PHOTOS: Top-seeded Crean Lutheran edges Burbank and advances to CIF semifinals

Crean Lutheran’s James Derflinger slides into third with an RBI triple in the third inning. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs / John Luciano and Howard Lyon).

Crean Lutheran High School’s baseball team took another big step toward a possible CIF Division 4 title Friday afternoon, once again in front of a large and enthusiastic gathering of Saints fans on the campus field.

The top-seeded Saints overcame a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the third inning and looked to ace Alex Iida to close it out on the mound in a 2-1 victory over Burbank in the quarterfinal round of the CIF playoffs.

The win sends the Saints (23-8) into the semifinals Tuesday at home against Sultana. Sultana (18-9) defeated Chaparral 17-6.

Crean Lutheran’s only appearance in the CIF finals came when the Saints lost to Sage Hill in the Division 6 championship game in 2016.

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“Semi-finals, it’s a good opportunity,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Jake Haney. “I got to be honest with you, winning is great and we want to go the next round. But more than anything, we don’t want this to end and not have practice.”

Haney wants the team lunches to continue too.

“We want to continue to do the things we’ve done all year long because it’s a special group that really loves and cares about each other,” he said.

Iida scattered seven hits and struck out five.

“That’s why he’s our ace,” Haney said. “We have a bunch of big, giant dudes, but Alex is our ace because in the biggest moments, he makes his best pitches and he’s at his best when his best is required and that’s why everyone wants him on the mound and they want to play defense behind him.”

Burbank (13-10) threatened to tie the game in the seventh. Leadoff hitter Danny Betancourt started with a bunt single. But Betancourt was throw out on a perfect throw from catcher Jackson Haney to second baseman Wyatt Fischer trying to steal. Iida then retired the next two batters to end the game.

“It was a great team win as always,” said Iida, who has committed to play at St. Mary’s. “Defense really came through, I didn’t have my A plus stuff but my guys were behind me throughout the whole game. We had clutch hitting by Jackson Haney and James Derflinger, everything came together. We obviously want to play better, but we will take the win.

“Semifinals are exciting, we’re ready to get back to practice on Monday and then hopefully come away with a win at home.”

Burbank took the early lead with a run in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by Julian Gonzalez.

But in the bottom of the inning, Jackson Haney led off with a double. Fischer sacrificed him to third and James Derflinger drove in Haney on a triple to tie the game. Jack Sand followed with an RBI single to put the Saints ahead 2-1. Sand was thrown out trying to steal second.

“We talked about the length of our lineup, today was our eight hitter (Jackson Haney) with a huge double and then we move him over,” Haney said. “Derflinger didn’t have a really good first at bat, but we had to have him have a good at bat in that situation and he smashed the baseball.”

Coach Haney was pleased with the production of his son, Jackson Haney.

“It was a big swing by Jackson, he’s struggled a bit offensively this year, but that’s his second really big hit for us, he got a game-tying double with two outs in the seventh against Cypress. He makes big plays when it matters. He threw the dude out stealing in the seventh inning, he’s a guy who plays his best when the pressure is on. He’s a really important guy for us.”

Burbank starting pitcher Jimmy Cafferty pitched well, scattering four hits.

The winner of Tuesday’s semifinal faces the winner of the other semifinal between Linfield Christian and Canyon. The finals will be either Friday, May 19 or Saturday, May 20 at Blair Field in Long Beach.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com