DALLAS, TX – When likely no one else did Saturday, Cedar Ridge still had faith in itself.
Facing a seemingly endless number of obstacles in their Class 6A bi-district series with Westlake, the Raiders pulled off a stunning come-from-behind win in the second game Saturday at Westlake High School. That set up another dramatic ending in Cedar Ridge’s 8-5 win in the second half of Saturday’s playoff doubleheader.
In game two of the series, Cedar Ridge rallied from a 7-0 deficit to take a 9-7 win in nine innings. The Raiders then worked out of several jams in the third game of the series to advance to the second round.
“It’s amazing, honestly,” said Cedar Ridge junior center fielder Matthew Brooks, who had four hits and three RBI over the two games. “We just stayed in the ballgame, believed in each other and pulled it out.”
Following a 12-8 loss in game one Friday night at Cedar Ridge High School, the Raiders looked like they’d be swept when they entered the sixth inning of game two trailing 7-0. However, Brooks led off the inning with a double and Cedar Ridge used five singles, a walk, an error and a wild pitch to tie the game.
In the eighth, the Raiders were again on the verge of elimination when Westlake loaded the bases with one out, but Brandon Vasquez recorded a strikeout and drew a flyout to end the threat.
Brooks singled and eventually scored what would be the winning run on a wild pitch in the ninth as Cedar Ridge forced a game three.
“We literally take things one pitch at a time,” Raiders catcher Dylan Masanda said. “Our motto is, ‘Down but not out,’ and we stick to that — and it paid off in the end.”
In the series-decider, Cedar Ridge jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Westlake rallied to within 5-4 in the fifth. However, Daniel Patterson got out of a two-on, two-out jam to end the inning, then when the Chaps loaded the bases in the sixth, he again produced an out when he had to have one.
“I’ve had faith in this pitching staff all year, and they’ve always got the job done,” Masanda said. “Patterson’s breaking ball was on tonight and it was huge by (Luke) Saulters and (Kyle) Norton to come in and get through the first four innings and get the game to him. Just a great team win.”
Patterson, Isaiah Clements and Danny Valadez had run-scoring hits in the seventh to give the Raiders three insurance runs.
When Patterson ended the game with a strikeout, the Cedar Ridge dugout rushed the field with exhilarating joy.
“It’s obviously a thrill for the kids to win this,” Cedar Ridge coach Darryl Reeves said. “Our pitching has basically kept us in games this year, and this series it was our bats. … We seem to be on an emotional roller coaster almost every game. That’s the best way I can explain it. You saw it the way we played in this series with all the highs and lows.”
Westlake (24-9-1) won the series opener Friday by getting out to a 10-1 lead as Braden Davis belted a grand slam and Mike Lustina hit a two-run homer. The Chaps then weathered a seven-run sixth inning from the Raiders before eventually closing it out.
Saturday, Westlake continued to swing the bats well to take its big lead in game two behind two RBI singles from Ethan Wilfong, Mike Lustina’s two-run double, Reece MacRae’s run-scoring hit and a sacrifice fly from Chapel Stewart.
Following Brooks’ double for the Raiders in the sixth, Masanda singled and Patterson drew a walk to load the bases. Norton and Nick Zamora had infield RBI singles, then an error that led to a run preceded run-scoring hits from Landon Myhill and Brendan Read.
Tucker Allen’s sacrifice fly and Myhill scoring on a wild pitch led to the Raiders tying the game.
In the ninth, Patterson walked after Brooks singled, and both runners eventually stole a base. A wild pitch and passed ball allowed the two to score, while Vasquez retired the side in the bottom half of the inning.
“If we can find some consistency, we’re pretty good,” Reeves said. “Lucky enough, we found enough to come back and get it to game three. That’s always the message to any team: If you can get it to game three of any series, you never know what will happen.”
What happened early on was Cedar Ridge (19-14) put across four runs in the second, highlighted by Brooks’ two-run single and Allen’s run-scoring hit.
Westlake answered with two runs thanks to Stewart’s double and Blake Peterson’s single, but Brooks’ RBI double gave in the fourth gave the Raiders a 5-2 lead and set the scene for a dramatic ending.
“This was a crazy series just because the amount of runs that were scored in bunches for both teams,” Reeves said. “You see wild things in the playoffs, and it’s just fun to come out on top. I told the guys after last night to drink a lot of water, get some sleep and we’d wake up today, take batting practice and have a long day — and that’s exactly what we did.”
But a never-ending belief in each other is also something the Raiders have in their back pocket.
“We knew if we played our game and did our thing, we’d come out on top,” Masanda said. “This series was intense from the first pitch last night. It’s huge to win this. Shoutout to the class of 2020, because they didn’t get the opportunity to play in the playoffs. So, this is huge and we’re looking forward to round two.”
Vista Ridge will face No. 1 San Antonio Reagan later this week.
