CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 7 BASEBALL PLAYOFFS-Artesia’s offense silent after early lead, falls to Notre Dame/Riverside in quarterfinals

May 25, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

Artesia High senior pitcher Daniel Carbajal took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his last start, a 1-0 win over Viewpoint High on May 15 to begin the CIF-Southern Section Division 7 playoffs. He then retired the first three Riverside-based Notre Dame High batters on eight pitches last Friday in the quarterfinals.

And even though he had a minor hiccup in the second inning in which he gave up a leadoff single to Jacob Oliver, who made it to third on a pair of wild pitches, he struck out the next two batters to keep the Titans off the scoreboard. But the next inning would be uncharacteristic of the veteran pitcher as he walked the first three batters, then gave up consecutive doubles.

When it was done, Notre Dame scored seven runs in the frame and cruised to an 8-2 victory, ending Artesia’s season at 19-9-1.

“It just shows you the game of baseball,” said Artesia head coach Jose Serrano. “We knew he wasn’t 100 percent; he actually had a hip problem for about a week and a half now. So with Viewpoint, we threw him out there knowing that he was hurt [and] for him to throw a one-hitter and not at 100 percent shows you the type of player he is.

“I think today, he tried,” he continued. “He tried to give everything; I’m so proud of him. It didn’t go his way; lost a little bit of control and that’s the game.”

Riding the early momentum Carbajal had given the Pioneers, they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Brandon Sanchez walked sophomore second baseman Michael Nava but was forced at second when junior shortstop Devon Torrez was safe on a fielder’s choice. Back to back singles from senior center fielder Victor Sanchez and junior first baseman Adrian Romero began the game’s scoring and a groundout from senior right fielder Alex Escobar brought in Sanchez.

After that, Artesia’s offensive game would be shutdown for four of the next five innings while that third inning would tell the story of the game. With the bases loaded and none out, Daniel Hernandez doubled to center to bring in Braeden Mitchell and Alexis Ortiz. One pitch prior, Carbajal was given a warning from the home plate umpire about commenting on balls and strikes. Then on the first pitch he saw, Brandon Sanchez doubled to the left field fence to plate Noel Pina and Hernandez.

“Seeing that from the offensive point of view; striking early, it’s good to see that,” said Serrano. “As soon as we got those two runs…I thought it was going to go the other way around. Once we went down, I could tell the guys were down.

“Carbajal has been the guy all year long and the second I took him out, I think the guys were like…they didn’t believe it,” he later said. “It was like that, and I think as soon as he came out, they knew it was going to be a struggle. Their body language was different.”

That would be the final pitch of Carbajal’s high school career as Serrano replaced him with junior Emmanual Rocha. On his first pitch, Oliver doubled to the right field gap, then hit Jordan Gil to load the bases. A double from Julian Rodriguez and a single from Kevin Calderon would complete the scoring in the frame.

“I hate making excuses, but it’s tough always going against an ump,” said Serrano. “When the strike zone is not the same, and they have a different strike zone than we do, there’s only so much we can do offensive-wise. We can’t take the same pitches they were taking.”

Meanwhile, Brandon Sanchez retired eight straight Artesia batters before Romero singled to the right field gap to begin the bottom of the fourth. Escobar would deliver a base hit the same spot, but both runners couldn’t advance because the next two batters struck out as Brandon Sanchez would sit down another nine straight.

He would walk sophomore designated hitter Jorge Vidal to start the seventh, and following his final strikeout, would walk senior third baseman Angel Estrada which would signal the end of his day. The Pioneers would have eight runners reach base from seven batters and strand five of them.

But Artesia’s pitching and defense didn’t make things better as there were a combined seven walks, six stolen bases, four wild pitches and two hit batters. The seven runs given up in the third were the most allowed in one inning this season. The previous high was five in the bottom of the second to South El Monte High on Mar. 11.

“That’s a playoff game that if you look at the game, you don’t have to tell me the score,” said Serrano. “If you tell me those stats, you knew you were going to lose. [Senior catcher Daniel] Loera did a great job this whole year catching [and] he wasn’t 100 percent with his arm. He still gave it his all and I appreciate him for doing that. It adds up and baseball is a game of walks and errors. Walks and errors are always going to add up the runs you gave up.”

The 19 wins this season are the most since the 2003 team finished 18-11 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Since then, the program has been to the playoffs seven times, including getting to the quarterfinals in two of the last three seasons.

“Any time you make the playoffs, it’s an accomplishment,” said Serrano. “But making a run like this, and doing it again in the last three years, these kids have to be proud of themselves. I’m proud of them. What else can you ask of them? I think the quarterfinals have been my kryptonite. As a baseball player my senior year, we made it to the quarterfinals; we lost to Crespi.”