May 20, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
The plan was simple for Norwalk High first-year head coach Jose Rodriguez when his team hosted Western Christian High in a CIF-Southern Section Division 7 second round game. He wanted to use his top two pitchers and limit them each to under 75 pitches.
The goal was met and now Norwalk is on its way to the quarterfinals for the second time in the last three seasons as the host Lancers held off a furious rally from Western Christian in the second half of the game to escape with a 4-3 victory this past Tuesday. Norwalk will travel to top-seeded Channel Islands on Friday.
“We got to 73 pitches with our number two, and I decided to go with the freshman, Gio Ramirez, and he came in and got some big outs for us,” said Rodriguez. “I thought that was going to carry us to our number one, and he was having issues. He couldn’t throw strikes; he started cramping up, came out with an injury and then we went to the pitcher of the year for the season, [junior] Jesus [Sanchez], who is a good strike thrower. He was able to give us three outs and give us the [victory].”
Early on, it didn’t look like a crisp game from sophomore David Ibarra, who gave up a leadoff triple to Will Stradley to begin the game. But he would strike out a pair of batters around a lineout to prevent further damage. Then, the third place representative from the Mid-Cities League grabbed the early lead in its half of the inning.
Senior catcher Israel Molina singled on a full count, moved to second on a balk and went to third on a sacrifice fly from freshman shortstop Marcus Castillo. But a throwing error allowed Molina to score the game’s first run.
On the next pitch, junior designated hitter Corey Brammer was hit by a pitch and scored when junior left fielder Daniel Albidrez doubled to the left field gap. But in the next inning, Ibarra threw 32 pitches, 19 of them for strikes, and yielded a two-out, two-run double to Stradley as Western Christian tied the contest.
Norwalk (17-8) regained the lead in the third when Molina was hit by a pitch, stole second, went to third on an error and came home on a two-out single from Brammer. An insurance run was added in the fifth when Ibarra tripled to the right field gap with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly from Castillo. The purple and gold was hoping to put more runs on the board in the sixth, but a one-out double from senior third baseman Cesar Urueta was wasted when freshman pinch runner Steven Cordova was caught in a rundown and freshman second baseman Jared Brammer was stranded at second after a single and stolen base.
Meanwhile, Ibarra was doing all he could to maintain the lead his offense had given him despite a not so generous strike to ball ratio. After falling behind Eric Gallo 2-0 with one out in the top of the fourth, he was replaced by Ramirez, who proceeded to strike out Gallo and get Bobby Young to pop up. Ibarra threw 74 pitches with 44 going for strikes.
“The guys were really struggling with their command,” said Rodriguez. “I just think it’s the playoff atmosphere and their emotions getting too high. They were actually able to calm down when it matter the most. It took a lot of encouraging from the dugout, but they got the job done.”
Albidrez, the team’s number one pitcher, began the fifth by walking Jacob Casas and hitting Stradley before getting two quick outs. He would walk James Mack to load the bases but got Dylan Martinez to fly out to senior right fielder Angel Martinez. In the next inning, Reece Peters reached on an infield single and one out later, was thrown out at third by Molina. But a walk to Young and singles from Casas and Stradley loaded the bases for Josh Turner, who drove in Young with an infield hit.
However, Albidrez struck out Ethan Scofield to keep it a one-run contest. Sanchez would then work a perfect seventh on a dozen pitches thrown for Norwalk’s second save of the season. Western Christian would strand nine runners and went four for 12 with runners in scoring position.
“That just goes to the guys; they were able to buckle down and close those innings out without getting too much damage,” said Rodriguez.
Norwalk won for the ninth straight time in which Albidrez. Ibarra and Urueta combined for five straight complete games, allowing 14 hits and one run. It must also be noted that the team has seven freshmen and three returning players from last season’s 3-17 campaign. A win over Channel Islands would put the Lancers in the semifinals for the first time in over 27 seasons where they would face either fourth-seeded Garden Grove High or Mary Star of the Sea High.
“For me, being a first-time varsity coach, it feels good,” said Rodriguez. “I’ve been in playoffs games when I played and stuff, but as a coach, it feels good because now I can see the guys fight. We’ve talked to them throughout the whole season about being gritty and doing whatever it takes to win a game. And they proved it today; they did what it took, and that’s all I asked from the guys.”
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