On a scorching summer day in the Inland Valley, the Palm Springs Power capped off their dominant 2024 campaign by toppling the San Diego Wave to win the 2024 CPCL Championship.
The Wave finished their regular season with a strong win over the Legends qualifying them for the second spot in the championship series.
The Power finished the regular season by suffering their first loss in 51 games at the hands of the Bucs.
For game one of the best-of-three series, San Diego made the long trek to Palm Springs.
The Power started well, grabbing an early lead on an RBI single from Aiden Taurek.
Things quickly got out of hand in Palm Springs during the second inning when the Wave brought two runs home. San Diego could not be shut down and they rallied for another two runs in the third to make the score 4-1.
The Wave were unrelenting, once again scoring two runs in the fifth and throwing their fourth consecutive scoreless inning.
The Power finally scored another run in the sixth after surrendering six unanswered runs.
San Diego added an insurance run in the seventh to increase their lead to 7-2. Palm Springs battled back, scoring one run in the bottom of the seventh and another two in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.
With their backs against the wall, the Power now had to leave their home territory and travel to Azusa with elimination staring them down.
The Wave had two chances to win the CPCL championship at the neutral site Azusa Pacific University.
The Power once again scored in the first, but just like the night before, they relinquished their early momentum by allowing San Diego to score two runs in the second.
After a bit of a pitchers’ duel, Palm Springs leveled the score in the top of the sixth. The Wave were not complacent with the draw and added two more runs to give themselves a commanding 4-2 lead with only nine outs left to get.
San Diego shut down the Power in the seventh and eighth, holding on to their two-run lead. With only three outs left to get and momentum on their side, it looked like the Wave were surely going to take the CPCL title.
Palm Springs was not ready to give up yet. The Power put two runners on with no outs to bring the winning run up to the plate. A single brought the score within one, then Taurek hit a ground ball through the left side to bring the tying run in. With two outs and the score now tied, Angel Cortez also hit a single past the shortstop to give Palm Springs the lead.
The Power held on to the lead, forcing a third game later in the evening.
Game three was the first game in which Palm Springs did not have to play from a deficit. A big three-run inning in the third gave the Power offensive momentum, which they used to add one more run in the fourth and fifth. Palm Springs’ offense was highlighted by solo home runs from Fred Buckson and Cody Kashimoto.
Palm Springs’ pitching looked the best it had all series, with starting pitcher Bear Pinedo going five scoreless.
San Diego finally got on the board in the sixth because of a two-run home run from Elijah Cook, cutting the Power lead down to three.
Palm Springs added an insurance run in the seventh to make the score 6-2.
The insurance run was well-needed as the Wave sparked a rally to add another two runs in the eighth. Now down 6-4 with only three outs left, San Diego needed clutch at-bats, and they found them.
Two sacrifice flies in the ninth brought in the two runs the Wave needed to tie the game.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Power put a runner on for the middle of their lineup to drive in. The University of Antelope Valley’s Noah Blythe came up to the plate with the opportunity to drive the runner in and win the game for Palm Springs.
Blythe took advantage of this opportunity by crushing a ball far over the left-field fence to walk it off and win the 2024 CPCL championship for the Palm Springs Power.
Blythe was the clear MVP of the game, driving in five of the Power’s eight runs.
The Power are now back-to-back CPCL champions. Having only lost three games in the past two years, Palm Springs looks to be the favorite going into the 2025 season.
Inland Valley Baseball Association 