Citrus Valley baseball team survives high-scoring, exhausting semifinal to reach championship game

REDLANDS – In a game played in triple-digit temperatures and extending more than three hours, Citrus Valley catcher Jared Snyder had to force himself to focus on the finish.

“Around the fifth inning I really started to feel it and started to get tired, but I had to push through to make sure we came out with a ‘W’,” Snyder said. “That was definitely one of the longest games I’ve played in heat like this.”

Snyder reached base four times and scored three runs as Citrus Valley outlasted Laguna Hills, 14-13, to win a CIF-Southern Section Division 5 semifinal on Tuesday.

“It was a great game and Laguna Hills is a great team, but they weren’t going to throw me that many strikes and when they gave me strikes I had to make them pay,” said Snyder, who finished 1 for 2 with three walks and an RBI double.

Jacob Jarome, who hurled a complete game to win in the quarterfinals, got the final three outs to earn the save as Citrus Valley (21-7 overall) advances to play Cajon in the Division 5 championship game on Friday or Saturday.

“(Jared) is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. His energy that he brings to the game is so dominating,” Jacome said. “I know that any game that he’s on the field for us, that we’ll do very well.”

The Blackhawks are seeking their first CIF-SS baseball championship. The program’s only appearance in a title game was in 2013.

“We felt we had the right team and right guys last year, so to come back this year and be in this position – every team wants this,” said Snyder, a Long Beach State commit. “Citrus Valley hasn’t won one so we’re trying to take it home.”

Blake Griffin went 3 for 3 and had three RBIs, and David Perez had two doubles and three RBIs for Citrus Valley, which totaled 15 hits in the game. The Blackhawks are averaging 11.75 runs per game this postseason.

“Our kids compete (and) they don’t quit,” Citrus Valley coach Jon Austin said. “We were hunting the fastball and I’m proud of the guys.”

Travis Williams had three doubles and two RBIs, and Scotty Kato three hits and two RBIs for Laguna Beach (20-9), which had scored just eight runs in three wins leading in to the game.

“We didn’t play well the first 2-3 innings and then we put up a big number in the fourth and got our groove back a little bit, but then we give up seven – talk about emotions being all over the place,” Laguna Hills coach Drew Hillman said.

Griffin’s sacrifice squeeze bunt in the third inning plated two and gave Citrus Hill as 3-0 lead, but the game turned upside down in the fourth as Laguna Hills scored seven to take a lead before the Blackhawks bounced back in the bottom half with seven runs of their own for a 10-7 lead.

In the fifth, Jordan Volk’s two-run double got Laguna Hills to within one run but Citrus Valley plated four more for a 14-9 lead.

Laguna Hills’ Christian Sanchez reached on an error and scored to make it 14-10 in the sixth, and the Hawks led off the seventh with back-to-back doubles off Jacome, who entered to start the frame.

“I looked at the scoreboard before the inning and I knew I had four runs to work with but then they scored three and I started to get a little shaky,” Jacome said.

The 6-foot-3 sophomore right-hander settled in and struck out Zach Ferranto, but Laguna Hills followed with three consecutive hits to make it a one-run game.

“I’ve been trying to learn to focus my mental energy on just getting the job done because that’s all that matters,” Jacome said.

With two runners on, Jacome went to a full count against the next hitter, Andrew Pinette, before getting a called third strike for the second out. He then reached back for a little something extra to strikeout Wes Chavez to end the game.

“It was nice to get out there and help my team win,” said Jarome, who leads the team with seven wins this season.

Ivan Rodriguez started for Citrus Valley but did not factor in the decision, allowing seven runs on seven hits and three walks over three-plus innings.

Noah Smith entered for Rodriguez in the fourth and struck out two in earning his first win of the season. Lucas White pitched the fifth and got one out in the sixth before giving way to Griffin for two outs.

Kato got the call for Laguna Hills but was roughed up for eight runs on 12 hits, two walks and two hit batters over 3.2 innings.