ANAHEIM – A pitchers’ duel took over the final of the Anaheim Lions Tournament. An electric righty met a crafty lefty, and the latter won Wednesday night.
Willie Castellanos pitched six scoreless innings as Sonora earned a 2-1 win over Yucaipa in the championship game at Glover Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Raiders’ southpaw held down the Thunderbirds (10-5), whose own starter gave a dominating effort on the mound. Yucaipa junior Cody Stevens (3-2) struck out nine in five innings, but Castellanos and the Raiders prevailed.
Castellanos (1-1) allowed just four base runners, and he struck out four.
“I just had to keep the team in it in response, because if I didn’t, it wouldn’t have been a great situation,” Castellanos said. “I just wanted to throw strikes and help my team be able to compete.”
Sonora (7-8) didn’t have any luck against Stevens in the early going. The right-hander struck out five in the first two innings.
Organized chaos helped the Raiders break through in the third.
Max Wilkinson singled to start the inning, and Dylan Villalobos’ bunt stayed fair for a single. With two outs and runners at the corners, the Raiders turned to their bag of tricks to score. Mehial Nazaroff started from first, got into a rundown, then Villalobos broke for the plate and scored on a double steal.
The double steal worked again in the sixth, with Nazaroff scoring.
In the seventh, Villalobos replaced Castellanos on the mound. Tyler Van Marter led off with a triple. After earning a walk, Tristen Macias stole second. Van Marter scored as the throw went into center.
Villalobos shut the door at that point, racking up two strikeouts and a groundout to end the game.
Sonora is the first Freeway League team to win the tournament in 21 years. They have a five-game winning streak.
“The dugout has been huge for us,” Raiders coach Patrick Tellers said of his bench players. “They’re all starting to jell.”
Sonora’s Matt Schmidt was named tournament MVP. He was 13 for 20 at the plate.
Also in the Anaheim Lions Tournament:
Capistrano Valley 12, Western 0: Zak Herbers threw a complete-game shutout for the Cougars (8-6). He allowed two hits while striking out six.
Capistrano Valley coach Bob Zamora posted the 696th victory of his career.
Connor Martin knocked in four runs with two doubles and a triple. Ryan Daugherty went 4 for 4 and scored three runs.
