Herman Saves His Best Stuff for Last

It was all Josh Herman had left.

Physically drained, mentally exhausted and just about out of pitching eligibility, Crescenta Valley High’s senior right-hander reached back one more time.

The crowd rose and cheered as Herman stepped to the mound. The count was full with nobody on and two out in the seventh.

A curveball specialist, Herman surprised most everyone with a fastball at the knees down the middle of the plate.

The person most surprised was Palmdale batter Chris Testa, who looked at the pitch for a called strike three giving Crescenta Valley a 3-2 victory Friday in the Southern Section Division I quarterfinals at Stengel Field.

Crescenta Valley (23-3-1) will play Yucaipa, a 5-2 winner over Victor Valley, in a semifinal Tuesday at Blair Field in Long Beach at 7 p.m.

“I was going the whole game on adrenaline,” Herman said. “I love it. I had nothing left, but I’m a lot stronger when something is on the line. I thrive on that.”

Testa, a .450 hitter for the season, had a double off the right-center fence in the third inning and lined out hard to first base in the fifth.

But with Jason Gorman, the leading home run hitter for Palmdale (21-6) on deck, Herman knew he had to throw a strike.

“I knew I had to get Testa,” Herman said. “With Gorman on deck I figured if the game was going to end it was going to end right now so I pretty much left it up to [Testa].”

For Herman (8-1), who allowed one run on three hits and struck out three in 4 2/3 innings in relief of starter Jordan Olson, the game was going to end soon anyway.

He started and pitched 4 1/3 innings in Crescenta Valley’s 5-4 victory over Royal on Tuesday. Southern Section rules mandate a maximum of 10 innings for any pitcher in a week. Herman could have gone one more inning.

Olson, who allowed one run on two hits in the first 2 1/3 innings, left with a sore back after fielding a bunt by Alex Suarez to lead off the third. Testa launched his double four pitches later and Coach Phil Torres went to get Olson.

Crescenta Valley got most of its offense courtesy of the Palmdale defense. Two throwing errors on the same play led to two second-inning runs for Crescenta Valley.

“We hadn’t done that in a long time,” Palmdale Coach Lance Pierson said. “We lost concentration for a bit there.”

Herman’s performance overshadowed a stellar showing by Gorman (7-1), who pitched a three-hitter, allowing just one earned run. He retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced after Nate Barber drove in Mark McCauley with a sacrifice fly in the third.

“He’s been that way all year,” Pierson said. “He has not had one bad outing.”

Pierson said his team took little solace in making it this far in the playoffs.

“That sounds awfully hollow to think that now,” he said. “Maybe we’ll look back in a couple of months and think that, but this is a real disappointed ball club.”