SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Baseball

Tradition pushes Crusaders to CIF title game

By Phillip Brents

Posted June 5, 2003

Tradition speaks loud and clear once again for the Marian Catholic High baseball team.
The top-seeded Crusaders defeated Horizon Christian 13-11 on Tuesday to advance to Saturday’s San Diego Section Division IV championship game against second-seeded El Cajon Christian at 10 a.m. at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.

The trip to the division finals marks the eighth consecutive time Marian Catholic has advanced to the championship game. The Crusaders will be bidding to win their sixth title in that span.

Marian Catholic defeated Christian, 7-2, last year to win its fifth CIF title in seven finals appearances.

Crusader coach Ed Johnson spoke of the team’s almost holy playoff crusade after winning last year’s title.

“The kids think of it as a tradition now. Trying to win league is important but they have expectations of getting to the CIF championship game now,” he said.

It’s proven to be a case of deja vu once again.

Marian Catholic enters Saturday’s Division IV championship game with an overall 26-7 record. The Patriots are 19-11.

The Crusaders went 3-0 in the double-elimination playoff round to get to Saturday’s final, defeating La Jolla Country Day by a 15-2 score in the first round and scoring a dramatic 8-6 come-from-behind victory against Horizon Christian in the second round before meeting Horizon again in the fourth round.

The Patriots defeated Calipatria 19-0, third-seeded Santa Fe Christian 3-1 and Francis Parker 5-3 to play for this year’s title.

Marian Catholic — this year’s South Bay League co-champions with Hilltop — belted four home runs in Tuesday’s bracket final but it took two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to snap an 11-11 tie. The Crusaders led 5-2 after a run-filled first frame and had extended their lead to 9-7 through three innings behind winning pitcher Memo Siquieros (6-2).

In the initial encounter against Horizon, Raymond Lopez hit a grand slam home run and Xchelt Palofox added a two-run home run as Marian Catholic exploded for six runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a 5-2 Horizon lead. Siquieros also picked up the win in that game.

Joining Siquieros on the mound are fellow hurlers Alex Granados, Giovanni Villavicencio and Chris Sustaista while Fernando Castillo and Carlos Ibarra, among others, contribute to the team’s offense.

The Crusaders have faced five different opponents in their eight-year championship game run. This will be the third time Marian Catholic has squared off against Christian in that span.

This year’s Patriot squad is led by thoroughbred pitcher Brian Schroeder, who now holds the section record for career strikeouts at 368 and has tied the section record for career wins at 33. Schroeder is 10-3 this season on the mound and is hitting .484 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI.

Division I
Top-seeded La Costa Canyon, ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 2 in the nation, will meet second-seeded Rancho Bernardo in Saturday’s Division I championship game at 7 p.m. after the Mavericks eliminated defending Division II champion Eastlake by a 3-1 score in Tuesday’s double-elimination bracket final. LCC is 31-1; RB is 27-5.

The Titans, whose playoff odyssey was effectively ended on a scintillating diving catch by LCC outfielder Nick Burke with the base paths jammed with Eastlake runners in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s contest, otherwise exemplified themselves well in the move up the enrollment ranks this season.

The Titans (21-12) opened the Division I tournament on May 27 by defeating Vista 8-7 and then downed fourth-seeded Rancho Buena Vista by a 7-4 score on May 28 before dropping an initial 2-1 matchup against the top-seeded Mavericks on May 30.

Eastlake eliminated RBV in the loser’s bracket final by a 3-2 score in a 10-inning contest on May 31 to draw Tuesday’s rematch with the Mavericks.

Eric Vargas had the game-winning hit after consecutive singles by teammates Phil Jenkins and Javier Gonzalez, who went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI in the win against RBV.

Tuesday’s win by LCC established a new section record for consecutive wins (26). Jenkins was at bat when he drove a line drive to right field that the Mavericks’ Burke snatched while outstretched in midair to preserve a then 2-1 LCC lead. Eastlake, which edged third-seeded Montgomery for the Mesa League title with a 10-3 record, also left the bases loaded in the first and third innings while stranding 12 runners overall in the game.

The league runner-up Aztecs had less of a fortunate playoff run — finishing 1-2 to end their season 22-9 overall. Montgomery dropped a 4-1 decision to Morse in the first round before edging Mt. Carmel, 9-8, to draw Morse again in the third round. The Tigers once again pulled off an upset by eliminating the higher-seeded Aztecs by a 4-3 score.

Rancho Bernardo then squeezed out a 3-2 win in eight innings to end Morse’s magical playoff run.

Chula Vista (15-15 overall, 7-6 in league) was the third Metro team to gain entry into the 12-team Division I playoff field. The Spartans topped Fallbrook (18-11) by a 5-3 score to play into the double-elimination bracket where they suffered losses to LCC (7-4) and RBV (5-2).

Notepad
El Capitan (25-8) will play either Helix or Patrick Henry in Saturday’s Division II final at 4 p.m. at SDSU while top-seeded Mission Bay (31-5) will play either second-seeded St. Augustine or third-seeded University of San Diego High in the Division III game at 1 p.m.

Hilltop defeated Mt. Miguel, 6-5, to play into the Division II double-elimination bracket where the Lancers fell to El Capitan (10-1) and West Hills (8-3).

Greg Eichelberger contributed to this story.