By Ray Hamill — St. Bernard’s rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win their North Coast Section playoff opener in baseball on Tuesday, beating Technology out of Rohnert Park 6-4 at Crusader Field.

The win sets up a Division-5 quarterfinal showdown for the No. 7 seeds at No. 2 Head Royce on Friday night.

On Tuesday, it was the Titans who enjoyed the better of the early exchanges against the two-time defending Division-6 NCS champions and they opened up a 4-1 lead after three innings, thanks in part to some Crusaders errors.

The SB bats, however, began to settle into the game and the home team began to chip into the lead.

Freshman Mateo Reiman cut the deficit to two on an RBI groundout in the fourth, his second RBI of the game, and one inning later Tyler Hinrichs would score on a passed ball to make it 4-3 after walking to reach base.

The home team would add three more runs in the sixth to take a lead they would not relinquish.

Carson Costa led off the inning with a base hit, before Quentin Ikeya laid down a perfectly executed bunt single to give the Crusaders a pair of runners on with no outs.

Michael Manzi then singled to score Costa to tie the game, and a few moments later junior team captain Tyler Maples singled up the middle to score two runs and give the Crusaders their first lead of the game.

And that was more than enough for pitcher Mateo Gutierrez, who seemed to get stronger as the game went on after taking over from starter Luke Brunton in the top of the fourth.

“Mateo Gutierrez was the star of the show for us tonight,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said of the right-handed senior. “It was a brilliant performance and gave our team a chance to rally.”

The two pitchers combined to hold the visitors to just three hits for the game, but four SB errors did not help their cause.

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – St. Bernard’s pitcher Mateo Gutierrez

The commanding Gutierrez gave up two hits but did not allow any runs or walks and struck out nine.

Brunton threw the opening three innings and gave up just one hit and two walks and struck out two.

Six different Crusaders combined for eight team hits, including a double by freshman Garrett Shanahan.

Costa finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Manzi was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

Reiman was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, while Brunton also had a hit and finished 1-for-3 with a run.

With the win, the Crusaders improved to 14-12-1, while the Titans close out their season 14-3.

Friday’s game in Oakland is set for 5 p.m.

The Head-Royce Jayhawks shut out No. 15 Cloverdale 13-0 in their playoff opener, also on Tuesday.

Manzi will get the start for the Crusaders on Friday.