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)
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