Wild ride ends in glory: Minarets walk-off Pacific Grove for CIF NorCal D-V crown
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- Minarets defeated Pacific Grove 21-20 with a walk-off two-run single by Killian Paschall.
- Minarets rallied from a 16-13 deficit to tie 19-19 in the seventh and force extras.
- Minarets advanced to the CIF NorCal Division V title after winning Central Section D‑V.
As a player, Jesse Darrah has been part of intense games where momentum swung back and forth.
As a coach? Saturday’s game probably aged him a few years, given how things unfolded in O’Neals.
Minarets led 13-0 in the second inning and 13-1 in the third.
The Mustangs were still up 13-6 in the fourth — but then Pacific Grove stormed back, and Minarets found itself trailing 16-13 in the sixth.
The fun was just beginning.
Minarets answered with a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, tied 19-19.
Pacific Grove scratched across a run in the top of the eighth to take a 20-19 lead.
Then, finally, relief arrived.
Killian Paschall hit a walk-off, two-run single to give Minarets a 21-20 victory over Pacific Grove and the CIF Northern California Division V title.
“An emotional rollercoaster,” Darrah said. “Long journey we took this season. I’m so glad the team won their last game. It would have changed the flavor of the season if we hadn’t won. Our goal was to win the section from day one. We never talked about winning (regionals). It took everything they had to pull it off.”
Minarets’ run to the regional championship started after sharing the Northwest Sequoia League crown, then winning the Central Section Division V title.
That early 13-0 lead looked safe, but the momentum shifted when Darrah pulled starter Jamie Spurgeon “because he was running out of gas.”
Darrah said his No. 2 pitcher was unavailable due to pitch-count rules.
Minarets used three other pitchers who combined to allow 14 runs. Pacific Grove used nine pitchers.
Darrah wasn’t panicked. He believed in his offense.
“Our offense is our strength, and has been all season,” he said. “They dug deep, and we pounded out 23 hits on the day and just overwhelmed them with the bats. I was rooting for these guys so hard all season for them to be able to accomplish their goal, and they did. A sense of accomplishment and a dream come true.”
