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Torrey Pines erupts with 19 runs against Etiwanda to win SoCal Regional Division 2 baseball championship

The Falcons scored a season-high 19 runs in Saturday's win over Etiwanda.

(Photo via Torrey Pines baseball)

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – Torrey Pines needed only two total runs to advance in the first two rounds of the CIF Southern California Division 2 regional playoffs. On Saturday, the Falcons exploded for a season-high 19 runs as they defeated top-seed Etiwanda, 19-8, to capture the regional championship.

“We just had the mentality that this is the last game and leave it all out there,” Torrey Pines head coach Tommy Simis said. “Nobody was really saying we have a chance and we just wanted to surprise some people and swing the bats in a good way to end the season.”

The Falcons advanced in the first two rounds with back-to-back 1-0 wins over Palos Verdes and Rancho Bernardo thanks to complete game shutouts from underclassmen Grayson Bonanno and Peyton Rodgers.

Torrey Pines’ pitching depth, which was among the best in the section this year, took a hit when senior starting pitchers Eric Van Valkenburg and Zach Isaacman opted out of the regional playoffs following the Falcons' loss in the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.

Short on pitching Saturday, the Falcons pieced together the first four innings with junior Dougie Jutronich and sophomore Reece Dixon. The two had combined to throw 14.1 innings entering Saturday and neither had pitched in a game since late April.

“It was so cool, I can’t say enough about them,” Simis said of his pitchers. “…Just so proud of the guys for the next man up mentality, being ready to pitch.”

After falling behind 3-0 two innings into Saturday’s game, the Torrey Pines offense found their stride, scoring five runs in the third inning and six more in the fourth inning. Despite Etiwanda using four pitchers of their own, the Falcons grinded out at-bats throughout the final four innings, totaling 17 hits and six walks.

“It was 3-0 and the bases were loaded for them, and we got a huge double play,” Simis said. “I think all the momentum that they had got put to the side and from that moment on we just took off.”

Ryan Babcock, fresh off a call up from the junior varsity team, took over on the mound in the fifth inning to make his varsity debut. He tossed a scoreless inning, allowing Grayson Bonanno to close it out an inning later. Bonanno registered two strikeouts and got Parker Sobiesiak to line out to left field to finish it off.

“We heard a couple of the La Costa (Canyon) players say how winning Division 2 last year helped them carry over to this season and helped them know what it takes to win CIF in San Diego and we used that as fuel,” Simis said. “We were just saying this is a great motivator to keep playing, to go get a ring and build for next season and whatever division it is, it just leads to good things in the future for the younger guys.”