Lancers head coach Scott Ahlstrom informed the team last Saturday that they would be playing beyond the regular season. Photo by Rick Sloan

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - The Cordova Lancers earned a spot in the inaugural CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) Sac Joaquin Section Division II play-in game in perhaps the most dramatic fashion possible, with a nail-biting 4-3 victory in extra innings at El Dorado on Friday, May 2 in its non-league regular season finale.

Trailing by three runs entering the top of the seventh inning, the Lancers (14-13-1, 7-8 Metro League at press time) put together their most memorable inning of the season, scoring three runs to tie the contest. The Lancers held El Dorado (14-12 overall) scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, pushing the game into extra innings. 

The Lancers finished in fourth-place in their first season in the Metro League. Photo by Rick Sloan

Lancers’ sophomore Gage Cordova would connect on a two-out runs batted in (RBI) single in the top of the eighth inning that allowed junior Alfonso Maya to score what was the winning run. Junior standout pitcher Levi Nyberg would close it out on the mound for Cordova in the bottom of the inning, with the Lancers keeping their season alive and earning a play-in matchup at No. 16 seed Armijo of Fairfield this past Monday, May 5. Results of the game were not available at press time. 

With the new playoff format, the top three teams from each of the three divisions within Division II advance, followed by the next six qualifying teams thereafter to round out the bracket. The play-in goes to the next two qualifying teams after that, with the winner moving on to play the No. 1 overall seed in their opening round playoff game. Thus, the winner of Cordova at Armijo this past Monday will have moved on to face top-seeded Jesuit this past Wednesday. Final results were not available upon press time, with a full recap coming next week. 

The Lancers earned a spot in the inaugural CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) Sac Joaquin Section Division II Play-In Game. Photo by Rick Sloan

Making the postseason came as a shock to Cordova head coach Scott Ahlstrom, who said that he and his team were unaware of the new play-in game format. In previous seasons, the Lancers’ fourth-place Metro League finish would have resulted in missing the postseason. Nonetheless, the results were a pleasant surprise when Ahlstrom informed the team last Saturday.

“They were all excited,” Ahlstrom said. “We thought we went out on a high note (Friday), winning in extra innings and we thought sending our one senior (first baseman Daniel Swick) out on a high note. They were happy that we actually snuck in.”