Baseball:
The St. Francis 2024 postseason victory tour continued Tuesday in Ontario.
The Golden Knights defeated Ontario Christian, 3-1, in the semifinal round of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs.
St. Francis scored once in the top of the third and they got two more in the seventh to outlast the Knights.
Aiden Mahoney earned the win after going 6 1/3 innings, and he surrendered just one run on five hits.
Mahoney didn’t issue a walk, and he fanned five OCHS batters.
Fifty-five of Mahoney’s 91 pitches were strikes.
Noah Aguilar-Tanphanich needed just six pitches to record the final two outs and earn the save.
The lone Ontario Christian run came in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Luke Ballantyne reached base on a fielding error, and two outs later, the Knights’ senior scored on a wild pitch.
Logan Escoto doubled, while Hayden Sleggers, Brady Dinco, Eric Ramirez and Ballantyne had one single apiece for OCHS.
Noah Lara went 6 2/3 innings for the Knights, and he allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits.
Lara walked three and struck out six SFHS batters.
John Calmette was the offensive star of the game for the Golden Knights.
In the top of the third inning, Samuel Rodriguez led off with a single.
And three batters later, Calmette’s sac fly scored Rodriguez to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead.
Fast forward to the seventh inning.
And leading 2-1, Calmette’s two-out RBI base hit scored Jackson Pratt.
Pratt had earlier reached base on an error that scored pinch-runner JT Martin.
Holden Deitch drew a pair of walks and had two singles.
Jordan Lewallen walked and singled.
And both Rodriguez and Pratt singled and scored.
Up next: The Golden Knights will travel to Camarillo on either Friday or Saturday at 3:15.
CIF-SS will assign the date of the game.
The Scorpions (23-5) edged Culver City, 6-4, in their semifinal round contest, and extended their current win streak to 11 games.
Quotable:
St. Francis senior, John Calmette: “This program had struggled for quite a while and we’re all proud to do our part in taking it to another level. Playing in the Mission League did nothing but help us. We faced great pitchers every day, so in the playoffs, we’re not surprised or overwhelmed by anything. In the third inning, we had the bases loaded and no outs, and I just wanted to make sure I got a run home. I was out in front and didn’t hit it very deep, but it still got a run home. We were frustrated we only got one run that inning. In the seventh, they walked Holden to get to me, and I knew I was going to get a fastball and I just wanted to drive it up the middle. I knew right away it was going to be a hit and it felt great to give us a little cushion. Aiden (Mahoney) was incredible. He’s just a sophomore and to pitch such a great game in the semifinals showed a lot of toughness. He was just dialed in. Before games, he’s always super locked in and he takes his job very seriously and it showed out there today. I am just really proud of the way we stayed up throughout the game.”
Box Score:
SF: 0-0-1-0-0-0-2-(3)
OC: 0-0-0-1-0-0-0-(1)
Win: Aiden Mahoney
Loss: Noah Lara
Save: Noah Aguilar-Tanphanich
2B: Logan Escoto (OC)
Records: St. Francis (19-13); Ontario Christian (15-15)
Photos courtesy of PCC and Richard Quinton Football: LA Valley took a 3-0 lead at undefeated PCC with 3:03 to play in the first quarter. The Lancers, however, would score the game’s next 46 points, and they cruised to a 46-6 victory. PCC finished the 2024 regular season with an outright American Pacific Conference championship. […]
Football: Citrus College finished the 2024 season in fifth place in the National Central Conference standings. But keep in mind, the NCC boasts the No. 1 (Mt. SAC) and No. 4 (Golden West) programs in the state. On Saturday, Long Beach edged the Owls, 17-14, in the regular season finale for both teams. Trailing 7-3 […]
Girls Tennis: The only thing better than winning a first CIF-SS championship in school history is having to clutch up to accomplish that feat. And the Marshall Fundamental girls’ tennis program did just that. The Mission Valley League champions opened the postseason with CIF-SS Division 5 victories over Tustin (11-7), Rosemead (12-6) and Carpinteria (12-6), […]
Photo by Nya Monae (@nyamonaed on Instagram) Football: Chaffey College had to be very happy about the way things turned out on Saturday. As the Panthers headed into week 10, they trailed Victor Valley by one-game in the American Metro Conference standings. And while Chaffey and Santa Ana were both 3-1 in conference games, the […]
Photos by Josh Thompson (Chino Valley Champion) Football: For the first 26 minutes or so of Saturday’s National Central Conference showdown, Golden West looked more like the state’s top-ranked program. The Rustlers led their hosts from Mt. SAC, 21-3, in a winner-take-all scenario. However, the Mounties rallied for a 34-27 victory after out-scoring Golden West, […]
Photos by Carlo Montalbo (@Carlo.Montalbo on Instagram) & game info/stats by Zack Morton Football: With less than a minute remaining in the first half, there was no reason to believe that Glendora would leave Moreno Valley happy in Friday’s CIF-SS Division 6 quarterfinal round showdown at Rancho Verde High School. The Tartans trailed 13-0, and […]
Photos, stats & scoring plays from Ryan Tomey Football: Talk about playoff drama. St. Francis led their visitors from Muir, 28-21, with just over 30 seconds to play in Friday’s CIF-SS Division 6 quarterfinal inside Jim Bonds Stadium. Staring at a fourth-and-six at the Golden Knights’ 25-yard line, Keyon Mills continued his playoff excellence. The […]
Thanks to Harry Joe for the game info/stats & Matt Heersema & Tim Lunney for the photos Football: For only the second time this season, Rio Hondo Prep trailed in a football game. The first was a week-five (28-21) loss at Torrance. And on Friday, ML King led 7-0 after taking their first drive to […]
Football: Every CIF-SS Quarterfinal Round Score: Division 1: Mater Dei 33, Sierra Canyon 13 Centennial Corona 25, Mission Viejo 20 Orange Lutheran 42, JSerra 20 St. John Bosco 31, Santa Margarita 29 D-1 Semifinal Schedule: Mater Dei at Centennial Corona Orange Lutheran at St. John Bosco Division 2: Murrieta Valley 49, Los Alamitos 28 Oaks […]
