If you only looked at the Righetti High School baseball team’s overall record of 16-16 this season, you would never guess that they’re one of the top eight teams in the CIF Southern Section.
Well, numbers can be deceiving.
Righetti snuck into the playoffs after a rocky, up-and-down 2016 campaign, and yet the Warriors stayed determined and peaked at the right time.
Righetti won three consecutive playoff games and advanced to the quarterfinals of CIF Division 3 play before falling to Beckman High School, 3-1. Righetti was led by stellar pitching from junior ace Matt Sauer and senior Phillip Almanza, and timely hitting from sophomore Jaden LyBurtus, junior Johnuel Laron, and senior Tyler Hopp.
“We’ve always had the potential to be pretty good this year, we were just kind of inconsistent early on,” said Brian Tamooka, Righetti’s head coach. “To our guys right now, it really doesn’t matter who gets that big hit. They’re focused on trying to win games. They’re being unselfish. It’s just a good feeling in the dugout.”
Since the team lost its mojo mid-season following a string of losses against tough opponents, Righetti has excelled while playing with its back against the wall. Tamooka noted that his team has a lot of practice now at playing “must-win” games, which has benefited them during the playoffs’ pressure-packed moments.
“We were on the verge of not making the playoffs,” Tamooka said, referring to the final stretch of the regular season. “We won some big games that we had to win. Our guys came through. I think that got us on a roll a little bit. They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now, and they’re having fun too.”
Ironically, Sauer said that the team really found itself following a blowout loss to Paso Robles in the final game of the regular season.
“We lost that game, but everybody got to play—all the seniors got in—and everybody just came together,” Sauer said. “We had a lot of fun that game. So everybody just going into the playoffs was excited and we just went on a roll.”
“[Earlier in the season], we lost a couple games and I think we lost a lot of confidence,” Sauer continued. “I think we got all that confidence back.”
While Righetti enjoyed its feel-good playoff run, other area baseball teams’ seasons ended in heartbreak.
Santa Ynez made some noise in the CIF Division 5 bracket after an up-and-down regular season, advancing to the quarterfinals, but the Pirates lost a 7-4 heartbreaker to Riverside Woodcrest Christian in extra innings on May 26.
Pirates’ coach Warren Dickey had to pull the team’s ace Zach Torra out of the game after he suffered an arm injury, and then the team surrendered a 4-0 lead in the seventh inning.
Cabrillo High School, which dominated the regular season and took the Los Padres League championship, was also bumped from the playoffs—much sooner than expected—losing to Paraclete High School 3-0 in the second round of Division 5.
In the softball playoffs, Lompoc High School is looking for some revenge against top-seeded St. Bonaventure in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 semi-final after narrowly defeating Victorville Silverado 1-0 in the quarterfinal on May 26.
Lompoc head coach McKenna Martin preaches her gritty, old-school philosophy of strong pitching, mistake-free defense, and small ball offense. Martin’s message has certainly resonated with the team.
“Defense, defense, defense—that’s been our philosophy all season long,” Martin said. “Even in our league games, we were not playing high scoring games. We don’t need to. If we have strong defense and focus on doing things right, hits are going to come.”
Lompoc depends heavily on the talent and experience of senior starting pitcher Olivia Gutierrez, who gave up only two hits in the quarterfinal nail-biter.
“We’re just lucky enough to have an ace pitcher who has played under this pressure,” Martin said.
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jun 2-9, 2016.