First Mission Accomplished : Notre Dame Pays Back Camarillo

CAMARILLO â€”  Notre Dame High’s bus rolled out of Camarillo on Friday with an elated baseball team that took home exactly what it came for, a measure of revenge against the school that spoiled its dreams of a Southern Section football championship.

Measure revenge at three feet, which is how far from the center-field fence John Horowitz caught Joe Borchard’s drive to end the game with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, preserving Notre Dame’s 10-6 victory in a Division I first-round playoff game.

“I thought it was out, everybody thought it was out,� Notre Dame Coach Tom Dill said. “The wind held it up.�

Borchard, as every Notre Dame football player rooting on the baseball team knew full well, was the quarterback who gunned them down in the Division III football final in December.

“I felt like they owned us,� said Jorge Piedra, Notre Dame’s right fielder and quarterback . “They had the upper hand until now. This was huge.�

In another ironic touch, Camarillo second baseman Andy Kroneberger, a wide receiver-defensive back who was the most valuable player of the football game, made a throwing error with two out in the seventh on a routine grounder that enabled James Rivera to score and pull the Knights even, 5-5.

The key hits in the eighth were a two-run double by J.P. Prepuk against a tiring Borchard (6-3) and a two-run single by Horowitz against reliever Shane Miranda.

“Everybody played hard, there is no room to point fingers,� said Borchard, who hit his 11th home run in the fourth for Camarillo’s first two runs. “We were all responsible for losing this game.�

Camarillo catcher Joe Yingling appeared responsible for winning the game in the bottom of the seventh after reliever Shawn Smith (4-1) walked Borchard intentionally to put runners on first and second with one out.

Yingling scorched a drive to deep center and it looked like good night, Knights. But Horowitz, a sophomore playing in his first varsity game, made a running catch near the fence. After a wild pitch advanced the runners, third baseman Sean Hanrahan made a nice play on a chopper to end the inning.

Notre Dame (20-8), the third-place team from the Mission League, took a 3-0 lead on a two-run double by Prepuk in the third and a run-scoring double by Kevin Stromsborg in the fourth.

Left-hander Ryan Stonerock, throwing primarily an overhand curve and a sidearm fastball, kept Marmonte League champion Camarillo (22-6-1) quiet until Borchard’s blast in the fourth.

Notre Dame added a run in the sixth, but Camarillo rebounded to take a 5-4 lead in the sixth with a single by John Medina providing the tying and go-ahead runs.

Smith walked to open Notre Dame’s seventh, moved to second on a bunt by Prepuk and, with two out, advanced to third on an infield single by Piedra.

Stonerock hit the grounder thrown away by Kroneberger, a pro prospect who batted .458 with 45 runs and 33 stolen bases. The Scorpions had seven players batting over .400, but managed only eight hits against Notre Dame.