Aptos advances to CCS Division II title game

Aptos' Jacob Connery throws to first for the final out of Aptos' 7-5 win over Mount Pleasant on Thursday afternoon at San Jose Municipal Stadium. (Glenn Cravens/Register-Pajaronian)

SAN JOSE - The Aptos High baseball team scored two runs in the forth inning to take the lead for good, and it went on to defeat Mount Pleasant 7-5 in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Division II tournament on Thursday at Municipal Stadium.

With the win, the Mariners advance to the title match on Saturday back at Municipal Stadium.

It's the team's third finals appearance in school history. The Mariners last made it in 2007.

They got back to the finals after overcoming a rally by the red team.

After surrendering the lead in the top of the fourth inning, the Mariners grabbed it right back. Jared Koenig, Ben Hudson and John Evans all reached base to load them up with no outs. Sacrifice flies by Orey Wafford and Michael Heinevetter brought home a run each, giving Aptos a 6-5 lead.

Evans provided an insurance run in the sixth. He singled and took second on a sacrifice. Two bad balls in the dirt later, he was home with Aptos' seventh run.

It appeared the game was going to be over in a heartbeat after the locals scored four runs in the first inning. They even got all of the bounces, including a Gunnar Glaum single that picked up chalk on its route to third base, bringing home Jordan Talbot to give them a 3-0 advantage.

A couple of pitches later, Glaum faked a steal attempt, and Nicco Bailey stole home for Aptos' fourth run.

Mount Pleasant put together it's biggest rally in the third inning as all nine batters saw a pitch in getting four runs. The biggest blow was a triple to left field by Arturo Ahedo, scoring three.

And then, Gabriel Katich singled home Ahedo to tie the game at 4-4.

Then it seemed as though Mount Pleasant was going to outsmart Aptos the rest of the way. In the fourth inning, the Cardinals' David Santellano hit a single and got all the way to third on a stolen base and a sacrifice. Peter Perez got hit by a pitch with two outs. Perez then intentionally got into a rundown and stayed hung up long enough for Santellano to score, giving Mount Pleasant a 5-4 lead.

The Mariners had a brief huddle before rallying back to take the lead for good.

Talbot got the win on the mound, allowing only three hits while striking out four. He didn't allow a hit after Santellano's single in the fourth.

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