Recap
Lakewood, CA — With a 13-2 win on Friday, La Mirada wrapped up a four-game sweep of rival Mayfair, and more importantly, the Matadores’ fourth consecutive Suburban League title.
But La Mirada’s celebration was subdued, with the Matadores mostly glad for the chance to rest in the final week of the regular season ahead of the playoffs.
“Since I was a player here, the goals have been the same,” head coach Jimmy Zurn said. “You go after the league title, then you can turn your sights on the CIF playoff.”
It was mostly a small-ball effort for the Matadores (20-6, 7-0 in Suburban League play) despite the lopsided score. Through six innings, La Mirada only tallied two extra-base hits, an RBI double by Michael DeHaro in the second inning and another two-bagger by Caleb Jung in the fifth.
Otherwise, it was a collection of singles, stolen bases and sacrifices by the Matadores to run up the score. Everyone got in on the act, with Jimmy Blumberg and Christian Gonzalez coming off the bench to provide RBI singles in the fifth.
That changed in the seventh inning, though, when senior Alex Garcia hit a three-run home run and was followed by a double from Jung.
“I was asked early in the year what I liked most about our club this year and I said depth,” Zurn said. “We have tremendous depth. We don’t have to rely on one guy.”
Junior Memo Pacheco picked up the win for La Mirada. At first it looked like the righty might be in for a rough afternoon, giving up hits to two of the first three batters he faced.
But Pacheco settled in to dominant form. He retired the next nine batters he faced, a streak that ended only due to a fielding error. He finished his six shutout innings of work with 10 strikeouts and zero walks. He surrendered six hits, with Christian Garcia and Jonathan Lopez picking up a pair apiece for Mayfair (9-14, 4-3).
Pacheco got in some trouble in the bottom of the sixth, giving up three singles to load the bases with nobody out. But he induced a one-hopper back to the mound and threw home to start a 1-2-3 double play. He struck out the next batter to end the threat.