Matthew Thomas hits walk-off two-run home run for Cypress

Columnist

April 27, 2023 7:18 PM PT

There was so much drama on Thursday afternoon at Cypress that not even a trip to Disneyland could have topped what happened.

In a game to decide the Empire League title, Cypress and Garden Grove Pacifica were tied 0-0 through seven innings. In the top of the ninth, Chad Gurnea hit a home run for Pacifica. Then Matthew Thomas delivered a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth for a 2-1 Cypress victory.

Coach John Weber said he told Thomas before his home run that he was going into the dugout to clean up.

“I want to say I called it, kind of, sort of,” Weber said.

The two schools ended up sharing the Empire League championship but Cypress won a coin flip and will be the No. 1 representative. Gurnea came back to throw seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts after throwing three innings on Tuesday. Luke Matlock and Gabe Cobian limited Pacifica to two hits in nine innings.

Mater Dei 11, Servite 2: A grand slam by Brody Connors during a six-run fourth inning propelled the Monarchs, who clinched their first playoff berth since 2017. Noah Morris added three hits and four RBIs.

JSerra 5, Orange Lutheran 3: Brandon Chang delivered a three-run home run in the third inning to help JSerra claim third place in the Trinity League. Orange Lutheran will have to wait to see if there are any at-large berths for the Division 1 playoffs.

Crespi 1, Harvard-Westlake 0: Diego Velazquez threw six shutout innings and Tyler Walton picked up the save for Division 2-playoff bound Crespi. Chris Arce drove in the only run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 5, St. Francis 0: The Knights (26-2) received four shutout innings of relief from Levi Sterling to finish out the regular season as the likely No. 1 seed for the Division 1 playoffs with an eight-inning win. Dean West and Madden Ocko each had two RBIs. Five St. Francis pitches held the Knights scoreless until the eighth.

Chaminade 10, Loyola 8: Matt Churchill hit a walk-off two-run home run for Chaminade. Greg Rangel hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs.

Sierra Canyon 3, Bishop Alemany 2: Kehden Hettiger had a home run to help Sierra Canyon claim fourth place and a playoff spot out of the Mission League.

Santa Margarita 4, St. John Bosco 0: Collin Clarke and Hayden George combined on a two-hitter to help the Eagles finish the regular season at 22-6 and 14-1 in the Trinity League.

Calabasas 5, Oaks Christian 1: The Coyotes earned a share of the Marmonte League championship with the Lions and will get the top seed from the league by virtue of beating the Lions two out of three games this week. Parker Lynch and Luc Olson combined on the mound to limit the Lions to one run. Phoenix Call hit a home run.

Westlake 1, Newbury Park 0: Dylan Volantis struck out seven in six innings and Andrew Cusworth picked up the save.

Aliso Niguel 6, San Juan Hills 0: Cole Phister and Jake Erenyi combined on the shutout to give Aliso Niguel the Sea View League championship.

Corona 4, Corona Centennial 0: The Panthers won the Big VIII League title behind Ethan Schiefelbein, who threw a complete game, striking out 13.

Norco 7, Roosevelt 1: Logan Ortega and Cameron Kim each had two hits for Norco.

Corona Santiago 8, King 0: Nick Lewis threw six shutout innings for Santiago.

West Ranch 11, Castaic 2: Matthew Lloyd had four hits and four RBIs for West Ranch.

Ayala 3, Glendora 2: Aiden Nunez had two hits in the eight-inning victory.

El Dorado 4, Foothill 0: AJ Frausto struck out nine for El Dorado.

Highland 5, Quartz Hill 2: William Paxton had two hits and two RBIs and also threw three innings to help Highland share the Golden League title with Quartz Hill.

Edison 2, Laguna Beach 1: Zach Marker struck out five in 6 2/3 innings and Brandon Winokur got the save for Edison.

Huntington Beach 11, Los Alamitos 3: Ralphy Velazquez had a home run, double, single and three RBIs for Huntington Beach.