LONG BEACH — Dramatic victories are becoming a habit for the Santa Margarita National all-stars in the Southern California Divisional Tournament.
And Santa Margarita’s come-from-behind 9-7 win over La Verne on Thursday July 27 was a thrilling as it gets.
Mason Kellerman belted a three-home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, lifting Santa Margarita to the victory.
“That is the resilience of this team,” Santa Margarita coach C.J. Ankrum said. “We tell them when they make mistakes. We let it go. They brush it off. You get another opportunity back at the plate and you are a hero.”
Santa Margarita, which is 4-0 in the tournament, will play for the tournament championship at 2 p.m. Sunday against either Eastlake or La Verne, with a berth in the West Regional Tournament at stake.
If Santa Margarita loses, a second game would be played at 5 p.m. to determine the champion.
Eastlake takes on La Verne in the elimination bracket final at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Santa Margarita, the designated home team, was leading, 5-4, heading into the sixth.
La Verne scored three in the top of the sixth to take a 7-5 lead.
Tyler Ankrum walked to lead off Santa Margarita’s half of the inning.
Bobby Gray followed with a single, and then Drew Rutter singled home Ankrum to make it a one-run game.
Kellerman, who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, stepped to the plate and crushed the first pitch he saw over the fence in left-center field.
“I was up there looking to drive something and I got my pitch,” Kellerman said. “I thought it was going to be deep off the fence, but I knew I made good contact. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had.”
Santa Magarita had trouble making anything happen against La Verne starter Matt Bustos and trailed 4-1 into the fourth.
Ankrum singled home a run to make the score 4-2.
With two outs, Bustos reached his pitch limit and had to be removed from the game.
Kellerman then hit a two-run triple, giving Santa Margarita a 5-4 lead, setting the stage for the dramatic sixth inning.