Murrieta Mesa advances to Southern Section Division I final in baseball

Murrieta Mesa opened in 2009 and had never made the Southern Section baseball playoffs until this season. Now the Rams are headed to the Division 1 championship game after a 6-3 win over West Ranch in nine innings on Tuesday night at Blair Field in Long Beach.

In going from last place in the Southwestern League last season to playing for a championship in the toughest division in Southern California, the Rams can look to junior second baseman Kiel Palm for inspiration.

He blundered a chance to catch a game-ending popup in the bottom of the seventh, then delivered a two-run tiebreaking double in the top of the ninth and caught the game-ending popup in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run at the plate.

“I end the game with the same play. That’s amazing,” Palm said.

Said Coach Bryn Wade: “The chance to overcome adversity is tremendous in this game and that kid I couldn’t be more proud of.”

Murrieta Mesa is one of the most unorthodox teams to reach a final. The team bunts and bunts until it gets it right. The Rams had six bunts against West Ranch, including three in a row in the fourth to score the game’s first run. The Rams also think their bullpen is similar to the Kansas City Royals, with Wade bringing in pitcher after pitcher in relief. Four pitchers threw Tuesday.

Murrieta Mesa’s Bradley Prebay beats the throw to West Ranch catcher Cade Spurlin to score the gopahead run in the fourth inning Tuesday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times )

“We don’t teach any player is above any other player,” Wade said. “We have four, five, six, seven No. 1s and whomever goes in is expected to do their job.”

Murrieta Mesa had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. West Ranch closed to 2-1 with two outs when Sam Gray hit a pop fly to center field. Palm was moving to catch the ball but thought center fielder Austen Salcedo might also catch it. The ball dropped to let the tying run score.

“That was my ball all the way,” Palm said.

Then he got his chance for redemption and Murrieta Mesa (26-7) earned a spot in Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. Division 1 final at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino.

The Rams will play Studio City Harvard-Westlake, which upset No. 1-seeded San Juan Capistrano JSerra, 2-0, behind a four-hit shutout from sophomore Jesse Bergin.

The Wolverines handed Collin Quinn (12-1) his first defeat on the mound.

Leo Kaplan had an RBI triple in the fourth inning and Casey Slattery added an RBI single. Cameron Deere finished three for three.

“I knew their offense was the real deal,” Bergin said. “I just went out and my motto the entire game was never get too comfortable. Just compete, just do what we do, pitch by pitch, batter by batter.”

Follow Eric Sondheimer on Twitter: @latsondheimer