FULLERTON — The Agoura High baseball team was following the script that had carried it through the postseason.
Pitching, defense and just enough offense manufactured by speed had the Chargers on the cusp of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championship.
Until it all unraveled late in the final at Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field on Saturday, May 30.
Trailing 6-1 in the fifth inning, Manhattan Beach-Mira Costa scored the final eight runs — five in the fifth and three in the six — to come from behind and stop Agoura’s run, 9-7.
Senior shortstop Braden Oliver reached based five times — going 2 for 2 with two doubles, two runs scored, two RBIs, two walks and a hit by pitch to lead the Chargers, who have declined a bid to play in the CIF-State regional playoffs.
After allowing just one run in 14 playoff innings, Agoura starter Donovan Anthony was tagged for six runs — five earned — on six hits and six walks.
Agoura took the lead in the top of the second without the benefit of a hit.
Christian Maher was hit by a pitch. Freshman pitch runner Jonathon Thevenot reaches second on an errant pickoff attempt, moved to third on Zack Greene’s grounder to second and scored on Cooper Stutler’s squeeze bunt.
Agoura’s first hit put the Chargers up 3-0 in the third inning.
Colton Mellinger drew a walk and Oliver was hit by a pitch and scored on Greene’s two-out, two-run double that nestled just inside the left-field foul line.
Agoura started a three-run rally in the third, again without the benefit of a hit.
After reaching on a fielder’s choice, Jordan Tagawa went from first to third on an errant pickoff throw and scored on a wild pitch after Dirt Ibanez had squared to squeeze him home.
Oliver followed with a two-out, two-run double off the wall in left-center field to score Kaden Graves and Mellinger and give the Chargers a 6-1 lead.
Agoura had only given three runs in its previous 32 innings of postseason baseball, when Mira Costa put together its five-run fifth inning.
Mira Costa loaded the bases without an out in the bottom of the fifth. After walking in a run, Anthony nearly escaped the jam.
But Kellan Finn delivered a game-changing, two-out swing for Mira Costa, shooting a ball the other way down the right-field line for a bases-clearing triple.
The three runs pulled Mira Costa within 6-5 and knocked Anthony out of the game.
Miko Hodzic followed with an infield to drive in Finn and tie the game at 6-6.
The momentum continued in the bottom of the sixth, when Mira Costa’s Feidler crushed a solo home run beyond left field with one out to put Agoura behind for the first time in the playoffs.
After Mira Costa tacked on two more runs to build a 9-6 lead, Oliver doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh for Agoura’s final run.
Joe Curley covers baseball for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Agoura can’t hold lead in CIF-SS Division 3 baseball final
Reporting by Joe Curley, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
