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Sports

Costa Baseball: Parucha Primed For Playoffs Test

Mira Costa right-hander ready to face La Mirada in quarterfinal round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 playoffs

Mira Costa High right-hander Robert Parucha was up in the bullpen during the middle innings of the Mustangs' victory over Cypress in the second-round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. He came on to work in the seventh when the pitch-count for starter Drew Van Orden neared 100, and knocked down the final two outs.

And while Parucha did a little more throwing in the pen and game than he normally would do on a scheduled side day, the Mustangs' senior said that it had set him up perfectly for Friday when he will start at La Mirada for a berth in the semifinals.

''If anything, it helped me out because I needed to do a pen and to get into a live situation helped, also,'' said Parucha, who retired Zack Belanger and Rudy Ledesma, the Centurions' No. 3 and No. 4 hitters, on ground balls to close out the victory over Cypress.

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''It was good to get some time in, especially before Friday's game. It usually helped between starts to get an inning or two, just so it's not a full week off and then you pitch, then another full week off. That helps out a lot. In the pen, I felt I could locate my pitches really well, too.''

In the Matadores, Parucha and the Mustangs will be facing a team that has averaged 7.6 runs per game and led the Suburban League in scoring – by 65 runs.

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Nick Mandry has hit .432 with 37 RBI and Karl Perez is batting .372 with 24 RBI.

''That's the way it's set up,'' Coach Cassidy Olson said. ''When you're a No. 1 seed like we are and like they are, it should be our ace against their ace, so, you know, we'll see.''

Parucha has been spectacular at times the latter half of the season. He had a tough outing in a night game at Redondo Union, but in victories against West Torrance, Leuzinger, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Palos Verdes and San Marcos sandwiched around that game he allowed only 16 hits and five earned runs in 29 1/3 innings, posting an ERA of 1.53.

''He looked real good, looked real sharp against the two batters that he faced [against Cypress],'' Olson said. ''He's 100 percent ready to go and the way that he and Drew have been pitching in big games, no one would guess that Lucas [Whitehill] has maybe the most impressive stats on our team and he hasn't even taken the mound in almost three weeks.''

Notes:

Should the Mustangs beat La Mirada, they will be back on a bus for the semifinal round of the playoffs. The winner would play either Glendora or Placentia Valencia and in a coin flip at the CIF offices earlier this week it was determined Glendora would host a potential semifinal game against Mira Costa and Valencia would also get the home game in a match up against the Mustangs. ... With Van Orden unavailable after throwing 97 pitches in the victory over Cypress, Whitehill would be the first out of the Mustangs' bullpen. The senior has not pitched in a game since since May 7 when he beat Redondo Union 11-3, allowing only five hits and two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out 12 in that game. Sharpness could be be an issue, but Whitehill has pitched in intrasquad games in practice, most recently on Wednesday. ... The Mustangs and La Mirada have faced three common opponents this season in Simi Valley, St. Paul and Palos Verdes Peninsula. Mira Costa lost to Simi Valley and St. Paul, and split its Bay League series with Peninsula. The Matadores beat Simi Valley and Peninsula, and also lost to St. Paul.

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