The Diamond Bar High School baseball team’s run in the playoffs ended abruptly Tuesday, with one swing of the bat from Ocean View’s Timmy Robinson, knocking a two-run homer over the fence at Diamond Bar.

The seventh inning homerun put Ocean View ahead 4-3, eliminating the Brahmas in the CIF Division 3 wildcard game.

Brahmas Coach Eric Shibley said the Ocean View homerun was critical, but that the team was outmatched at the plate overall.

“Kenny (Mathews) left the ball up over the plate against a decent hitter,” Shibley said. “We just got out-hit.”

Mathews pitched all seven innings, giving up four runs, with three earned, on nine hits. He had a total five strikeouts and hit two batters for the walk.

The pressure on Mathews to keep Ocean View at bay was strong, with a chance at first-round CIF competition on the line.

“We were confident that we could put our ace out there to get this game, but unfortunately we didn’t," Shibley said.

The Brahmas struck first Tuesday as Josh Viloria reached first base after getting hit by a pitch. He would then go to second on a single by Mathews and advance to third on a wild pitch.

Viloria then came home on a throwing error for the first run.

The Brahmas would score again in the second and once more in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead.

“We have struggled hitting with players in scoring position,” Shibley said. “Obviously, we did okay today because the score was 3-0, but had we scored maybe a few more runs we could have been able to put more pressure on them.”

Mathews breezed through the first five innings, facing at most five batters, but Ocean View was finally able to get to him in the sixth.

Back-to-back singles by Blake Walker and Robert Fogarty would put base runners on first and second.

Blake Hitchcock would then sacrifice the runners over to second and third. Travis Sparks-Jackson would then hit a line drive just out of the reach of the shortstop to bring Walker home.

A Brahma error would get Fogarty a run and bring Sparks-Jackson to third base.

“In big games, you need to make the big play,” Shibley said. “The left fielder did everything right, but the ball just got away. It’s tough.”

Ocean View’s starter Freddy Sepulveda pitched five strong innings, giving up three runs, with two earned, on five hits, two walks and four strikeouts before giving way to Colton Johnson in the fifth inning. Johnson would pitch the final two innings and pick up the victory.

Diamond Bar finished the season at 15-12, 9-4.

BOXSCORE

WP – Colton Johnson (4-1)                                                  LP – Kenny Mathews (5-5)

HP – Timmy Robinson (4)