May 5, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Third place in the 605 League and an automatic berth in next week’s CIF-Southern Section divisional playoffs was on the line when Artesia High hosted John Glenn Hogh last Friday. While the game may have meant more for the visiting Eagles as they were under .500 for the season, the Pioneers, with a loss, didn’t want any part of waiting to see if they got in as an at-large representative since they had a winning record.
Well, there won’t be any hoping, waiting and wondering ahead of Saturday’s bracket release as junior pinch hitter Juan Pablo De Avila, once down 0-2 in the count, fouled off three straight pitches from senior Brandon Rivera before depositing a base hit to left with the bases loaded to drive in junior shortstop Devon Torrez and give the hosts a 5-4 victory. Artesia, which would fall to Anaheim High 5-3 the next day in a non-league contest, began the week at 16-8-1, 5-4-1.
“He’s done it three times already this year where he comes in to pinch hit and clutches up,” said Artesia head coach Jose Serrano. “He did it Tuesday against Glenn; he’s the one who got the first RBI. He never complains and just plays hard. I had to go with the hot hand.”
De Avila’s RBI on May 29 tied the game 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning and the Pioneers went on to win that game 4-1. But in the bottom of the seventh last Friday, junior Bert Rodriguez walked Torrez, who advanced on a wild pitch, and intentionally walked senior centerfielder Jose Garcia. After a sacrifice from junior first baseman Adrian Romero, another intentional walk loaded the bases before the pitching change.
“I’m just really proud of them,” said Glenn first-year head coach Ken Mason. “I’ve been proud of them all season. We talked about making adjustments; we struggled at the plate early and then slowly we started figuring it out. We started squaring up some balls…we made some adjustments in the last inning and battled. I’m really sad for my players that we came up short.”
Early on, both starting pitchers had escaped what could have been an early barrage of scoring. Artesia senior Angel Estrada allowed a two-out single to junior third baseman Josiah Alcala in the top of the first before getting a groundout to end the frame. Estrada then walked senior catcher Raymond Acosta to lead off the second and after striking out junior pitcher Evan Perez, yielded a single to Rivera. But that’s all Glenn got in the inning.
Meanwhile, the Pioneers began their first inning strong as sophomore second baseman Michael Nava singled, and Torrez was safe on an error. After a sacrifice, Perez walked Romero to load the bases. But a pop-up and a strikeout kept the game scoreless. When it was all said and done, Artesia had stranded nine runners while Glenn left eight runners on base.
“That’s what has been going on with us this year,” said Serrano. “We’ve had the bases loaded so many times this year and we can’t figure it out. Like I told the kids, you can’t give up. It’s frustrating having the bases loaded with one out, or none out and not scoring. But it’s just keep grinding, keep grinding and finally, one out, bases loaded and look, base hit to win the game.”
In the third, Nava beat out an infield single and Torrez had a base hit to the left field gap to set the stage for senior center fielder Victor Sanchez, whose double to the left field gap made it 2-0. In the next inning with one out, senior third baseman Daniel Carbajal was walked, and senior catcher Daniel Loera was safe on an error. Carbajal would later come home on another error and a fielder’s choice from Torrez made it 4-0.
The Eagles would finally get to Estrada in the fifth when senior right fielder Angel Aguilar was safe on an error and scored when Rodriguez laced a single to left that glanced off the glove of Torrez. In the seventh, and with junior Emmanuel Rocha on the mound for the Pioneers, Aguilar doubled to the right field gap and one out later, Alcala singled down the right field line and advanced on an error, making it 4-2. Rodriguez and Acosta followed with singles, the latter making it 4-3 and the former tied the game by stealing home.
“It’s not a matter of our players…their heart is there; they’re trying,” said Mason. “We’re just not quite there as a team. So, we’re just going to have to keep working at it. They haven’t been in this situation that often, and so it’s difficult when you get into that pressure situation. Moving forward, we have to learn how to handle the pressure a little bit better. I think that’s what it comes down to.”
Alcala went three for three while Rivera and Rodriguez each had a pair of hits while Nava had two of the five hits collected by Artesia. Estrada went six strong innings, allowing five hits and striking out five while walking three.
“Oh my god, that kid…last year I think he was our number one if you ask me and this year, he’s been struggling,” said Serrano. “His confidence has been down, but man, today he just came out and just showed his true self and threw strikes. He jumped ahead; didn’t fall behind much, so it’s a big difference when you throw strikes and that’s what he did today.”
Artesia, which ended the regular season this past Tuesday against Santiago High, advances to the playoffs for the fourth straight season and the 16 wins are already the most since the 2007 team went 16-12. Meanwhile, after going 13-9 in a dramatic turnaround 2024 season, the Eagles fell to 7-16, 4-6 and will miss the playoffs for fifth straight season. They hosted Estancia High this past Tuesday.
“All the respect to Glenn,” said Serrano. “It seems like this year, they did an amazing job and just battled with every team. It made it hard for everyone, but in the last inning, one bad pitch here, one bad pitch there. They battled; they put the ball in play and made something happen. I think that was the difference there.”
“It’s real difficult,” said Mason. “I’m real sad for my five seniors. I really wanted them to experience [the playoffs]. For the first two years, their freshmen and sophomore years, they were the doormat of the 605 League, and we just struggled to get that clutch hit. We let games slip away that we should have won in league. If we would have had two clutch hits, we wouldn’t have been in this situation today, in a must-win.”
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.