Baseball: Simi Valley takes one-run lead in Division I semifinal

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Tiny Matt Orloff, Simi Valley’s No. 9 batter who stands 5 feet 9, hit the ball over the head of Mater Dei center fielder Cory Hahn for a double to drive in Kyle Raskin with the tying run, and Eric Bernstein had an RBI single, enabling the fourth-seeded Pioneers to take a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning of the Southern Section-Toyota Division I semifinal at UC Riverside.

Reliever Matt Blanchard was ineffective for Mater Dei, giving up four hits in the sixth. Simi Valley has collected 12 hits on the day. The Pioneers had previously stranded the tying run in scoring position in every inning since the second.

-- Eric Sondheimer