St. Francis sees CIF-SS title slip away as Camarillo rallies in Division 4 baseball final
Camarillo scores two runs in the 7th inning to deny St. Francis' bid to bring home the title after surprising run to the championship round.
LAKE ELSINORE —The St. Francis baseball team got into the CIF Southern Section playoffs as an at-large team out of the Mission League and made it all the way to the Division 4 championship game Saturday.
The Golden Knights had the title in reach, but Camarillo scored two runs in top of the seventh inning to beat St. Francis 2-1 at Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium.
Trotter Enright drove in the go-ahead run for the Scorpions with an RBI double.
“As an at-large bid, not a lot of people saw us in the championship game,” St. Francis junior Dane Shepard said. “It gave us motivation to work towards something when we had nothing to lose. That pushed us through all our games.”
St. Francis baseball is here and ready for its CIF-SS Division 4 championship game against Camarillo. pic.twitter.com/DkxjMXjqao
— Haley Sawyer (@haleymsawyer) May 18, 2024
Pitcher Noah Aguilar-Tanpanich was one of three pitchers to throw for the Golden Knights (19-4) and allowed one hit and two runs. He struck out four hitters. Aaron Hernandez and Aiden Mahoney also appeared on the mound.
LSU commit Boston Bateman threw six innings for Camarillo (25-4) before being pulled due to a high pitch count. He gave up one hit and one run while recording 11 strikeouts.
“It’s challenging coming out around the fifth inning every game because I reach my pitch limit,” Bateman said. “I just want to go out there and compete for my team, but in the end, we were able to get here and win it all and that’s what matters.”
Camarillo produced hits early and also used quality at-bats to put two men on base in each of the first three innings.
The Scorpions got a double off of St. Francis’ starting pitcher, Hernandez, to start the third inning, prompting the Golden Knights to bring in Aguilar-Tanphanich. The junior righty struck out the next two hitters and forced another one to ground out to get St. Francis out of the inning.
The Golden Knights scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning. Dominik Hidalgo was walked and Landon Pratt was brought in as a pinch runner. He advanced to third on a passed ball and pinch hitter Dane Shepard drove him in with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 advantage.
Pratt is a freshman and was called up from the JV team for the playoff run.
“It felt amazing just being out here with my teammates and coaches and staff,” Pratt said. “It’s just really beautiful. I’m just really grateful for this opportunity to even play at this sports complex.”
Pratt was one of multiple pinch runners on hand for the game, a group that included JT Martin, Nick Kriebs and Samuel Rodriguez.
Multiple players with leg injuries forced head coach Shaun Kort to be calculated when putting together his lineup.
“With the way the roster is structured, we’re trying to find different role players,” he said. “If you try to use your bench, it keeps them involved. Pretty much in every game in the playoffs, we got six guys off the bench.”
Camarillo went three-up, three-down in the next three frames. Brayden Smith nearly reached base when he laced a ball down the first baseline, but Jordan Viramontes made the play at first base to get him out.
John Calmette (1 for 3) recorded the only base hit of the game in the sixth inning up the middle, but St. Francis was unable to bring him in.
Camarillo tied the game in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI double by Nate Tostado, and Tostado scored the go-ahead run on Enright’s double.
“These guys never deviated from their approach, they never deviated from the plan,” Camarillo coach TJ Foreman said. “It’s what these guys live out on a daily basis and even though we made it a little suspenseful in the end, we knew we were going to come out on top.”