Lindsay-Corcoran IV

The Cardinals were ecstatic.

They beat Division V’s No. 2 seed in their biggest win in recent memory.

Their reward for knocking off Bakersfield Christian: a trip to their own personal haunted house.

To say Corcoran’s home field has been unkind to the Lindsay baseball team would be a gross understatement. The Panthers have flat out owned the Cardinals in Corcoran in the mid-to-late half of this decade. 

In the past six years, Lindsay has lost all eight games in Corcoran and been outscored 84-24.

This season added a sizeable chunk to that figure with the Panthers (20-6-1) shellacking a depleted Lindsay squad (19-9) 15-0 in their place. 

The Panthers took two of the three ESL games this year (The Cards won 5-3, March 24) but are now facing a team with nothing to lose.

“The pressure’s not on us; they’re supposed to win,” Lindsay coach Eric Smith said. 

Smith did not think he had a Valley semifinalist on his hands this year but he’s enjoying the surprising ride.

“With the way they’ve played and handled themselves, they deserve to be here,” Lindsay coach Eric Smith said. “I thought we might be a year away since we’re still pretty young but after that win in Bakersfield, we’re ahead of schedule. 

“I didn’t think we’d be here but it’s fun now that we are.”

With their upset last Friday, the No. 7 Cardinals now have victories over the top two teams in their bracket (they beat No. 1-seeded Liberty Madera 6-4 in April). 

A big part of their upset wins has been timely hitting early. Against Christian, Lindsay plated five runs in the first two innings and rode that momentum throughout. In their win against Corcoran, the Cardinals scored four of their five runs in the opening frame.

“We got nine hits against Bakersfield Christian and we jumped on them early,” Smith said. “Maybe we’re peaking in time. It’s gonna be tough against Mason though.”

Panther pitcher Mason Gonzales is coming off a 5-2 victory over No. 6 Firebaugh in the quarterfinals and has given the Cards trouble this season.

“He pops it in there pretty good. It doesn’t have a lot of movement but he’s also got a good breaking ball,” Smith said. “Last time, he walked one or two. If he has that kind of control again we’ve gotta be ready to swing. We can’t sit back; we’ve gotta attack him.”

The Cardinals’ main weapon on the mound is sophomore Misa Villarreal, who has more than 100 strikeouts on the year.

Villarreal (9-3) struck out five in his five innings of work against Christian. Smith hasn’t made his final decision on who will start today but he is leaning toward Villarreal. 

But fellow hurlers Cesar Lemus, who was the winning pitcher against Liberty, and Gary Baker will probably also see action in relief.

Lindsay’s top hitters are Tony Perez (.389, 6 doubles) and Mike Hernandez (.371, 6 doubles). 

The lineup’s performance, Smith said, holds the key to ending Corcoran’s 11-game win streak.

“In a game as big as this, I’d be surprised if we if we didn’t get solid pitching and defense,” he said.

The semifinal game starts at 4:30 p.m., today, at Corcoran.