SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : 2-A : Capistrano Valley Rallies, Hangs On to Defeat Arroyo, 8-6

Craig Anderson is finding the interim an uncomfortable place to be. Another day like Tuesday and he might tell his boss to take this job and shove it.

Anderson, an assistant baseball coach at Capistrano Valley High School who is filling in for the suspended Bob Zamora, was put through nearly three hours of heavy stress and high anxiety in the Cougars’ Southern Section 2-A semifinal game against Arroyo at Cal Poly Pomona. It ended with Capistrano Valley winning, 8-6, to advance to Saturday’s championship game at Dodger Stadium. But getting there may have given Anderson a few more gray hairs.

For starters: Lance August, the Cougars’ starting pitcher, failed to make it out of the first inning. Two walks, two singles and a Capistrano Valley error added up to a 3-1 Arroyo lead, and meant that Anderson had to go to left-hander Brian Walker, who hadn’t pitched since a relief appearance May 14.

Things got considerably easier when the Cougars sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead. Two-run singles by Walker and Chris Ashbach were the biggest hits in an inning the Cougars would fall back on later.

Capistrano Valley (26-3) added a run to make it 8-3 on Ashbach’s RBI single in the fifth. But just when Anderson began thinking he could relax, Arroyo (18-6-1) came back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth--two on Ralph VanDyke’s homer to left--to make it 8-6.

In the sixth, Anderson replaced Walker with Cougar ace Brett Snyder, who had pitched a complete game in the Cougars’ 4-3 victory over Central last Friday. Snyder recorded the save, but only after Arroyo put runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh. Capistrano Valley had 19 hits, but the outcome was still very much in doubt until the final out.

The Cougars will meet La Serna in the 2-A final Saturday at 1 p.m.