Sunset Rallies Past Killian To Continue Historic Run

The Sunset baseball team is in uncharted waters.

Never before have the Knights made it this far in the regional playoffs. It’s been one and done for them in their four regional attempts, the most recent in 2011.

With Tuesday’s 4-2 win over Killian, Sunset (20-7) will be taking one more step closer to a state final four berth as they host American (20-8) in a regional final at 4 p.m. Friday.

“I told them soak it all up. Enjoy it,” Sunset Manager Armando Pelaez said. “These guys have never been here. Even though we have a lot of experience, we have to enjoy the win.”

Junior left fielder Jorge Lopez hit a three-run double with two outs in the top of the sixth to rally the Knights from a 1-0 deficit. Nicholas Machado’s RBI single two batters earlier scored Michael Centeno to even the score.

“I was just waiting for a fastball, something to drive,” Lopez said.

Killian, which finished the season 18-9-1, took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third as Erik Molina doubled in Mike Perez.

Molina also came through in the seventh inning with a fly out to bring in Nick Mira.

It was a game of missed opportunities for the Cougars, who left the bases loaded in the second, third, fourth and seventh innings. The Knights ended the threats via fly outs in two of those innings.

Closer Michael Paez worked the seventh and allowed the Cougars to load the bases before eventually shutting the door on them

“It was intense,” Paez said. “I didn’t expect that to happen, but I finished and that’s all that matters.”

Danny Diaz (9-1), who earned the win, relieved starter Austin Comesanas with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth. He got Perez to ground out into a double play to end it.

“When you’re at this stage of the regional playoffs, teams are not going to make mistakes,” Pelaez said. “They’re not going to give you runs. We hung in there. We kept the game tight. There were a lot of different situations that could have changed the game around, but Austin gave us a lot of good innings and worked out of some jams. And then we brought in our little lefty, and he got us out of it. And then we had some spectacular plays in center field by Danilo [de Armas] to keep the game close.”

Pelaez said the ability to get out the jams attests to the team’s seniority and experience.

“They don’t get phased,” he said. “They don’t fold. We made early mistakes early in the year, but I think what’s most important about these guys is they’ve made adjustments. From the beginning of the year to now, they’ve learned from their mistakes and they’re coachable. They’re a great bunch of kids.”

The game was a microcosm of the season for the Knights, who had just two hits going into the fifth off Killian’s Keith Stevens.

“We started the season a little slow with the bats, but we knew our lineup was going to come through when we need it to,” Paez said. “Right now we’re hitting anybody and our team is just getting better as the game goes on.”

Now the focus turns to Friday and the regional final matchup with American.

“We’re dying just to get to states,” Machado said. “We’re just going to take it one game at a time and not change anything really.”

While the Knights were celebrating their historic victory, the Cougars were looking back on their season and trying to make sense of what just happened. Killian Manager Angel Herrera had nothing but praise for the valiant effort and never-say-die attitude his team showed.

“They fought until the end. My team fought until the end,” Herrera said. “My team gave me every ounce they had. I take my cap off to my club. I’m sure proud to be coach of this team. It was a wonderful ride. We all learned valuable life lessons through this season, and all I can wish for, if there’s any solace in this, is that my seniors can take what they’ve learned this year and be better husbands, fathers and friends when they come out of here. They’re all going to be extremely successful in life, and you wish you could have given them a nice memory in high school of going to state. But that wasn’t the case. Life is what happens when you have other plans.”

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