Santa Barbara High’s baseball team rallied from an early three-run deficit to defeat Paramount 12-5 on Tuesday at Eddie Mathews Field, advancing to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.
After falling behind 3-0 in the second inning, the Dons responded with an avalanche of offensive production and key defensive plays to regain control of the game.
Cruz Lorca and Brandon Weaver led the way offensively with two hits apiece. Lorca scored twice and drove in two runs, while Weaver collected three RBIs. Jack Paskin and Max Weddle were excellent on the mound in relief.
Paramount opened the scoring with a two-out rally in the second. Following a double, single, and walk that loaded the bases, starting pitcher Fabricio Aguilar delivered a bases-clearing double to put the Pirates ahead.
Santa Barbara answered in the bottom half of the inning with a run on a Paramount error but left the bases loaded. The Dons continued to chip away in the third inning when Weddle scored on a double by Milo Winckler, and Paskin later brought home the tying run with a sacrifice fly.
Paramount briefly regained the lead in the fourth inning after capitalizing on a Santa Barbara error, but the Dons responded immediately. Derek Jaye singled and advanced to third on a misplay in center field before Weaver tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Weddle later added another sacrifice fly to give Santa Barbara a 5-4 advantage.
A critical moment came in the fifth inning when Paramount loaded the bases with one out. Paskin entered in relief and induced consecutive pop-outs to end the threat and preserve the lead.
Paskin extended the advantage in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to right field, making the score 6-4. He followed with a scoreless sixth inning before Santa Barbara broke the game open offensively.
The Dons scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by two-run singles from Lorca and Weaver. Tanner Wilson added a bases-loaded walk, and Griffin Arnold scored on a wild pitch as the lead expanded to 12-4.
Paramount added one run in the seventh inning, but Santa Barbara closed out the victory to continue its postseason run.
Santa Barbara, which earned an at-large postseason berth after a late-season turnaround, will travel to face Kaiser High in the CIF-SS Division 5 quarterfinals on Friday in Fontana.
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