CERRITOS – Beverly Hills players knew early it wasn’t going to be their day after Gahr lefty Paul Versteeg struck out four batters in the first inning of Wednesday’s CIF-SS Division 3 wild-card game.
Versteeg went four scoreless innings and struck out seven to lead Gahr past Beverly Hills, 11-0, with the help of 11 hits and two relievers.
Gahr (21-10-1) will travel to Garden Grove on Friday.
Versteeg (7-3), a junior lefty, allowed just four hits and didn’t walk a batter to pick up the win. He was backed up nicely by relievers Chris Corral (two innings) and Chris Fey.
Beverly Hills (13-13) managed five hits and was outplayed from the start, as Gahr got two runs in the first and put the game away with six second-inning runs behind an aggressive Gladiators team that stole five bases.
“I felt great throughout and could have gone longer, but with an early lead, we were able to get some guys some innings,” Versteeg said. “It was great to get off to a quick start in the game (four first-inning strikeouts), and then my offense and defense did the rest.”
Jaime Estrada, a four-year star for coach Gerardo Perez, doubled, tripled, walked, scored three runs and drove in another.
Sophomore shortstop Jesus Salazar came up big with a single, two-run double, sacrifice fly and walk. Salazar drove in three runs and was the defensive anchor.
“It’s my third playoff game, so despite being young, the experience from last year gave me some confidence, and the success we had early today gave my teammates and me even more confidence,” Salazar said.
“We have so many guys who can and did contribute for us today.”
Leadoff hitter Albert Avila reached base three times (two singles), scored twice, stole two bases and drove in a run.
Rafael Alvarez had two hits for Gahr, including a two-run single.
David Balboa drove in a run in the first on a sac fly.
Rigo Fernandez was saddled with the loss for the Normans, after allowing 10 runs on seven hits over the first three innings for Beverly Hills.
Jackson Martin had two of Beverly Hills’ five hits.
“We did a lot of things well, and got another great effort from Paul,” Perez said. “Paul has performed well all year and continues to get better. We were happy to get ahead early and put pressure on our opponent, and we hope that carries over to Friday.
“It was great for our confidence to get a great combined effort on the mound, solid at-bats and good defense.”
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