Crusaders keep momentum -- CIF titles -- coming

By Phillip Brents

SAN DIEGO, June 1, 2002 -- Marian Catholic High baseball coach Ed Johnson has inherited a machine — a fine-tooled one, at that.

When the second-seeded Crusaders (26-9) wrapped up this year’s San Diego Section Division IV championship title following their 7-2 conquest of top-seeded El Cajon Christian (26-7) at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium, it marked the seventh consecutive year that a Marian Catholic team had advanced to a division title game and the program’s fifth championship in that same span.

"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," Johnson said.

The Crusaders won Division III titles in 1996, 1998 and 1999 while finishing runner-up in 1997 in Johnson’s first year as head coach. Marian Catholic returned with a title in 2000 at the Division IV level while finishing as Division IV runners-up last year.

In those seven seasons, the Crusaders have faced five different opponents, including Christian twice.

Marian Catholic captured its latest championship with a young team — the Crusaders graduate only two senior starters.

"This was the year we thought we’d be rebuilding. We had a lot of juniors on the team, a lot of junior varsity players coming up. But early on I thought we’d have a special season after we finished 4-1 in the Grossmont-Foothiller tournament and did well against state-ranked teams," Johnson said.

Marian Catholic excelled with a pitching staff that showcased two juniors (Chris Sustaista and Alex Granados) and one sophomore (Memo Siqueiros). Siqueiros (5-1) earned the compete game win in the June 1 championship contest by scattering eight hits while striking out four batters. Sustaista (8-1, 3.10 ERA) and Granados (5-3, 2.25 ERA) combined for 13 wins — half of the team’s total victories.

"Those guys had great years," Johnson said.

The Crusaders had three players finish with hitting averages of more than .400 and five players who knocked in more than 26 runs.

However, it took two successive must wins against Horizon Christian in the division’s double-elimination playoff tournament to nail down a spot in the championship game after losing in the quarterfinals.

Simply call it desire — a trait that was admirably put on display at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Marian Catholic took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning when Fernando Castillo led off with a single, advanced on a fielder’s choice by Siqueiros and came around on a single to center field by John Sullivan.

The Patriots tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Brian Schroeder doubled to right field, advanced on an infield bunt and scored on an infield single by Chris Denhart.

The Crusaders scored twice in the fifth and added three runs in the sixth to blow the game open in taking a commanding 6-1 lead. Salvador Castellanos’ double off the left field wall scored Tim Osteen for the first of the five runs and Castellanos later came around on a single to left field by Castillo. The rampage continued in the next frame as Xchelt Palofox doubled to left field and scored on an error after first being sacrificed to third base by Sullivan. Chris Sustaista later doubled to left field to score two more Marian Catholic runners.

After Christian’s Eddie Listander hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to narrow the score to 6-2, the Crusaders added another insurance run in the top of the seventh inning. Marian Catholic collected 10 hits against three Patriot hurlers. Schroeder had entered the title game with impressive credentials that included a 1.32 ERA and 143 strikeouts in 842/3 innings.

Castillo (.467) led the Crusaders with 12 home runs and 37 RBI. Ibarra (.442) also clubbed 12 home runs while adding 31 RBI. Sullivan (6 HR) contributed 36 RBI while Castellanos (.433, 7 HR) and Siqueiros (6 HR) both had 26 RBI.

With 14 of the 17 players on the team’s championship roster eligible to return next season, Marian Catholic looks to be in favorable shape to defend its title next year — and continue the tradition.

"Knock on wood," Johnson said.

SAN DIEGO, June 1, 2002 -- The radar guns were out in force at last Saturday¹s San Diego Section divisional baseball championship quadruple header at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium with both professional and college coaches dutifully scribbling down the names of standout performers and future "diamonds in the rough" in their notebooks. The showstoppers did not fail to deliver, either.

Eddie Solis clubbed a three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to punctuate Eastlake High’s 5-1 victory against Oceanside in the Division II championship game while Marian Catholic broke open a tight game en route to claiming a 7-2 Division IV victory against Christian earlier in the day.

"I didn’t expect it to be as good a season as we had. We played extremely well. We had guys who had career seasons this year," said Eastlake head coach Dave Gonzalez, whose top-seeded team fended off a determined rally by third-seeded Oceanside that had denied the Titans a regulation win and instead had sent the game into extra innings.

The championship was the second in school history for Eastlake (28-6), following in the footsteps of the fabled 1999 Titan team that featured future No. 1 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft pick Adrian Gonzalez. Meanwhile, Marian Catholic (26-9) simply added to its ongoing Division IV dynasty with its fifth championship in seven consecutive title game appearances.

Outstanding pitching and outstanding hitting had been the hallmark of this year’s Eastlake team. Entering last Saturday¹s championship game, the Titans had scored 278 runs while allowing just 74, amassed a prolific .368 team hitting average and shut down opposing offenses with a formidable 1.86 team earned-run average. In reaching the final, Eastlake had outscored its three playoff opponents 31-6.

However, against a Pirate squad that had won 19 of its last 21 games, including a 3-0 playoff run, the two-time defending South Bay League champions found themselves walking a precarious line between victory and defeat for the better part of the championship game.

Titan senior Jack Spradlin and Oceanside senior Brendan McNamara hooked up in a classic pitcher¹s duel for the opening three innings. When Eastlake did position a runner on base, it came at the risk against the gunner¹s arm of Pirate catcher Eric Castro. The mammoth confines of Tony Gwynn Stadium ‹ 340 down the lines and 410 to center field ‹ also did not favor hitters.

McNamara was the first to crack after issuing back-to-back one-out walks to Neftali Lizarraga and Jose Castaneda in the top of the fourth inning. The Pirates (23-8-1) promptly summoned sophomore Jordan Stoiloff to the mound.

Stoiloff struck out the first batter he faced, Phil Jenkins, but an error on an infield grounder off the bat of Rene Montes loaded the bases with two outs. However, the sophomore hurler did not lose his poise, inducing a ground-out to end the threat.

The game would remain scoreless until the top of the sixth inning when the Titans were the first to break through for a run. Lizarraga led off the frame with a walk and moved to second base on a botched pick-off play at first base. Castaneda recorded the first out on an infield bunt and Oceanside reliever Brandon Adams struck out Jenkins for the second out.

Montes then worked a 2-2 count for a clutch double past the glove of the Pirates diving left fielder to score the run.

Ahead 1-0, Eastlake needed just six outs to secure the title.

Disaster promptly struck, however.

After having allowed just two hits through five innings, Spradlin was touched up for three hits ‹ including two doubles ‹ as the Pirates rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Joey Fandel doubled down the left field line with one out and John Farnum brought him home with a solid base hit. After Farnum was thrown out attempting to steal second base, Spradlin was rocked for another double to left field, this time off the bat of Jose Perez. At this point, Gonzalez made the decision to lift his starter and bring in closer Francisco Mora who had admirably served duty in the team’s earlier playoff games. The inning ended, however, on a controversial call when Perez was called out on a steal attempt at third base.

With the momentum now belonging to the upstart Pirates, who had eliminated second-seeded Grossmont in eight innings in the semifinals, things suddenly did not look good for the Titans after Adams struck out the side in the top of the seventh inning.

It turned out that the Pirates could hold back Eastlake’s ferocious offensive attack for only so long. Lizarraga opened the top of the eighth inning with a base hit to left field. Castaneda lined out to right field for the first out of the inning and Rafael Gonzalez struck out for the second out of the frame but not before a steal attempt and wild pitch positioned the potential game-winning run at third base. Montes then drew a walk to knock out Adams and bring on the Pirates¹ fourth pitcher of the day, Daniel Garcia. James Flores, the lone remaining member on the team from the Titans’ 1999 championship, lined a 2-2 pitch to right field to score the go-ahead run. Up to the plate then strode Solis, who hammered a towering home run over the center field fence to bring in three more insurance runs.

"I was just trying to hit the ball hard. That’s what I was always taught. I was expecting a curve ball. But he gave me a fastball. I just turned on it," Solis said.

After the blast, Solis admitted he had a feeling that the championship was won. "But we still had to get three outs," he said.

That was accomplished with minimal bloodloss. Mora allowed a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning, ending the game on a groundout. The Titans then rushed from their dugout and dogpiled with field players near first base.

To the very end, winning this year’s championship remained a total team effort.

"In 1999, we had four guys who could flat out play. We had holes. This year, we had nine good guys and no holes. That’s a tough lineup to get through," a very proud head coach Gonzalez said.

"It feels real good," said Flores, who was a freshman on that 1999 team four years ago. "I think (the team) should come back and have another great year."

After winning its double-elimination semifinal series against Horizon Christian with a dramatic 3-2 win in eight innings on a dramatic two-run home run by junior catcher Xchelt Palofox on May 30, the second-seeded Crusaders dumped top-seeded Christian (26-7) to complete their own dream season.

"It was a tough first four innings but my guys pulled together and played very well," said Marian coach Ed Johnson. "They worked and played hard all season. They earned the championship."

Key players throughout the season included junior outfielder Carlos Ibarra, who hit .422 with 12 home runs and 31 RBI, senior shortstop Sal Castellanos (.433, 7 HR and 26 RBI), junior second baseman Fernando Castillo (.467, 12 HR and 37 RBI), junior first baseman John Sullivan (6 HR, 36 RBI), senior Memo Siqueiros (5 HR, 26 RBI) and Palofox (6 HR). Siqueiros helped lead the pitching staff with a 4-1 mark and 2.73 ERA, joining fellow hurlers Alex Granados (5-3, 2.25 ERA) and Chris Sustaisa (8-1, 3.10).

Titans reach for fences -- once again

This year’s switch to a double-elimination format for the San Diego Section high school baseball playoffs paid dividends to two South County teams while another made use of the standard route to Saturday’s divisional championship games at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Top-seeded Eastlake (27-6) eliminated fourth-seeded El Capitan 10-2 in Tuesday’s Division II semifinals to reach Saturday’s title game against third-seeded Oceanside (23-7-1). The Titans previously defeated South Bay League rival Castle Park 14-1 in the first round on May 21 and El Capitan 7-3 in the second round on May 23 to seek their fourth consecutive postseason win. Start time for Saturday’s championship game is 4 p.m.

Both Mesa League champion Montgomery (Division I) and Marian Catholic (Division IV) benefitted from this year’s new double-elimination format after suffering upset losses in the second round of the playoffs. The top-seeded Aztecs (31-4) generated a best-of-three series against fourth-seeded Rancho Bernardo (28-6) to determine which team will get a crack at second-seeded Rancho Buena Vista (29-4) at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, the second-seeded Crusaders (24-9) got a second chance at qualifying for Saturday’s 10 a.m. title game by forcing a semifinal rematch against third-seeded Horizon Christian (19-8). The winners of Thursday’s rematches earned a berth in Saturday’s championship quadruple header; the losers finally called it a season.

El Capitan (25-10) trailed Eastlake 10-0 before Ray Neder doubled and Brandon Rauch followed with a two-run home run to center field in the top of the seventh inning.

The victorious Titans rapped out 14 hits against a succession of four Vaquero pitchers in the game. With the win, Eastlake set a school record for wins in one season at 27.

Once again, ferocious hitting and pitching got the job done. In three postseason games, the Titans have now outscored opposition 31-6.

"We shut down a good-hitting ball club today," said Eastlake coach Dave Gonzalez after Tuesday’s win. "It was amazing. Even when we were ahead seven runs, we were still expecting a comeback from them."

Eddie Solis swung the big bat for Eastlake with two homers and a run-scoring double good for five RBI in the game while scoring three runs. He also reached base a fourth time on an error. The Titans scored four runs in the first inning and added three more in the second frame.

The contest had started off promisingly for the visitors after the Vaqueros loaded the bases in the first inning against Titan starter Daniel Silvas (5-1). However, El Capitan could not produce in the clutch, stranding eight runners on base throughout the matchup. Silvas and closer Francisco Mora combined to scatter seven hits.

"I just knew I had to bear down and throw good pitches and that my team would back me up the rest of the game," Silvas said.

El Capitan had earned the rematch with Eastlake following last Satur-day’s 1-0 victory against Mira Mesa to stay alive in the double-elimination tourney. Nick Reagan (6-1) picked up the win after Jordan Abruzzo drove a pitch to the wall with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Titans expect to start Jack Spradlin (8-3) in Saturday’s championship game.

"We’re not going to change anything that we’ve been doing. We’re going to practice three days, give the guys the ball and see what happens," Gonzalez said.

Confidence — though tempered by caution — has taken a front seat with the Titans after Tuesday’s huge win. "We got our big ace and our big hitters. We just need to play with a cool head," Silvas said.

Montgomery, which fell 5-0 to the three-time defending division champion Broncos on May 23, remained alive following Tuesday’s 2-1 win in 11 innings. Senior catcher Arturo Bravo won the game for the Aztecs with a bases-loaded single to drive in Justin Suarez. Montgomery starter Manny Hernandez had pitched the first 10 innings, allowing one run.

Suarez was the hero in last Saturday’s 1-0 win against Torrey Pines to lift the Aztecs from the loser’s bracket. Suarez singled in the game-winning run while also striking out eight Falcons without a walk to improve to 11-1 on the mound.

Cesar Serrano slammed two home runs to lead Marian Catholic in Tuesday’s 10-6 life-saving win against Horizon, which had dropped the Crusaders to the loser’s bracket with an 11-10 cliff-hanger win on May 23. Marian Catholic earned the rematch after defeating Bishop’s 6-3 in Saturday’s knockout game behind Memo Siqueros three-run home run.