Before stepping onto the field Thursday afternoon, the Compton baseball program had already made history.
Compton reached the playoffs for the first time since before joining the Moore League in 1970 and earned the right to host a first-round game against Cornerstone Christian in the CIF Southern Section Division 8 playoffs.
However, the Tarbabes’ long-awaited postseason return was brief as the Crusaders defeated Compton 6-1 on Thursday afternoon.
“It was definitely special,” Compton senior Andrew Ruiz said of being in the playoffs. “Coming from playing and practicing at a middle school on a little plot of grass and in my first year we won two games, but we just kept improving every year. We put in the dedication during the offseason and kept working.”
Cornerstone Christian jumped on Compton in the top of first inning after Dylan Kelly reached base on an error and scored when Charlee Kylis hit an RBI double to put the Cursaders up 1-0. That’d be the score after one as Jesse Villicana retired the Tarbabes in order.
After a scoreless second inning, Cornerstone Christian’s Ethen Harriman reached base on an error and back-to-back singles by Josh May and Kelly pushed the lead to 2-0. The Cursaders added two more runs as they took a 4-0 lead at the top of the third inning.
Compton got a spark at the bottom of the third as they loaded the bases after a pair of singles from Luis Galaviz and Ruiz. However, the Cursaders got out of the jam to end the Tarbabes scoring opportunity.
Cornerstone Christian pushed the lead to 5-0 at the top of the fifth after Kelly led things off with a double and scored on an error.
That’s when Compton had their best opportunity as Ethan Unga led off with a hit by pitch and then Galaviz and Anthony Jacobo singled to load the bases. Ruiz pushed a run across when he drew a walk as the Tarbabes cut Cornerstone Christian’s lead to 5-1.
Cornerstone Christian brought in Kelly for relief and he got the next three batters out to limit Compton’s opportunity.
The Cursaders added one more run at the top of the seventh and the Tarbabes weren’t able to mount the comeback.
While it wasn’t the result the Tarbabes or Compton coach Lorenzo Redick wanted, Redick was proud of his team’s performance.
“We didn’t want to be one and done, but it was big for our program,” Redick said. “As a coach, we’d never been over .500. We finished with 14 wins, and that’s great for our program. Our kids bought in. Hopefully, this is the growth of our program.”
“Having all the families and friends here in the stands was great,” Redick added. “The work we did at Roosevelt actually helped us. Once we got on this field, we were able to get straight to work and it was great for us. As you can see, the improvement was big-time.”
