CALABASAS — Calabasas senior AJ Seidel had only one hit going into the seventh inning. But when he saw another curveball coming his way on the second pitch, he attacked it.
The Tufts commit laced a single to left-center field to drive in the winning run in a 7-6 walk-off victory over Oaks Christian, the frontrunner for the Marmonte League title, on Thursday afternoon.
“Baseball teaches you a lot about patience,” Seidel said. “You’ve gotta stay focused and stay ready to go, but you’ve also got to seize the moment when you get it.”
The Lions (6-4 overall, 1-1 Marmonte League) had beaten the Coyotes 11-1 on Tuesday to start a three-game series to open Marmonte League play. The two teams will meet once more Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Oaks Christian.
Calabasas (9-3, 1-1) put together five runs in a scrappy seventh inning to win Thursday’s contest. Jayden Singer started the inning with an RBI single, then Matthew Witkow cracked a two-run triple to left center on a full count to cut Oaks Christian’s lead to 6-5.
@haleymsawyerCalabasas baseball’s Matthew Witkow hits a two-run triple cut Oaks Christian’s lead to 6-5 in the seventh inning. AJ Seidel later hit a walk-off single to win it 7-6. #highschoolbaseball #sportsreporter #journalism #reporter #baseball #sports #calabasas
♬ original sound – Haley Sawyer
Witkow, the Coyotes’ leadoff hitter and a Harvard commit, scored on a fielder’s choice to tie the game before Seidel put it away. Witkow was 0 for 3 before his triple.
“My swings were a little big earlier in the game,” Witkow said. “So I was just trying to stay short to the ball, especially with two strikes, and put it in play and let something happen. Just trying to stay calm, not get too antsy up there.”
The Lions steadily built a 5-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. Leadoff hitter Carson Sheffer scored two of those runs and was driven in by two different hitters — Luke Pulls on a single and Quentin Young on a sacrifice ground out.
All but one of Oaks Christian’s batters recorded a base hit in the game.
Christian Ipsen threw 4 1/3 innings for the Lions and gave up two runs in the fourth inning. Seidel drove in one of the runs and Calabasas was threatening to score again, but Oaks Christian turned a double play to limit the damage.
Connor Pink scored the second run in the fourth on an RBI double, but the Lions still held a 6-2 lead.
“We were up 6-2 and it kind of felt like it was 10-2 because they only had two hits,” Oaks Christian coach Rick Hirtensteiner said. “We had a ton of baserunners. But I told them, we have no clock. You never know.
“(Calabasas) starts the inning and put three balls in play and didn’t really hit any of them hard and they find holes. The next thing you know, it’s bases loaded and they’re in it.”
Sebastien Ajemian and lefty Connor Sahagun also took the mound for Oaks Christian.
“We were going to do whatever we needed to do to win,” Hirtensteiner said. “Whoever needed to pitch to win, we were going to do it and we’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”
The Coyotes are back in the win column after Oaks Christian halted their win streak at five games Tuesday.
Calabasas head coach Thomas Cassidy said his team’s culture will allow it to zero out the success of Thursday’s bounce-back win to start fresh in Friday’s game.
“It’s a brotherhood,” Cassidy said. “We’ve been able to preach that in recent years and build that foundation and the next group that comes in builds off of the previous group. They really love each other and play for each other.”
More area scores from Thursday:
Simi Valley 1, Heritage 0
The Pioneers improve to 8-4 overall.
Royal 2, Rio Mesa 0
Dean Barkman pitched a complete game with five strikeouts, three hits, three walks and no earned runs. Colten Rainer went 1 for 2 with a double, a HBP and an RBI. Peyton Visage was 1 for 3 with an RBI triple.
Westlake 6, Newbury Park 0
Caden Atkinson threw a complete game and is now 2-1. He gave up three hits. Blake Miller logged a home run, two runs, two RBIs and a stolen base. Noa Nakagawa had two hits, an RBI and a stolen base.
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