Ethridge tossed No. 8 Willow Glen to a nail-biting 1-0 win over No. 9 North Monterey County in a round one of the Central Coast Section Division II baseball playoffs, but it wasn't easy.

Nursing a slim 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, Ethridge and the Rams faced a bases loaded, one-out jam. But the senior hurler bore down with his fast ball and struck out two Condors to end the threat. He got some excellent support from catcher Justin Jeffrey, who blocked two pitches in the dirt to prevent the runner on third from scoring.

It was a repeat performance in the seventh when Ethridge temporarily lost the strike zone and walked three to load the bases with two outs. However, he induced the final Condor batter to harmlessly fly out to center to end the game.

"Jason is a workhorse and he's a gamer," Gladden said. "He's good at getting out of jams."

He certainly confirmed Gladden's analysis, because in addition to the sixth and seventh inning jams, Ethridge faced another bases loaded, two out crisis in the first. He worked his way out of that one as well with a strikeout and some more outstanding defense from Jeffrey, who hung on to a foul tip to secure the strikeout that put out the fire.

Standing on the mound in the sixth and seventh innings, Ethridge knew exactly what needed to happen. "I was thinking that I need to make a pitch. I had to get a strike," he said. "I knew I had enough stuff left if I could just get it over."

Ethridge had plenty of "stuff" all day. He sat down 12 Condors on strikes and gave up only two hits. He had more than enough heat on his fast ball and mixed a variety of splitters, change-ups and curve balls to keep the Condors off balance.

The Rams got their only run in the first inning. With one out, John Gibilisco lined a sharp single to right that skipped past the outfielder, allowing Gibilisco to scamper into second. Chris Hobbs stepped to the plate and blasted a rocket that bounced high off the scoreboard in left field for a double that scored Gibilisco. Hobbs hit the ball so hard that it was past the left fielder almost before he had time to turn and chase the ball.

The Rams had only three hits on the day. Tyler Smith beat out a high hopper to short for an infield hit to open the second inning but was stranded at third.

Although Ethridge was dominant on the mound, the Rams played solid defense in the field and turned in a couple of outstanding efforts, keeping North Monterey batters off the bases. First baseman Steve Rebagliati dug out an errant throw to save an out in the fourth. In the same inning, shortstop Carlos Torres raced far behind second base to scoop up a groundball that had hit written all over it and fired to first to nail the runner.

The win advanced the Rams to the quarterfinals where they went up against No. 1 Burlingame. The Rams put forth a gallant effort but came up short. They were down 6-1 after two innings but battled back to tie it up after four. The Panthers got a solo homer in the sixth that held up for a 7-6 win.

Jeffrey led the offensive charge for the Rams, powering out three hits and knocking in five runs. The key hit was his three-run homer over the left center field fence in the third. There was no doubt where it was headed when the ball left the bat, and the left fielder just turned and looked as it flew over the fence.

That ignited a four-run rally. Smith, Rebagliati and Nick Grande rapped three straight singles. Smith scored on Grande's shot to left field with a head-first slide across the plate just ahead of the throw. That cut the Panthers lead to 6-5.

The Rams tied it up in the fourth inning when Gibilisco worked his way on with a one-out walk and Jeffrey came through with a clutch two-out drive that sliced into the right field corner. At the crack of the bat, Gibilisco was off to the races and scored all the way from first to bring the Rams even at 6-6.

Gibilisco seemed to be everywhere. He was on base four times with two hits and two walks and he scored three runs. He made an outstanding diving catch of a fly ball to shallow centerfield to rob Burlingame of a hit and close out the third inning, and he climbed the fence in an attempt to catch the Panthers homer in the sixth.

Grande showed off his defensive skills by making a long run into the right field corner to make an over-the-shoulder catch.

Smith, Rebagliati and Torres each had two singles for the day.

In addition to his offense, Torres got the call to pitch against the Panthers and put forth a solid effort. After a rocky start that gave up the six runs in the first two innings, Torres settled down and got into a rhythm, holding the Panthers to only a handful of hits the rest of the way. The only one that did any damage was the solo homer to lead off the sixth. He seemed to get stronger as the game progressed and he was mixing a hard fast ball with a wicked curve.

He got a little help with a sneaky little pick-off play in the third that the Rams executed to perfection. A lead-off single put a runner on first. When the Panthers attempted a sacrifice bunt, first baseman Ribigliati came charging down the line and second baseman Nick Ward snuck in behind the runner at first. Catcher Jeffrey fired a bullet to Ward, who put the tag on the surprised Panther for the out.

After tying the game, Willow Glen had runners on base in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings but couldn't get the key hit to push across another run. Willow Glen left eight runners on base during the game. It proved to be costly, leaving the door open just enough for Burlingame to take advantage and slip away with the win.

Reflecting on the 18-8-1 season, Gladden said, "It was nice to see these guys grow as a team. They matured and started to believe in themselves."

"They stepped up against Burlingame and the loss hurt because we thought we had what it would take to win and move on," added the coach.