Palm Desert first baseman and pitcher Jake Brande probably said it best: “Baseball is the craziest game in the world for a reason.”
The Aztecs battled West Ranch in a tense, high-end Division 2 CIF-SS playoff game Friday afternoon, only to have the game end on an unlikely sequence of events that left both fan bases in stunned silence, as West Ranch began celebrating a 4-3 win.
The visitors from Valencia jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a long opposite field three-run homer off the scoreboard in left-center from Hunter Manning, the team’s top player who will be playing baseball in the fall at UC Irvine.
Undaunted, Palm Desert chipped away at Manning on the mound and closed the gap to 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Aztecs had two outs and a runner on first when the game ended in stunning fashion.
The count was 2-2 to Palm Desert’s Sebastian Morales with pinch runner Adam Allett on first after Mateo Harvey-Olivo had drawn a two-out walk. The next pitch by West Ranch closer Mikey Murr was a ball.
Morales thought it was ball four and threw his bat back toward the dugout, excitedly heading to first base thinking he had drawn a crucial walk and gotten a runner in scoring position. Allett, on first base and seeing his teammate heading toward him, started walking toward second base. West Ranch alertly was aware of the situation and threw the ball to first base, catching Allett in a short rundown before tagging him out to end the game.
A lot still would’ve had to happen for the Aztecs to rally in this one, but it was a somewhat unsatisfying way to conclude what was a great baseball game between two teams with talented lineups, great pitchers and impressive defenses.
“They’re a good team. Once we got behind, we just wanted to chip away, keep applying pressure on them,” first-year Aztecs coach Ricky Gingras said. “We had chances to score, guys in scoring position early in innings, but we didn’t execute. That’s baseball for you. Any other day we might execute in those key moments, but not today and that’s the way the game is.”
The loss put an end to a fantastic season for the Aztecs that included a 15-0 Desert Empire League campaign and a 23-5 overall record. They entered Friday’s game on a 13-game winning streak.
Senior Zach Gibbs was the starting pitcher for the Aztecs and kept Palm Desert in the game, combining with Brande who relieved him in the sixth inning to put zeroes on the board for West Ranch in the final five innings.
Gibbs and Brande have been a dynamic pitching duo for the Aztecs all season, and they also both did damage at the plate in this one.
Brande walked and scored a run in the second inning on a wild pitch. In the third inning the Aztecs stunned Manning with two quick runs after there were two outs and nobody on. Gibbs ripped a single and Brande followed with a high fly ball to the gap that fell between two outfielders allowing Gibbs to score from first. As the throw came into home, Brande got to second base on what was a long RBI single.
Harvey-Olivo made that extra base pay off with a double into the left-field corner to score Brande and make it 4-3.
Like Gingras said, the Aztecs had multiple chances to get the game-tying run. They had a leadoff double in both the fourth inning (by Joseph Valdivia) and the fifth inning (by Gibbs) but failed to cash in the run. They also had runners on first and second in the sixth inning, but couldn’t come up with the crucial hit.
The pitching and defense kept the Aztecs in it. The first play of the game was a beautiful sliding stab in the hole, turn and fire to first base by senior second baseman Stevie Hutchinson. Word of Hutchinson’s hitting prowess trickled over the mountain, as he was intentionally walked twice by the West Ranch coach in key situations.
The defensive play of the game was turned in by Brande while playing first base. West Ranch tried a bunt with a runner on second, but it stayed in the air long enough for a diving, tumbling catch by the 6-foot-7 Brande who from his back lobbed it to second base to complete the double play.
“It was an exhilarating game to be a part of. The chemistry was there on both sides and it was high-quality baseball,” said Brande who has committed to play at Long Beach State after he graduates in 2026. “You always want to face the best competition this time of year.”
It marked the final game in an Aztecs uniform for seniors like Hutchinson and Gibbs, but they were the only seniors who played in this game, so the future is quite bright for this Aztecs team.
“I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff today, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes,” said Gibbs after the loss. “But overall it was a great season, me and Jake were a dual pitching threat all year, and our bats started to come on at the end of the season. Proud of this team.”
The Wildcats advanced in the Division 2 bracket into Tuesday’s second round where they will face Crean Lutheran.
Rancho Mirage rolls to Division 6 win
The Rattlers, who finished in a tie for third in the Desert Empire League, had no problem advancing to the second round in the Division 6 bracket, rolling past Rancho Verde 7-2 in a battle of Ranchos.
Rancho Mirage yielded two runs in the top of the first inning, but scored three of its own in the bottom of the first and never looked back.
Jesus Gutierrez was one of the hitting stars for the Rattlers with two hits and two runs scored. Edward Carlin added a double, an RBI and a run scored. Jaden Labit had a hit and two RBIs, while Gael Martinez, Kobee Finnikin and Marcos Ceja Jr. all added a hit and a run scored.
Zachary Berntsen started and earned the win for the Rattlers. He pitched five innings and allowed one earned run on six hits. He struck out four batters. Jayden Cunningham pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
The victory moves the Rattlers into the second round of the Division 6 bracket where they will hit the road to face Crossroads High in Santa Monica.
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert baseball falls in tense playoff opener that ended in unusual fashion
Reporting by Shad Powers, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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