High school baseball: Clovis West advances to D-I final after scoring two runs in 10th
Bullard High was moments away from going to the Central Section Division I high school baseball championship.
A throwing error prevented that with two outs as Clovis West scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 5-4 victory in 10 innings.
The Golden Eagles will head to Saturday’s section championship in Visalia for the first time since 2018 and will play Liberty-Bakersfield, which defeated Clovis North 9-1.
“We’ve been doing this all year and we found different ways to win,” Clovis West coach Kevin Patrick said. “We found another way to win tonight and couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”
Bullard had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th inning after a solo home run by Jake Porter.
The Golden Eagles threatened and had runners on second and third with two outs and Clovis West got the break they needed on a throwing error.
Scoring the winning run was Nolin Santillan who darted to home plate after the throwing error.
He celebrated with his teammates.
“I was so excited,” he said. “We worked so hard all season. We deserve this so much and it was a dogfight on both sides, but we came through and found a way to win.”
Tyler Patrick came in relief and pitched 5.2 innings despite giving up the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning.
Clovis West backed Patrick and rallied with the two runs off the throwing error.
Santillan said he looked over to see where the ball was and “ran as fast I could” to home plate.
“Beautiful game,” he said. “I felt like a cheetah right there. Adrenaline. So excited.”
Central Section playoffs
Baseball
Division I
No. 1 Clovis West 5, No. 4 Bullard 4 (10 innings)
No. 2 Liberty-Bakersfield 9, No. 11 Clovis North 1
Division II
No. 9 Atascadero 9, No. 5 St. Joseph 7
No. 2 Bakersfield Christian 5, No. 6 Lemoore 1
Division III
No. 5 Fowler 7, No. 8 Edison 6
No. 2 Kingsburg 17, No. 3 Central Valley Christian 1
Division IV
No. 1 Liberty-Madera Ranchos 13, No. 12 Monache 3
No. 7 Independence 2, No. 3 Mission Oak 0
Division V
No. 1 Torres 10, No. 5 Sierra 8
No. 3 Shafter 3, No. 10 Firebaugh 2
Division VI
No. 5 Lindsay 2, No. 1 Woodlake 0
No. 2 Chavez 5, No. 6 South 3
Championships
Thursday
Division III
No. 2 Kingsburg vs. No. 5 Fowler, 7 p.m.
Friday
Division V
No. 1 Torres vs. No. 3 Shafter, 4 p.m.
Division II
No. 2 Bakersfield Christian vs. No. 9 Atascadero, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Division IV
No. 1 Liberty-Madera Ranchos vs. No. 7 Independence
Division VI
No. 2 Chavez vs. No. 5 Lindsay, 3:30 p.m.
Division I
No. 1 Clovis West vs. No. 2 Liberty-Bakersfield, 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published May 21, 2024 at 10:41 PM.
