier in the contest.

"I was thinking I had to do something," Wright said. "I was 0-for-4 and my fielding was poor. I had to come through in some way to help the team out. That was probably my biggest hit ever."

Agoura looked as if it would put the game away early.

Brandon Allen's two RBI double with one out in the bottom of the first inning got Valencia starter Scott Fowler the early hook.

Valencia brought in Caleb Deville to relive Fowler, and Deville was able to retire Prater with the bases loaded to escape the first-inning jam with just two runs on the scoreboard.

In the bottom of the second inning, Charger left fielder Ben Yarin scored on a passed ball to push Agoura's lead to 3-0. But AHS left a pair of men on base to end the frame, giving them a total of five runners stranded through the first two innings of play.

"I lost track of how many guys we left on base," Deck said. "In a game like that, you know it's going to come down to one hit. You've just got to keep your guys focused and confident."

Valencia scored twice off Charger starter Robert Stock in the top of the third inning on RBI singles by Casey Mulligan and Michael Hur.

Stock was relieved by Jamie Leonard in the top of the fourth.

Leonard allowed the tying run to score when Valencia's Chris Matzner crossed the plate on a wild pitch with two outs.

Stoffel took over in the top of fifth inning and worked out of jams in the eighth, ninth and 12th innings. In the top of the 12th, Valencia had the bases loaded with two outs, but Stoffel was able to strikeout Justin Shults to end the threat.

Agoura also had plenty of chances to put the game away before Wright's game winner.

The Chargers left one or more runners on base in the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Their best chance at victory, however, occurred in the bottom of the sixth.

With two outs and nobody on base, Stock was i n t e n t i o n a l l y walked. Yarin followed with a single to center field that advanced Stock to second.

Valencia replaced Deville with Nick Pappas, who'd allowed only 11 earned runs in 64 innings of work this season.

Agoura shortstop Nick Farinacci laced a single to rightcenter field, and Stock came charging hard toward the plate. But Valencia right fielder Brian Howe threw a perfect strike to the dish to cut down Stock and keep the score tied.

Following the shocking conclusion to the sixth inning, Stoffel shut down Valencia for six more frames.

After losing a nine-inning game at home to Hart in the first round of last season's playoffs, Deck was thrilled to escape the same fate this year.

Deck also said his team should have plenty left in the tank for Friday's quarterfinal, and with Stock, who suffered a minor hand injury after being hit by a batted ball, and Leonard both available to pitch, the staff shouldn't be totally depleted.

"If you don't win this game, you don't go on," Deck said. "We'll take a deep breath and figure out what our rotation is. That's the best you can do. I'd rather win this game and have nothing left for the next round than be turning in our uniforms."