Canyon players, including No. 27 Johnny Lopez, celebrate after defeating Crean Lutheran Friday. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs / John Luciano and Ted Rigoni).
Canyon High School’s baseball team came from behind to edge Crean Lutheran 6-5 Friday afternoon at Canyon to capture its first CIF Division IV SoCal Regional championship in the school’s history in front of a standing-room-only crowd.
The Saints, who fell to the Comanches 3-0 in the CIF Division 4 championship game two weeks ago, appeared on the brink of a championship. But top-seeded Canyon (23-12) scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the lead, an advantage they would not relinquish. It was the third time Canyon defeated Crean Lutheran this season.
“Our goal this year was to win the last scheduled game of the season,” said Canyon Coach Jason Smith, whose team won its 10th consecutive game. “We’re excited and this is only my second year here and I’m so grateful to our seniors. They overcame of a lot of challenges and kept to it all season.”
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With the Saints leading 5-3 going into the bottom of the fifth, the Comanches rallied for three runs to retake the lead, 6-5. Four of their first five hitters in the inning singled, highlighted by RBI singles by Johnny Lopez and Jesse Maracine.
“After we fell behind, we reset and relaxed our approach,” said Lopez, who had two hits, scored two runs and had two RBI. “We felt it was only a matter of time until we came back. It’s all about the little things.”
Maracine said his game-winning hit was a blur but he was ecstatic for his team.
“It’s crazy; I can hardly remember it, I felt like I blacked out after I hit it,” said Maracine, whose RBI single to right center with one out in the fifth inning turned out to be the game winner.
No. 2-seeded Crean Lutheran had two on with one out in the sixth inning but a 6-4-3 double play ended the rally.
Trailing 4-3, Bryce Solinger came on in relief of Canyon starter Jackson Chastain with one out and two on in the fifth inning. He gave up an RBI single to Mark Fedro, making it 5-3, but he struck out two Saints batters to end Crean Lutheran’s rally. Solinger then set the Saints down in the seventh to secure the win and the championship for the Comanches.
“It’s the school’s first state championship ever, it’s crazy,” said Solinger, who earned the win. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Canyon jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on RBI by Lopez and Ben Vargas, but Crean Lutheran stormed back in the third inning and take the lead.
With two outs, Andrew Kezerle singled, James Derflinger singled and Wyatt Nichol walked to load the bases. Fedro ran a long count and then crushed a three-run double to deep left center field to tie the score at 3-3. Jack Sand followed with an RBI single to give the Saints a 4-3 lead.
“We’ve overcome a lot of adversity this year and we have a lot of game in us,” said Derflinger. “We kept playing hard and I’m so proud of this team.”
The Crean Lutheran players were gracious in defeat.
“We came back a lot this year when we were down,” said senior Bryan Fernandez, who came on in relief of starter Alex Iida with one out in the fifth with two runners on base. “We went all out; we never backed down.”
“We went out fighting,” said Derflinger. “We played our hearts out and we have unmatched dedication and we put everything out there. We know there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Saints Coach Jake Haney said he felt bad for his team.
“I’m disappointed for them (our players); maybe I could have made a few different calls, but I’m very proud of this team,” said Haney. “This will hurt for a few weeks, but after it passes, they’ll remember that 99 percent of the season was filled with great teammates, memories, coaches and friendships.“
Crean Lutheran (26-10) was attempting to win its first regional baseball championship in school’s history. The Saints finished with a school record in wins.
“Our team is so well connected,” said Kezerle. “We scored a bunch of runs, won a lot of games and had an amazing season.”
The Saints defense also shined. Crean Lutheran pulled off a 4-6-3 (Derflinger-to-Sho Garcia-to-Sand) double play to end the second inning.
With two outs and two on in the third inning, catcher, Jackson Haney made a spectacular grab of a foul ball near the Saints dugout for the final out. In the fifth inning, Sand made a difficult catch of a high pop behind first base and then he threw a strike to Haney at home to gun down a Comanches runner for the final out.
Derflinger had two hits, scored two runs and was on base three times for Crean Lutheran. Fedro had two hits and four RBI and Sand had a hit and was on base three times.
The game was moved to Friday because Crean Lutheran had its graduation planned for Saturday, which will include 14 seniors from the baseball team.
—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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