Paloma Valley's baseball season ends with 3-1 loss

Paloma Valley pitcher Chapman Weber makes a pitch against Rancho Cucamonga Tuesday. (Staff photo)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- One pitch made the difference in an otherwise fairly even matchup, and Paloma Valley High’s baseball season was over.

Tate Shimao hit a towering three-run home run off a fastball from Wildcats pitcher Chapman Weber in the third inning Tuesday, and that’s all Rancho Cucamonga needed in a 3-1 victory over Paloma in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs.

Weber retired the first seven batters he faced before Willson Dunn bunted for a base hit with one out in the third inning. Aaron Whobrey followed with a single before Shimao hit a ball high over the left-field fence for a home run.

Weber gave up just one hit to the next six batters he faced before running into trouble again in the fifth. But he fought back to strike out Noel Cesena and James Rivera to get out of the jam.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it was too late. Although they scored a run in the sixth on a groundout, they left runners on second and third in the seventh inning. Reliever Dakota Gray came in to strike out Stephen Gallegos and end the game.

Paloma Valley finished with six hits and left nine men on base.

“That happens with a good hitter,” Paloma Valley coach Jason Berni said about Shimao’s home run. “I thought he [Weber] did a good job. He pitched well enough to give us a chance to win, but we didn’t get the job done. We left some runners on in key situations. He made one bad pitch to a really good hitter and the kid ran into it. We just have to tip our hat to them.”

Paloma Valley had a scoring opportunity in the third inning when Kaden Millar led off with a single, was balked to second, and Isaiah Alcala hit a single, Millar stopping at third. But winning pitcher Dylan Escobar struck out Adrian Vento and got Gallegos on a groundout to end the threat.

In the fifth inning, the Wildcats had runners on first and second with one out, but Alcala grounded into a force play and Vento grounded out.

Paloma Valley’s season ends with a 15-13 record.

“We had a good season,” Berni said. “I look at the entire year. Our fall and winter was really strong. That’s just as important as the regular season. We have five seniors, so we’re returning most of our guys.

“It was a year to grow for us. Going into next year we’ll have a better idea of what the expectation is. You’ll see the maturity come through.”