It came down to one pitch.
One more strike, and St. Margaret’s would have moved on to the CIF Southern Section Division 6 Championship game.
One more strike and Capistrano Valley Christian would have been sent home packing.
It was that one pitch that Eagles senior Jacen Carpenter needed to start a gritty, incredible, three run comeback that put Capistrano Valley Christian up for good 6-5 in the top of the seventh and final inning, punching their ticket to the final game.
Standing at the plate, Carpenter was facing an 0-2 count, his team trailing 5-3 with two outs in the seventh and a runner on second base.
The next pitch he saw Carpenter slapped down the right field line and in for an RBI double that made it 5-4.
The team, and the dozens of fans in the stands, came alive.
Senior captain Kyle Pickell then followed that up with another clutch hit, this one a single, knocking in two runs.
All of the Eagles damage was done with two outs.
“I wanted it. I just didn’t want me senior year to end like that,” Carpenter said. “I was going to do whatever it takes to win. (The pitch) was a fastball on the outside and I just took it the other way…I’m on top of the world.”
It was only fitting that Carpenter came on to pitch in the bottom of the seventh to get the save and stop a possible Tartan comeback with a 1-2-3 inning.
The Eagles struck first, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.
St. Margaret’s then began to chip away, scoring one run in the second inning and two more in the third to tie things up at three.
A big two-run inning for the Tartans in the bottom of the fifth broke up the tie that had lasted for one frame.
Senior catcher Matt Miyamoto doubled to right-centerfield, junior Harrison White drew a walk and senior Byron Manzo hit the first pitch he saw into the gap in left-center, bringing in both Miyamoto and White to take the lead, 5-3.
Eagles coach Clemente Bonilla decided to use senior pitcher Sam Eichler off the bench to try and stop the bleeding and hold the Tartans at five runs, which Eichler did by retiring the five batters he faced in order.
Eichler’s hold coupled with the late game heroics by the Eagles’ bats set up the wild comeback and ensured that they will live to play another day.
“(This win) shows our character. When you’re down, it shows your training and the focus…to not get outside yourself,” Bonilla said. “It proves to (the team) that we are a team that can win a Division 6 Championship this year.”
