It was virtually impossible not to notice 6-foot-8 Sean Reynolds throw his glove toward the sky and jump high in the air. The Redondo pitcher had just completed a turnaround season leading the Sea Hawks to back-to-back CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championships Saturday at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino.
Top-seeded Redondo (31-2) edged Woodbridge 2-1 behind the arm and bat of Reynolds. The right hander hurled a five-hitter with four strikeouts to improve his season record at 11-0 also scoring the winning run. Not a bad way for the Rice University-signee to cap off his prep career after seeing limited action on the mound in Redondo’s title run last season.
“Sean’s been fantastic for us all year,” Redondo coach Jeff Baumback said. “He’s come a long way, really improving in all phases of the game. He grew so quickly that last year he just didn’t have the coordination to be consistently effective at the plate or on the mound. In the last 12 months he became very athletic and gained control of the big body and he has become a special talent.”
Redondo got on the scoreboard first when Jason Dicochea’s single knocked in Ricky Martin to give the Sea Hawks a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Woodbridge answered in the fourth inning on a single, double and sacrifice fly.
Reynolds helped his own cause leading off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double to right field then scored on Danny Zimmerman’s single giving the pitcher all the offense he would need.
After retiring eight consecutive batters, Reynolds gave up a one-out single in the seventh inning but caught an easy line drive and doubled off the runner at first to finish the game.
“The experience of winning last season was amazing, but this year was the greatest feeling in the world,” Reynolds said. “To make the final out and be part of such an amazing team is more than I could have ever dreamed of. The only thing better than the talent we had on this team was the energy and camaraderie.”
Redondo’s senior-laden turned in a record-setting year hitting a school record 29 home runs while batting .316 as a team. Zimmerman, a junior who plans to attend Michigan, set the single-season home run record with 11 round-trippers and also led the team with a .443 batting average.
Baumback believes his team’s 31 wins and Reynolds’ 11 wins as a pitcher are also school records.
Reynolds said his velocity increased at least 10 miles per hour this season bring it to 90-92 mph but his confidence level was the major reason for his success.
“I didn’t feel any pressure, I totally trusted our defense,” said Reynolds who felt Woodbridge, Cypress and rival Mira Costa were the Sea Hawk’s toughest opponents this season. “Beating a tough Division 1 team like Cypress in midseason was a benchmark for us.”
At the plate, Reynolds batted .366 with 34 RBI and nine home runs, Santa Clara–bound Dicochea batted .389 while leading the team in doubles (14) and stolen bases (8). Marco Valenzuela, University of Nevada commit, led the Sea Hawks with 40 RBI and batted .367.
Redondo also received strong seasons from Matt Hanniff and Jacob Springman who batted .307 and .284, respectively.
Reynolds finished the season with a 1.08 ERA striking out 94 with only 16 walks in 84 innings. He led a pitching staff that had a combined 1.32 ERA and was supported by Zimmerman (6-1, 1.67 ERA) and Long Beach State-bound Connor Riley (6-1, 1.91 ERA).
Back-to-back CIF titles have set the bar high at Redondo yet Baumback feels his younger players will benefit from a long playoff run.
“We had great seniors last year and they influenced this group quite a bit,” Baumback said. “This group of seniors is incredible; it’s really like coaching college players. They have been great role models and mentors to our younger guys.”
