Prep Baseball: Broncos open playoffs with 6-1 win over Falcons

The last time Torrey Pines High’s ace C.J. Stubbs took the mound against Rancho Bernardo, he delivered a five-hit shutout to outduel fellow USC-commit Drew Finley in a 2-0 win.

It was a different story this time around.

The Broncos delivered seven hits and four runs in the first three innings off Stubbs and Finley allowed just three hits in six innings of work, as second-seeded Rancho Bernardo beat No. 7 Torrey Pines 6-1 in a CIF San Diego Section Open Division quarterfinal game.

The Broncos, who won the very first Open Division title in 2013, will host either No. 3 Cathedral Catholic or No. 6 El Camino Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the second round of the lower bracket. The winner plays Rancho Bernardo and the loser will host Torrey Pines, who ended the Broncos’ four-year streak as Palomar League champions this season.

Rancho Bernardo’s bats have been inconsistent, but Calvin Mitchell led an eight-hit attack with a double, a triple and three RBIs. His two-run double to the right-center field gap in the sixth gave Rancho Bernardo a comfortable 6-1 lead.

“I feel like we have been up and down all season with the bats,” said the left-handed Mitchell, a USD commit. “But I think we have hit a hot streak here lately and I feel like that is going to carry us all the way through the playoffs.”

The Broncos scored their first two runs on back-to-back, two-out RBI singles by Tora Otsuka and Alika Williams. Rancho Bernardo then strung together four straight hits off Stubbs in the third, highlighted by Mitchell’s RBI triple and Adam Storch’s RBI single.

“I don’t think he was throwing bad today,” Mitchell said of Stubbs. “I just think we got better.”

The right-handed Finley allowed just one runner to reach second through the first five innings. He uncharacteristically walked three straight batters in the sixth, including one with the bases loaded to account for Torrey Pines’ lone run, before painting the outside corner to end the threat.

Finley came out in the seventh after walking the leadoff batter.

“Competitively I wanted to stay in the game,” said Finley, who improved to 9-1 this season. “But physically I was tired. I have started (11) games this year and that starts to take a toll on you.”

Finley will not likely pitch again until next week, assuming the Broncos do not lose their next two. Rancho Bernardo could avoid playing a Saturday game with a win Friday. The loser of Friday’s game will play an elimination game on Saturday.