SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : 3-A : Fly Ball Is Daydream Come True : Sliwinski’s Sacrifice in Eighth Lifts Troy to 6-5 Semifinal Win

John Sliwinski, starting left fielder for Troy High School’s baseball team, admits he has been having trouble concentrating in the classroom during the final days of his senior year.

Sliwinski said he often daydreams about game-winning hits and looks for any excuse he can find to get out of the classroom.

Tuesday at Cal State Fullerton, Sliwinski drove in the winning run in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly that gave Troy a 6-5 victory over John W. North in the semifinals of the Southern Section 3-A division playoffs.

Troy (22-6) will meet Arlington (21-7) for the division title at 4:30 Saturday in Dodger Stadium. North finished the season at 25-6.

Sliwinski’s long fly to right field scored Steve Shirley with the game-winner after the Warriors had put runners on first and third with nobody out. Sliwinski also hit a two-run double in the fourth to give Troy its first lead, 3-2.

“You dream about games like this. . . . I dreamed about it all day in school today,” Sliwinski said. “I’ve never been to Dodger Stadium before, but I won’t have to buy a ticket, I’ll be playing there Saturday.”

Troy was on the verge of a 5-2 victory behind starter Chris Robinson (13-2) after scoring two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. But North third baseman Ruben Ayala hit a towering three-run homer off Robinson with one out in the seventh to send the game into extra innings.

Ayala’s homer cleared the fence in left-center field and Sliwinski continued to peer over his shoulder at the fence several times before the inning ended.

“I couldn’t believe it happened,” he said. “I wanted that ball back so bad.”

Instead, Sliwinski had an opportunity to win the game when Rich Stalder, the North coach, elected to pitch to him rather than intentionally walk him to load the bases.

“We were trying to get outs at that point,” Stalder said. “I thought about walking him, but we haven’t done that in 19 years here. Maybe that’s why we’ve never been in the finals.”

North collected 12 hits and had a runner on in every inning against Robinson. The Huskies opened with four hits and two runs in the first inning, but Robinson settled down before Ayala sent the game into extra innings.

“My whole future flashed before my eyes when he hit that homer,” said Bruce King, Troy coach. “Still, I knew we could come back. This team showed that in our last league game against Sunny Hills when we got down, 14-3, and came back with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to win, 16-15.

“I firmly believe that game was the spark that got us going in the playoffs. I also thought the winner of this game would win the title. But in the playoffs, anything can happen.”

Just ask John Sliwinski, if he isn’t daydreaming.