It was then time for Fountain Valley's coach to pick his poison.  He decided to intentionally walk Mike Piazza--in the midst of a rough 0-for-4 day--to face the equally 0-4 Torres.  It did set up the double play, which was unlikely with Torres' superior speed that landed him a gridiron scholarship to the University of Colorado, but it also put the winning run on base.

The Matadores trailed, 4-2, heading into the bottom of the 10th when shortstop Andres Rodriguez--the only junior in the starting lineup along with eight seniors--executed one of his specialties with one out: getting hit by a pitch.  It suddenly brought the unit back to life and catcher/clean-up hitter Nick Mandry promptly ripped a double down the left field line to cut the deficit to 4-3.

La Mirada coach Kim Brooks wisely put in junior Nick Mata as a pinch-runner for Piazza, who has been hobbled with a groin pull the past week, and it was the difference in the outcome when Torres came through with his heroics, allowing Mata to race home with the game-ending run (after initially being held at third) when the throw home was high.  It set off a mad dash of Matadores onto the field to celebrate, but the parents in the stands were doing the jig just as much.

Mandry also changed the complexion of the game in the bottom of the fourth when he mashed the ball over the leftfield fence to reduce the margin, 2-1.  Until then, La Mirada could only manage two hits, the most recent one wiped out right before Mandry's spot in the lineup by none other than the hidden ball trick.

From then on, there was some terrific pitching on both sides, including masterful relieving by seniors Mitch Petersen and Alex Pedroza, who both threw a pair of hitless and scoreless innings to keep their teammates close.

It didn't seem like it would matter as the Matadores were down to their last strike in the seventh inning, still behind 2-1.   Centerfielder Jesse McHenry was hanging on for dear life with a two-out, 1-and-2 count and starting pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon on secondbase.  McHenry then hit a tear to the thirdbaseman, who let the ball squirt under his glove into shallow leftfield as Poncedeleon raced around third to even the game amidst thunderous applause.

It was the fastest the all-CIF quarterback ran since an incredible 80-yard jaunt down the left sideline on the first possession of the second half to spark an improbable comeback over Norwalk for the Suburban League title and setting in motion the divisional title run.

Both teams had ample opportunities to win in extra innings, especially when the Barons had a runner on third with one out in the ninth.  But a strikeout on a busted squeeze play turned into a rundown and an inning-ending double play.

In the bottom half of the ninth, Poncedeleon once more led off with a base on balls, advancing to second on thirdbaseman Kyle Harper's perfect bunt on the first pitch.  But groundout-strikeout ended the threat, and Fountain Valley quickly capitalized against hardluck reliever Piazza.

After the first batter was retired on a nice play by Poncedeleon--inserted at first base for the first time since making some clutch plays there in a tight victory at Loyola last year--a seeing-eye grounder and a blooper to right that turned into a go-ahead double gave Fountain Valley its lead back.  A wild pitch then made it 4-2.

Poncedeleon also gave up a couple of cheap runs in the first inning to set an eerie tone to the start of the season.  The University of Arizona-bound flamethrower didn't allow anything more, however, in his five innings, striking out five and allowing just four hits.

On the defensive side of things, the Matadores did commit a couple of errors but turned in some fine plays, headlined by a Piazza trademark running over-the-shoulder catch in foul territory in the sixth inning, a truly stellar grab even without considering he was hobbling severely at practice just the day before.

A return to thirdbase for Harper, who played there extensively as a sophomore before being displaced to the outfield in favor of transfer and Suburban League Player of the Year Chasen Holland last year, proved special as he made some very nifty plays and throws across the diamond.

The Matadores managed just seven hits and stranded eight, but what is even more unlikely to continue is a strikeout total of seven.    Last season, with basically the same lineup, strikeouts were few and far between for opposing hurlers.