Wild celebration as REV wins title

REDLANDS – The fly ball disappeared into center fielder Connor Towns’ glove and the Redlands East Valley players didn’t hesitate.

The Wildcats sprinted for the center of the diamond. Once there, they jumped and hugged and dumped the contents of a water bucket on coach Chris Paterson.

REV’s 6-2 victory Tuesday against host Citrus Valley was history making. It was the first time the Wildcats finished with the Citrus Belt League's best record since 2018 when REV and Yucaipa both went 12-2 (Yucaipa beat REV twice that season). And REV’s string of 12 consecutive victories is the most since winning 13 consecutive games in 2010.

REV can equal the latter by defeating Citrus Valley at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The game was moved to Cajon High in San Bernardino due to recent rains.

Junior right-handed pitcher Caleb Jamroz pitched a gem for REV (19-8 overall, 12-2 CBL). Jamroz, after yielding a two-run home run to Cole West in the first inning, finished with a complete game. He gave up three hits and two runs, while striking out three and walking four.

“I learned to trust my defense,” Jamroz said of the difference between last season and this season.  “I became more of a team guy and less of an I-guy. I just needed to give my team the opportunity to score some runs.”

Paterson was not stunned by Jamroz’s effort.

“He’s been a dog all year,” Paterson said. “I’m not surprised. He wants the ball every time out, and he wanted it today.”

Pitching is the strength of the Wildcats, who have three aces in Jamroz (7-1, 1.99 ERA), Cash Dabbs (8-3, 1.37), and Azael Hernandez (0-0, 0.88).   

REV got all the runs back and more in the second inning. A two-run double by Dabbs was the big blow in the three-run inning.

The Wildcats managed a two-out rally to score three more runs in the third. Ty Whittle’s run-scoring single and Alan Gibbons’ two-run double did the damage.

“I wanted to hit the ball hard and just control what I could control,” Gibbons said. “It felt good. We’ve put in a lot of hard work this season.”

REV also excelled in the field. It executed three double plays, including tagging out two runners on the same play in the third. Without that, Citrus Valley (16-11, 10-4) would have had two runners on base with the dangerous West at the plate.

As it was, Citrus Valley suffered a disappointing Senior Day defeat. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak. 

Whittle had three hits and drove in a run to lead REV. Dabbs and Gibbons both contributed one hit and two RBI.

REV is now 51-33 in the Paterson era.

“It’s awesome,” Paterson said. “We’ve improved every year. It’s a great group with a good senior class. Our goal was to win it all, and that’s what we did.”

Citrus Valley coach Jon Austin was disappointed but not crestfallen with the loss.

“We won the title last year and I was happy we had an opportunity in the last week of the season to win one this year,” Austin said. “It shows our growth. We were just a little inexperienced on the mound.”