Tyler Matzek looked like a pitcher who was not completely warmed up, in the first few innings of Tuesday’s game.

His follow-through hinted that perhaps his back was a bit stiff. The Capistrano Valley senior struggled through a lot of three-ball counts in the early going.

Somewhere, maybe in the fifth inning, Matzek got loose.

A fluid-moving Matzek is very, very good.

Capistrano Valley pitcher Tyler Matzek pitched a two-hitter in Tuesday's semifinals victory over Riverside Poly. / SAM GANGWER, THE REGISTER

Matzek was very, very good Tuesday. He pitched a two-hitter and drove in the only run in Capistrano Valley’s 1-0 victory over Riverside Poly in a CIF-Southern Section Division I semifinal Tuesday at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Matzek, a left-hander, threw several fastballs clocked at 97 and 98 mph, but he was wild high with a bunch of them. Yet he walked only three.

His skills are so strong, he is projected to go early in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft next Tuesday. The latest projections have him going either as the No. 6 selection, by San Francisco, or No. 9, by Detroit.

Capistrano Valley assistant coach Bob Pomeroy said, yes, Matzek did struggle to get loose.

“Nah,” said Capistrano Valley Bob Zamora, overruling with a smile. “Tyler was fine.”

Matzek was fine at the plate. He hit a single in the first inning that drove in Steve McMichael for the game’s run. Matzek added a double in the sixth.

Those were the Cougars only hits.

Riverside Poly threatened in the seventh. These are high school kids who make high school kid mistakes, and Riverside Poly made two big ones in that inning.

A runner who should not have attempted to advance from second base to third was thrown out on a heads-up throw by Capo first baseman Kevin Chambers, and Capo catcher Nolan Clark completed a double play when, after Matzek got his seventh strikeout, Clark popped out of his crouch and fired to second base to get the runner there for the third out.

This has been an excellent-fielding Cougars team. Steve McMichael catches everything in center field, Clark is one of the top defensive catchers in the county, Kyle Hunt is rabbit-quick at shortstop, and Chambers makes so many tough plays at first.

Chambers also is a fine pitcher, and likely is the starting pitcher Saturday when the Cougars play in the Division I championship game at Angel Stadium.

Riverside Poly was sharp defensively Tuesday, too, and Bears pitcher Dylan Stuart was tough. He gave up just the two Matzek hits, walked only two and struck out six.

But he was matched against a guy who has been tabbed as the top left-handed pitching prospect in the country.

Matzek might not have been up to his sky-high standards Tuesday, but he surely was good enough.

Click here to read the full game story.

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