IRVINE — The La Habra baseball team received several welcome gifts in its North Hills League game against Crean Lutheran on Friday at Crean Lutheran High school.
And the Highlanders took full advantage of the Saints’ generosity in a 13-0 victory.
The tone was set in the first inning when the Highlanders (17-9, 7-3) scored six runs on one hit in the inning.
That’s because five batters walked and three were hit by pitches. There were also three wild pitches, all with runners on third who came in to score.
“Unfortunately for them, that happens in baseball sometimes,” La Habra coach Jack Brooks. “That kid has pitched pretty well for them all season. We got gifted some runs and then we took advantage of some opportunities later in the game with some really good at-bats.”
La Habra (17-9, 7-3) and the Saints (17-9, 6-4) came into the contest in a tie for second place.
With the victory, the Highlanders, who are now alone in second place, are in a position to win the league title if they can win their two remaining games against first-place Canyon (17-8, 8-2).
The Highlanders take on the Comanches on Tuesday at La Habra and Wednesday at Canyon.
La Habra will likely have an excellent chance to finish second if it splits its games with the Comanches,
The Saints close out the regular season with two league games against Pacifica and should finish at least third or perhaps higher depending on the outcome of the La Habra-Canyon series.
Brooks said the fortuitous first inning shouldn’t overshadow some fine performances by several players.
La Habra’s Isaac Aguirre pitched five shutout innings in a 13-0 victory over Crean Lutheran in a North Hills League game Friday, May 2, 2025, at Crean Lutheran High School (Photo by Lou Ponsi)Highlanders starter Isaac Aguirre pitched shut out baseball over his five innings of work. He allowed five hits, with four strikeouts and three walks.
The Highlanders threw two runners out at home.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, Jayce DeJong singled to center and when the Saints tried to score a runner from second on the play, La Habra center fielder Andrew Gandara made a perfect throw to catcher Izaiah Posada, who made the tag for the final out.
Then, with one out in the fourth, Crean Lutheran tried to score a runner from first on a double hit over Gandara’s head in center field.
But Gandara fielded the ball at the base of the wall, made the relay throw to shortstop Bobby Brooks, who fired home to Posada, who tagged out the runner.
“It always feels good when your teammates pick you up,” he said. “I was really just trying to attack batters even though in the middle innings it kind of got a little rough, but towards the end I realized that my team’s got me anyway so just go.”
Posada also had a good day on offense, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Maddox Moreno doubled, scored a run and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
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