FULLERTON — The Fullerton baseball team needed an emotional lift going into its game against Mar Vista of Imperial Beach in the opening round of CIF Southern California Division IV Regional playoffs Tuesday at Fullerton High School.
Pitcher Kyle Kim settled down nicely after a bit of a rough start and teammate Conor Sunderland slugged a two-run home run to lead the Indians to a 4-2 victory over the Mariners.
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Kyle Kim (23) of Fullerton High School pitches agains Mar Vista High during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Sebatian Fany (8) of Fullerton High connects with the ball for a single to left fields in a game against Mar Vista High during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Matthew Kim (17) of Fullerton High School slides in to second base past the tag of Mar Vista’s Tyler Kavanagh (9) for a double during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Pitcher EJ Ayala (4) of Fullerton High takes a knee to send up a prayer before pitches against Mar Vista High in the bottom of the seventh inning during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Pitcher Kyle Kim (23) of Fullerton High School tags out Trevor Rector (3) of Mar Vista High in a rundown between second and third base during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Conor Sunderland (15) of Fullerton High School is greeted by Matthew Kim (17) and Kyle Kim (23) at the plate after Sunderland hit a two run home run to take the lead over Mar Vista High during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Matthew Kim (17) of Fullerton High tags out Carlos Ibarra (6) of Mar Vista High in a rundown between third and home during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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First baseman Jeremy Maldonado (14) of Fullerton High School bobbles an infield ground by Carlos Ibarra (6) of Mar Vista High but was still able to get to the base for the out at first during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Conor Sunderland (15), top, of Fullerton High School jumps in the air as his teammates celebrate his two run home run to take the lead over Mar Vista High during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Pitcher EJ Ayala (4) of Fullerton High pitches against Mar Vista High in the bottom of the seventh inning during the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division IV baseball playoffs at Fullerton High School in Fullerton on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Fullerton (25-9), the No. 2 seed, will play host to Burroughs on Thursday in the regional semifinals.
The victory helped the Indians erase the memory of their 3-0 defeat to Tesoro in the CIF SS Division 4 championship game May 21.
“After losing the championship game, you are kind of down,” Fullerton first-year head coach Shaun Hill said. “I think the first couple of practices (after the loss) felt consolation-less. Then we got to play intersquad in the middle of last week and got after it. The juices started flowing again. There was excitement. I told the guys they could get to be the first Fullerton High School (baseball) team to win a state championship.”
The game didn’t start out well for Kim or the Indians, as Mar Vista’s Jordan Mahan hit a home run on the first pitch of the game.
The No. 7 Mariners (23-12), winners of the CIF San Diego Section Division 3 championship, added to their lead in the first inning with Andrew Guevara’s RBI double.
The Indians got one run back in the first with Sebastian Fany’s sacrifice fly, which scored Matthew Kim.
Matthew Kim hit his second single to start off the third and two batters later Sunderland hit a 2-ball, 2-strike fastball over the right field fence to put the Indians ahead to stay.
“I was pretty much expecting that,” Sunderland said of the pitch. “It was a little bit low in the zone.”
Kyle Kim, meanwhile, settled down nicely, retiring nine in a row and 11 out of 12 in a stretch from the third through sixth innings.
“I think it really helped that we had a home game,” Kyle Kim said. I felt comfortable pitching on our mound. Everything was working today.”
In the sixth, Zach Fany’s fly out to right scored his brother Sebastian from third to give the Indians an insurance run.
Kyle Kim retired the first two hitters he faced in the seventh before giving up back-to-back singles.
E.J. Ayala, the starting pitcher for Fullerton in the CIF-SS championship, came in to relive Kyle Kim and got the third out on a fielder’s choice.
“It’s been an awesome year and we are excited to keep going,” Hill said.
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