SOUTHERN SECTION DIV. II FINAL: SIMI'S BELIEVERS WIN CHAMPIONSHIP IMPROBABLE RUN ENDS IN A THRILLER SIMI VALLEY, 5, EL DORADO 4.Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer Dylan Gaughen had come through with so many spotlight-stealing performances in the postseason that he emerged as a local celebrity in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. . The senior outfielder for the Simi Valley High baseball team was reminded of his status as he prepared to go to Saturday's Southern Section final at Dodger Stadium • • [ . ``I was going to pick up my friend and the mailman comes up to me and says, 'good luck.' He's rooting for me,'' Gaughen said. ``People I've never even seen before have been coming up and talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to me all week.'' But after making a habit of rescuing Simi Valley's title hopes en route to the Div. II final, Gaughen was the one who needed some help from his friends Saturday. Gaughen walked four batters in the seventh inning and put the potential tying run at third, but the Pioneers threw out the runner at home on an attempted double steal to clinch a 5-4 victory over El Dorado El Dorado, legendary country of South America El Dorado (ĕl`dərä`dō, –rā`–) [Span.,=the gilded man], legendary country of the Golden Man sought by adventurers in South America. of Placentia. The victory gives Simi Valley its first Southern Section title just a year after the Pioneers finished last in the Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. . Even this year, a league title eluded Simi Valley. The Pioneers (27-7) entered the postseason through the wild-card round as the league's third-place team making it their first playoff appearance since 1995. Simi Valley already had strung together such an improbable run with postseason victories including a 14-inning win in the quarterfinals and Gaughen's game-winning grand slam grand slam n. 1. The winning of all the tricks during the play of one hand in bridge and other whist-derived card games. 2. Sports The winning of all the major or specified events, especially on a professional circuit. in the semifinals that the Pioneers never panicked when momentum shifted El Dorado's way. ``We never stopped believing,'' Gaughen said. ``That's been our motto all year: Ya gotta believe.'' The motto flashed on the scoreboard before the game and was on the T-shirts Simi Valley wore under its uniforms all season. However, it would have been understandable for doubt to creep in Verb 1. creep in - enter surreptitiously; "He sneaked in under cover of darkness"; "In this essay, the author's personal feelings creep in" sneak in penetrate, perforate - pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance; "The bullet penetrated her chest" as El Dorado cut a three-run deficit to just one in the final inning. Gaughen relieved starter Mike Roe (12-2) to start the seventh and walked three of the first four batters he faced. A wild pitch brought in the first run of the inning and a groundout scored another. A two-out walk to Chris Taylor Chris Taylor or Christopher Taylor may refer to:
Bryan Anderson (born March 30, 1980) is an American football offensive guard. He was a seventh round pick (261 overall) by the Chicago Bears in the 2003 NFL Draft. easily tagged out pinch runner Casey Vidovich to set off the Pioneers' dog pile at home plate. ``That last inning I had absolutely nothing and I showed it,'' Gaughen said. ``But the rest of the team kept us in there.'' Simi Valley, which earned its 12th consecutive victory, never trailed after scoring the game's first run on back-to-back doubles by Steven Schultze and Nick Giarraputo in the second inning. The Pioneers' offensive depth was evident as seven players accounted for the team's nine hits. Anderson and Mario Colletto tied for the game high with two hits each. Laydell Shelton added an RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in single in the fourth that put Simi Valley up 4-0. The support was plenty for Roe, who allowed six hits and two runs with four strikeouts in six innings. ``It's been that way all year long,'' Pioneers coach Matt La Belle said of the diverse contributions. ``We have a couple standouts, but the whole team is always involved in getting the job done.'' The Nevada Las Vegas-bound Gaughen couldn't think of a better way to end his high school career. ``It doesn't get any better than this,'' Gaughen said. ``For all the people who didn't give us any attention and said we weren't any good, this shows what underdogs can do. We always believed we could do it. ... Finally, CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). champs. You can't get any better that. What a way to go out.'' Heather Gripp, (818)713-3607 heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Simi Valley celebrates after winning the Southern Section Div. II championship Saturday at Dodger Stadium. (2) The Pioneers won their first Southern Section title just a year after finishing last in the Marmonte League. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographers |
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