St. Bernard baseball falls short against Culver City in CIF-SS quarterfinals
COMPTON - Bruised, battered, running on empty.
That's a good description of the St. Bernard baseball team as it headed into a CIF Southern Section Division 5 quarterfinal on Friday.
That's also how the meeting against Culver City transpired.
The Vikings allowed seven runs in the second inning, but rallied to get within one in the fifth. But in the end, St. Bernard couldn't get over the hump as Culver City pulled away again for an 11-6 victory at the MLB Youth Academy.
"My guys gave it all they had," St. Bernard coach Vic Buttler said. "They're tired. They came in wounded. We've been playing with 11 guys, 12 guys all season long. We're coming from a school with 200 students. Twelve guys on a varsity team, it's kind of hard to go a full season, staying healthy, going into the playoffs …They gave it all they had."
"I told them yesterday at practice," Buttler added, "you guys are freaking exhausted, so go out there and all you can do is just battle. At the end of the day, you take something from it. If it's something that you don't like, if it's something that you're not happy with, then in the offseason work."
Culver City (15-15-1) broke through in the second inning against St. Bernard starter Bryan Ramirez and relief pitcher Tyi Wolfe to score seven runs.
To the Vikings' credit, they fought back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four runs of their own. Their rally included a two-run double from Jordan Williams, an RBI double from Royce McKenzie and James Tyler's RBI single.
In the third, St. Bernard's Aidden Moten made it 7-5 by driving in a run with a groundout.
Lorenzo Davis drove in Ramirez, who had tripled, to make it 7-6 in the fifth inning.
Unfortunately for the Vikings (17-13), the Centaurs had one final kick. The first three batters reached in the sixth and with the benefit of a couple of errors, four runs scored to give Culver City an 11-6 lead.
"I'm proud of those dudes," Buttler said. "I'm super proud of them."
Davis probably best exemplified what the Vikings went through. During the contest he went down with a leg injury and had to be helped off the field. Later, he reentered the game, but was still bothered by the leg injury.
He finished the game with singles in the fifth and seventh innings.
"All year long we've faced adversity," Buttler said. "We face so many different challenges and not one person ever complained. They trusted me. They went out there, they worked hard, they gave me everything they had and we just have to continue to work."
The two teams had met during the regular season with St. Bernard winning 5-3 in 10 innings on April 16.
Culver City, which finished second in the Ocean League, will host Long Beach Wilson in the semifinals Tuesday.
"I'm proud of (Culver City coach) Devaughn Wallace," Buttler said. "He's coached his butt off and he put his team in position all year long to compete and get to this position, entering the final four in Division 5. That's a true testament of who he is as a coach and as a human being."
Mira Costa 13, Dos Pueblos 6: Ace Tarango had four hits to lead the Mustangs to a win in the Division 3 quarterfinals.
Mira Costa scored nine runs in the third inning after Dos Pueblos opened the first inning with three runs.
Mira Costa (19-12) will host St. Francis in the semifinals Tuesday.
Rolling Hills Prep 10, Bethel Christian 1: The Huskies (10-11) scored four runs in the first inning and three in the second to win in the Division 9 quarterfinals.
Alex Hernandez went 4 for 4 with three runs scored and three RBIs. He also pitched five innings and allowed three hits and one run. Samuel Lopez had three hits and scored three runs.
RHP will visit Temecula Prep in the semifinals Tuesday.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 8:24 PM.