Culver City Observer -

For the second time in the past four years, Culver City High baseball ended its playoff season at Palos Verdes High. Once again, the final resting place overlooked the beautiful Pacific Ocean moments before the fading sunset dipped below the horizon.

The Centaurs lost 9-2 to the Sea Kings in their 2018 CIF Division 3 Wild Card Playoff game on Wednesday, May 16. Culver City also lost a 2-1 heartbreaker in the bottom of the seventh inning at P.V. High in 2015. Yet it was a very successful season for the young varsity squad whose 17-8 overall record reflected their refreshing attitude and collective drive.

Palos Verdes took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single off of Centaur freshman starter Adrian Montenegro. Culver quickly tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second with Jake Glickman’s RBI single. However, they failed to capitalize with runners in scoring opportunities in three of the first four innings.

The Sea Kings immediately followed with two runs in the second inning on an RBI triple and a fielder’s choice. P.V. High added another run in the third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Montenegro threw four complete innings, allowed five hits, four earned runs and struck out one batter. Control was his nemesis as he gave up six walks, allowing the Sea Kings to keep constant pressure on the base paths.

Centaur pitcher Nathan Carmichael relieved in the Montenegro in the fifth inning and gave up two unearned runs on a hit, a walk and a couple of uncharacteristic errors. Down by five runs in the sixth inning, Glickman knocked in his second run of the game to keep Culver’s faint hopes alive.

The bottom of the sixth inning sealed the Centaurs’ fate with Nick Lopez on the mound in relief. The first three P.V. batters loaded the bases with a hit and two walks setting up a base-clearing shot down the left field line. The 9-2 defeat was but all in the books with a half inning to play.

Offensively, the Centaurs got four hits: one single each by Joaquin Hines, Dylan Singh and Glickman while Nick Lucero hit a double. Tanner Duve and Hines each scored a run. Andrew Olmeda and Duve walked once each while Montenegro walked twice.

The Centaurs reached the CIF Playoff game by virtue of beating Beverly Hills 4-1 in their post-league playoff game the previous week. They finished 6-5 in league play and started the season with an impressive 11-2 non-league record. The program continues to produce results as the team has made the CIF Southern Section Baseball Playoffs in 13 of the past 14 seasons under Head Coach Rick Prieto.

The final season leading stats reveal: junior shortstop Mason Le led the team in multiple categories with impressive numbers. Le had a .432 batting average, a .746 slugging percentage, had 23 RBI’s, 38 hits, hit 10 doubles, 4 triples and scored 24 runs. His three home runs were half of the team total. Sophomore second baseman Joaquin Hines clubbed .390, had 18 RBI’s, 32 hits, six doubles, two triples, one home run and scored 21 runs.

Sophomore outfielder Tanner Duve hit .357, led the team with three sacrifice hits, had 17 RBI’s, 25 hits, six doubles, two triples, and scored 17 runs. Sophomore designated hitter Nick Lucero hit a nice .351, had 20 hits, 11 walks, scored 10 runs, hit four doubles, one triple and had 11 RBI’s. Sophomore Dylan Singh led Culver City with 12 walks and 11 stolen bases, batted .333, scored 17 runs, had 23 hits and 12 RBI’s.

Senior right fielder Bobby Capa batted .260 with 13 hits, hit three doubles, had five RBI’s, three stolen bases and scored six runs. Senior pitcher and outfielder Andrew Olmeda batted .242, got 15 hits, had six walks, four stolen bases, three hit-by-pitches and scored seven runs.

The pitching stats show a promising future. Freshman Adrian Montenegro led the Centaurs in wins with six. He had a .221 ERA, struck out 21 batters and suffered only two losses.

Freshman pitcher Jake Glickman was equally effective with five wins. His ERA was .276, pitched 33 innings, struck out nine batters and had three losses.

Dylan Singh had two victories. There were six pitchers with at least one win: seniors Bobby Capa, Benny Mosqueria and Andrew Olmeda and junior Nathan Carmichael who won the clinching game against Beverly Hills. Olmeda had a .332 ERA, pitched 31 2/3 innings and struck out nine batters. Singh also struck out nine batters while Capa nailed six K’s.

The 2018 Culver City High 21-player roster:

Seniors – #8 Bobby Capa (OF/IF/P), #15 Benny Mosqueria (P, INF) and #11 Andrew Olmeda (P/OF). Juniors – Team Captain #3 Mason Le (SS), #21 Nathan Carmichael (P/UTIL), #25 James Roque (C/1B), #28 Nick Lopez (P/OF), #42 Barry Blocker (OF/PR) and Logan Brand (C).

Sophomores – #4 Tanner Duve (OF), Team Captain #7 Joaquin Hines (2B), #9 Dylan Singh (1B/P/OF), #19 Shaun Hough (OF) and #37 Nick Lucero (DH/1B). Freshmen - #2 Malik Clayton (C/1B/DH), #10 Jake Glickman (P/INF), #13 Jack Bickerton (P/INF), #22 Adrian Montenegro (P/1B), #30 Oliver Frye (OF/P), #32 Mason Kim (OF/DH) and #55 Roman Carrillo (P/1B).