Edison upsets No. 2-seeded Moorpark 2-1

The vast expanse of the CIF Southern Section can sometimes make playoff scouting reports problematic. But these days, a little knowledge is sometimes only a mouse click away.

A bit of Internet reconnaissance proved valuable for Edison High and senior Kyler Arenado on Tuesday in the host Chargers’ 2-1 upset of No. 2-seeded Moorpark in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 2 baseball playoffs.

The win lifts Edison (20-12) into Friday’s quarterfinal against visiting Palm Desert (21-7) at 3:15 p.m.

Arenado, who said he had scouted YouTube video of Moorpark senior pitcher Travis Weston, lined a 2-2 fastball from Weston into center field for the game-winning, walk-off single to extend Edison’s late-season surge.

The winning hit capped a rally that began when Edison pitcher Vince Inman walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Carson Letterman followed with a single to center to put runners on the corners.

After Letterman trotted to second on defensive indifference, Arenado hunkered down for a two-strike offering.

“I was hunting fastball,” said Arenado, whom Chinn called the team’s offensive MVP, but was hitless in his first three at-bats, all against starter Quinton Potter. “I was thinking, ‘I’m going to win this game. I’m not going to lose.’ There’s no chance I lose that at-bat.”

Edison, which was hitless through four innings, scratched a run across in the second to give Inman a lead he appeared intent on holding.

Edison sophomore shortstop Ted Burton, who sparkled defensively, reached on an error, stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch that produced an errant catcher’s throw to third that allowed Burton to score.

Inman, who delivered a first-pitch strike to 24 of the 27 he faced, including 18 straight on one stretch, had a three-hit shutout through five.

But senior left fielder Dante Sandoval hit a leadoff home run, his first of the season, just inside the left-field foul pole to open the sixth and knot the score.

The Musketeers tried to steal home later in the sixth, but Tyger Goslin was tagged out by Edison catcher Connor Aoki.

Moorpark (26-4), located 85 miles north of Huntington Beach, had won 24 of its previous 25 games and was ranked No. 2 in the state and No. 13 in the nation by MaxPreps. But it had only three runners advance past first base Tuesday and was zero for three with runners in scoring position.

Inman, who along with first-round pitching winner Riley Haddon have alternated for six straight complete-game wins, Chinn said, threw 79 pitches, 60 for strikes.

“[Inman] might not have the same stuff as [Moorpark’s two pitchers], but he wants the ball in his hand in these kind of moments and it showed today,” Chinn said. “He attacked the strike zone all game long.”

Potter came in 6-0 with a 1.86 ERA, while Weston, who entered with one out in the sixth and took the loss, came in 6-1 with a 0.77 ERA.

“I could throw all my pitches for strikes,” Inman said. “I had confidence in everything.”

Edison, which has won seven straight, continues to build confidence after opening 0-5 in Sunset League play. The Chargers, who are now 6-5 in one-run games (including two one-run losses to heralded Huntington Beach), finished league 8-2 to claim second place and Arenado said this team has special chemistry.

“After coming back from 0-5, we think everything is possible,” Arenado said. “I love this team so much. There is not a single guy here that is an ‘I’ guy.”

Chase Hanson, Aoki and Derek Cleland rounded out Edison’s five-hit attack.

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CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs

Second round

Edison 2, Moorpark 1

SCORE BY INNINGS

Moorpark 000 001 0 – 1 6 2

Edison 010 000 1 – 2 5 0

Potter, Weston (6) and Dubeuil; Inman and Aoki. W – Inman. L – Weston, 6-2. HR – Sandoval (M).

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Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5