SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION I : Esperanza, Ruiz Grab Big Game

LONG BEACH —  Poncho Ruiz was barely able to get his bat on the ball Tuesday, but without him, Esperanza probably wouldn’t be playing Saturday at Anaheim Stadium.

The shortstop made several crucial plays in the Aztecs’ 2-0 victory over top-seeded Encino Crespi in a Southern Section Division I semifinal baseball game at Blair Field.

With the victory, unseeded Esperanza (24-5), which advances to play Simi Valley in the final at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, continued a trend. Crespi (27-3) is the 23rd consecutive No. 1-seeded team to lose in the section’s major division playoffs. The last top-seeded team to win the title was Lakewood in 1970.

Ruiz, who batted .436 in the regular season, never appeared comfortable at the plate Tuesday. His first two times at bat, he struck out on three pitches. In his third at-bat, he tried to bunt for a single and reached on a throwing error.

“He had a long day at the plate but he didn’t let it affect him,” Esperanza Coach Mike Curran said. “He’s a two-way player. He makes some great defensive plays. He’s always making a great play.”

His greatest play saved two runs in the bottom of the first inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Crespi’s Brad Wright hit a sharp one-hopper headed for left field. But Ruiz dived to his right, snared the ball and threw to second baseman Bobby Ponce for the out that ended the inning.

“That was huge, huge ,” Esperanza starter George Hart said. “Poncho saved the game.”

The Aztecs’ pitchers had plenty to do with it as well.

Hart (4-0), a senior making his second start after off-season arm problems, was shaky at first, but allowed only one hit, a double by Brad Wright in the fourth inning. Marcus Jones took over in the fifth and retired eight consecutive batters before allowing Crespi’s only other hit with two out in the seventh.

After an error by Ruiz, Jones got the game’s final out on a pop-up to second.

Esperanza scored a run in each of the first two innings off Crespi’s Keith Evans (8-1). Jason Murrietta drove in Sal Hernandez with the first run on a groundout to short. Jason Goettsche drove in Ponce with an infield single. Goettsche’s hit was a dribbler off the end of the bat and he slid headlong into first base to avoid the pitcher’s tag.

After that, Esperanza managed only one more hit off Evans, who gave up four, and none off Jorvic Salazar and ace Jeff Suppan. Suppan pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, striking out three of the last five.

Crespi was faring no better against Hart and Jones. Jones was ahead in the count against virtually every batter. Even so, he had to pitch out of trouble with the tying run on base in the seventh.

After striking out the first two batters in the inning on six pitches, Jones gave up a single to right by No. 9 hitter Gus Jordt. The next batter, Javier Avila, hit a hard groundball to Ruiz, who had handled nine other grounders flawlessly. This one, he bobbled.

“It was a spinner,” Ruiz said. “I was in a little bit of a rush and I took my eye off the ball. Fortunately, we had Marcus who can just challenge hitters. And he wins almost all the challenges.”

Darren McInerney, the next batter, popped out to Ponce at second base.