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Pacifica baseball knocks off Villa Park in Loara Tournament final

April 1, 2023

ANAHEIM — Pacifica’s pitching duo of Chad Gurnea and Logan Brady blanked Villa Park to give the Mariners a 4-0 win in the championship game of the Loara Tournament Friday at Brookhurst Park.

Pacifica (14-2) beat Yorba Linda, JW North, Fountain Valley and Bishop Amat previously in the baseball tournament that began in early February. The championship game had been rescheduled twice due to rain.

Pacifica entered this week ranked No. 12 in the Orange County Top 25 and Villa Park was ranked No. 4.

Gurnea, a Cal State Fullerton signee, pitched four shutout innings, allowed just two hits and struck out five to earn the win.

“Coming into the first inning I had a bit of adrenaline facing a good lineup like Villa Park,” Gurnea said. “As the game went on I realized that we were in this game for a reason. If we play our game, good things will happen.”

Pacifica’s Chad Gurnea pitched four shutout innings and earned the win as the Mariners defeated Villa Park 4-0 in the Loara Tournament final on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Photo by Michael Huntley)

“Big players come through in big games,” Pacifica coach Mike Caira said. “He’s been doing this since his sophomore year. He hit his spots and credit goes to the defense too.”

Brady pitched the remaining three innings to earn the save. The senior scattered five hits and had one strikeout.

“Logan was lights out,” Caira said. “He and Chad have a healthy competition and they kept the shutout intact against one of the top teams around.”

Andrew Krodel was effective on the mound for VIlla Park (11-3) as well. The UC Santa Barbara signee allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts.

Pacifica left runners on base early in the game, but got timely hits when it was needed. With runners on second and third in the fourth inning, Jayson Juarez hit a run-scoring single to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

Juarez went 2 for 2 with a walk and two RBIs to lead Pacifica’s offense.

Pacifica added three runs in the sixth inning. Juarez drove in a run with a bunt single and Ryland Chastain drove in two runs with a single.

Caira turned to senior Chastain to pinch hit with the bases loaded. Chastain was an everyday player for last season but hasn’t been in the lineup as frequently this season.

“He’s a senior who hasn’t gotten it going a lot and I told him he was going to get in,” Caira said of Chastain. “He got in and came up big. The big smile on his face was awesome and I’m really happy for him.”

Villa Park got two runners on in the seventh inning, but Brady drew a groundout to third base to finish the game unscathed.

Texas A&M signee Gavin Grahovac and senior Geoff McArthur each had two hits for Villa Park.

Villa Park has a Crestview League game Saturday against Foothill. The Spartans beat Foothill 6-1 on Tuesday in the first game of the series.

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Pacifica will continue Empire League play next week with a two-game series against Crean Lutheran.

The Mariners are 2-0 in league play and have a marquee matchup against perennial league champion Cypress to end the regular season.

“The Empire League is tough so hopefully we can take care of business,” Caira said. “Crean Lutheran is tough so don’t sleep on them. We will try to make up some games and pad our schedule with good teams and hopefully take care of what we need to do at the end of the year.”

Orange County Register

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Pacifica baseball knocks off Villa Park in Loara Tournament final

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