The Signal : Wednesday, May 22, 2002 : Scott Galetti

Almanzar twirls Canyon to win

RIVERSIDE— Extra base hits and pitching have usually been kind to the Canyon baseball team this season and the Cowboys used both to perfection in their second-round playoff game.

Justin Schwartz doubled in a pair of runs and Eric Ashbrook also knocked in a run to help lead Canyon to a 5-3 victory against host Riverside Poly in the second round of the CIF-SS Division II playoffs Tuesday.

“It felt great because I haven’t been hitting well in the past year and it’s nice to that my swing came back,” Schwartz said. “It felt really good to drive those RBIs in and I’m glad to be going on to the next round.”

The next round game for the Cowboys will be against either La Mirada or Canyon of Anaheim on Friday.

Josh Schreck and Kyle Zeiler each added a RBI for the Cowboys (22-5).

Ryan Pipho was 2-for-4 with a run scored as Canyon had seven hits.

“We just knew that we had to come out here and hit the ball. We got some key hits at key times and got the runs on the board and had Sergio throw a gem,” Pipho said. “We didn’t want to come all the way out here and not win.”

Ryan Burke was 1-for-1 with three walks.

The other piece of the puzzle belonged to Cowboys’ starting pitcher Sergio Almanzar, who was masterful on the mound. The Canyon senior worked all seven innings allowing just three hits, striking out five to collect the win.

“Whenever it’s windy I know my curveball is going to break a lot and I figure that’s my best pitch, so I throw it when I need to,” said Almanzar, who was also 1-for-3 at the plate.

Canyon coach Adam Schulhofer was more than happy with Almanzar’s effort.

“To get seven strong innings at this time in the playoffs is huge. Sergio did a great job” Schulhofer said. “He pitched out of jams, made good pitches when we needed them and swung the bat well today. He was the man.”

Drew Valenzuela doubled in a pair of runs for Riverside Poly (18-10) as the Bears managed just three runs after winning their playoff opener, 15-5.

“It doesn’t matter what they did in their last game and it doesn’t matter what we did,” Almanzar said. “What matters is what we get done in the present game.”

The Bears got on the board in the bottom of the first inning before registering their first official at bat.

Eric Harryman led off with a walk, went to second on a sacrifice by John Garcia, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kiel Fisher.

The Cowboys put runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the second after a pair of walks to Ryan Burke and Josh Schreck. Schwartz belted a two-run double to straight-away center field over the head of Juan Gomez to give the Cowboys a 2-1 advantage.

Pipho and Almanzar both led off the third inning with a single before Ashbrook launched a rocket shot to left center field to knock in Pipho and increase Canyon’s lead to 3-1. Schreck later drove in Almanzar with a sacrifice fly.

With their football team acting as a cheer squad down the right field line, the Bears cut Canyon’s lead to 4-3 on Valenzuela’s two-run double to left center.

Bears’ starting pitcher Rylan Hanks went five plus innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs. Hanks also walked five and struck out four.

Canyon manufactured a run in the top of the sixth on a walk by Cody Leavitt, a sacrifice by Schwartz and an RBI single up the middle by Zeiler to score pinch runner Drew Peterson to increase Canyon’s lead to 5-3.