George Witkowski

For West Valley Preps

The defending 5A state baseball champion Kellis Cougars used the long ball and advance to the first round of state playoff action.

Junior pitcher Justin Flebbe hit two home runs, senior second baseman Kameron Schreiber and senior shortstop Jonathan Ornelas each added a home run Wednesday as the Cougars (15-13) opened postseason play with a 12-6 play-in win over the (10-18) Marana Mountain View Mountain Lions.

Kellis will travel to face either Queen Creek or Buena Saturday (a 11 a.m.) in the first round.

Kellis scored eight runs in the first two innings, but Mountain View eventually pulled within 8-6, before Kellis scored four times in the sixth.

Cougars coach Michael Deardoff said he was thinking of last year’s play-in game when Deer Valley kept chipping away and got to within 6-4 with runners on base in the late innings. When it was 8-6, the Mountain Lions had a runner thrown out at the plate and left the bases loaded.

Deardoff said he was happy to see his team respond the way it did, especially in the early innings.

“Jumping on them early really helped and that cushion helped our confidence,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces – six kids were on the 2017 team and (we're) replacing half the starting lineup – well, getting this under our belts helped and the four home runs was a school record.”

After Flebbe sent down Mountain View in order to start the game, two singles followed by an error sent in one run, another error allowed a second run to score and Flebbe helped himself out by hitting a home run, making it 4-0.

Mountain View cut the deficit in half on a single, misplayed fly ball and a ground out for the second run of the inning.

The game took on a air of whoever stayed on a tear offensively would win.

In the second Schreiber hit a solo homer, Ornelas doubled home a run, a wild pitch scored a Cougar and sophomore designated hitter Brandon Maville doubled in the eighth run.

The Mountain Lions would add an RBI single, a two-run double and hit batsman to make it 8-6, but the Cougars added plenty of insurance in the sixth.

Two walks, and a passed ball and wild pitch made it 9-6, Ornelas hit a two-run home run and was followed by Flebbe’s solo home run to close out the scoring.

Flebbe’s second home run calmed some of the nerves he had.

“Coming off Jonathan’s (Ornelas’s) at-bat, I was a little hyped,” he said. “I got back and did my thing and postseason is the best part of the season. The team is close and we’re always bonding. The new guys are little nervous, and when we’re in the heat of the moment they normally come through.”

It was a big game for Ornelas whose three RBI paved the way for the offensive blast by his team.

“I felt good today and we have a good hitting team – that’s our strong suit,” he said. “People are going to doubt us because we don’t have the same talent as last year.”

Kellis senior Jonathan Ornelas, left, and junior Justin Flebbe celebrate hitting back-to-back home runs in the Cougars' 12-6 win in Wednesday's 5A baseball play-in game [Courtesy Isabelle Madrid/For West Valley Preps][/caption]