Agoura to play for first CIF baseball championship

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers NEXT STOP: ANAHEIM-Agoura senior right-hander Jamie Leonard, pictured throwing in an earlier postseason game, pitched four innings and allowed only two earned runs during the Chargers' 9-5 victory over Chino Tuesday in Long Beach. AHS will play Lakewood Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the CIFSS Division I championship game at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Pack your bags and fill up the gas tanks, Agoura, because the Chargers' magical ride is headed to the happiest place on earth- Anaheim.

Following a 9-5 victory over Chino Tuesday afternoon in the semifinals of the CIF-SS playoffs at Blair Field in Long Beach, Agoura (21-8) now advances to Saturday night's Division I championship game at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.

In the championship game, AHS will face Lakewood, 1-0 winners over Riverside Poly in Tuesday night's second semifinal game.

With senior pitching ace Jason Stoffel relegated to crutches after breaking his ankle in the team's quarterfinal victory over Mater Dei, Agoura relied on right-handers Jamie Leonard and Matt Withem to put the clamp on a Chino offense that had scored 26 runs in its first three postseason games.

The senior hurlers exceeded expectations in Stoffel's absence, as Leonard allowed two earned runs in four innings of work and Withem retired all nine batters he faced in three frames of flawless relief.

"It was tough with Stoffel going down, but I was grateful to get the opportunity," Leonard said. "I thought that I was up to the challenge and it was a great opportunity to go out there and throw. I'm glad I could come through."

Asked to enter the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with no outs, a runner on second base and his team clinging to a four-run lead, Withem said he tried to maintain his focus and stay relaxed.

"I just played it like it was any other game," Withem said. "I didn't need to think about all the other stuff that was involved."

Chino, which finished the season 28-2 overall, got on the scoreboard in the second inning when a throwing error by Agoura shortstop Nick Farinacci allowed Javier Ochoa to cross the plate.

But the Chargers bounced right back in the top of the third, an inning in which they'd send 11 batters to the plate and score seven runs.

AHS second baseman Ben Yarin led off the third inning with a double. After a Farinacci groundout, Danny Gallinot was hit by a pitch. Brandon Allen followed with a single to right field to load the bases for catcher Cole McCune.

McCune, who started behind the plate because designated hitter Robert Stock was banged up with thigh and hand injuries, ripped a double that plated Yarin and Gallinot.

Right fielder Matt Prater then walked to load the bases again with one out, and left fielder Bill Sharp followed with an RBI single that scored Allen to make it 3-1 Agoura.

With two outs, Stock hit a ground ball to Chino second baseman Justin Jacobs that should've ended the inning. Instead, Jacobs booted the ball and McCune crossed home plate with Agoura's fourth run.

With the bases loaded yet again and still two outs, Yarin crushed his second double of the inning, this one clearing the bases as Prater, Sharp and Stock all came in to score.

"I wasn't trying to do too much, just get a base hit," said Yarin, who finished the game 3for-5 with four RBI and a run scored. "They gave me a couple of inside pitches and I just stayed back and hit it to left field."

When the dust finally settled, the Chargers had built a 7-1 lead they would not relinquish.

Agoura tacked on a pair of runs over the next two innings. In the fourth, McCune's RBI double scored Gallinot for an 8-2 Charger lead. Yarin's RBI single in the top of the fifth inning plated J.T. Wright and pushed the score to 9-2.

Following back-to-back errors by Farinacci in the bottom of the fifth inning, Ochoa hit an RBI double and Michael Surina added a two-RBI double that brought Chino within striking distance at 9-5.

But after Surina's double, Withem replaced Leonard and Chino never got another runner on base.

Not only did Agoura win its biggest game of the season to date, but they were able to do so without using Stock on the mound. That was an unexpected bonus, AHS head coach Scott Deck said.

"It's huge. Now we have (Stock) to go the whole distance Saturday if he can go that long," said Deck, who was an assistant on the 2003 Thousand Oaks team that won the CIF-SS Division II title.

"The talk was that we lost Stoffel and we'd never get past this round," the coach said. "I would've never thought we wouldn't have to use Stock in this game. It's just a tribute to how well our guys performed. Everyone stepped up."

Only minutes after the final out was recorded, Stock had already turned his attention to the championship game, where he'll be asked to toe the rubber with a CIF title hanging in the balance.

"It starts for me today, right now," Stock said. "I'm already thinking of that game on Saturday. I think I'll be ready."