Mater Dei’s Brandon Thomas #34 celebrates scoring a run in the seventh inning. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Mater Dei third baseman #4 catches a line drive. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Mater Dei’s Landon Gordon #14 pitches in the seventh inning. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) West Ranch celebrates after they defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) West Ranch celebrates after they defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Mater Dei players died their hair before the game. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Mater Dei’s Brandon Thomas #34 pitches. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) West Ranch celebrates after they defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) West Ranch celebrates after they defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Mater Dei’s Lawson Olmstead #9 tags out West Ranch Omar Gutierrez #12 in the fourth inning. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) West Ranch’s Hunter Manning #10 pitches in the first inning. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Mater Dei’s Lawson Olmstead #9 tags out West Ranch Omar Gutierrez #12 in the fourth inning. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) West Ranch head coach Ryan Lindgreen holds up the Championship plaque after they defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) West Ranch celebrates after they defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) West Ranch celebrates after they defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Mater Dei Lawson Olmstead #9 tags out West Ranch Omar Gutierrez #12 in the fourth inning. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Show Caption1 of 16Mater Dei’s Brandon Thomas #34 celebrates scoring a run in the seventh inning. West Ranch defeated Mater Dei n the championship game of the CIF-SS Division 2 Playoffs on May 31, 2025 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer) Expand
FULLERTON – Mater Dei’s baseball team finished in last place in the Trinity League when the regular season ended May 7.
Few probably expected the Monarchs to play in a CIF Southern Section championship game. But there they were Saturday playing in the CIF-SS Division 2 final.
Mater Dei’s surprising postseason run took a disappointing turn with a loss to West Ranch, 2-1, at Cal State Fullerton.
The Monarchs got beat by someone with a Mater Dei connection. West Ranch pitcher Hunter Manning is the nephew of Pat Manning, who was Orange County player of the year as a Mater Dei shortstop in 1999. Hunter Manning pitched a complete game for the Wildcats.
Manning, a 6-foot-6 right-hander who signed with UC Irvine, shut out Mater Dei through six innings before giving up an unearned run in the seventh. He allowed four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Manning improved to 10-0, lowered his earned-run average to 0.72 and pushed his strikeouts total to 112 in 77⅔ innings.
And he created an opportunity to give his uncle the type of grief Hunter has been receiving from Uncle Pat about how great his Mater Dei days were.
“He gives me a little bit of crap,” Manning said. “But now I have to give it back to him. That’s the biggest I can give him right there, is winning it over his alma mater.”
Mater Dei (19-14) and West Ranch (25-9) qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs. Mater Dei coach Richard Mercado said his team will play in the regional that begins Tuesday. The regional brackets will be released Sunday.
Mater Dei got its run in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, Brandon Thomas reached on an error and advanced to second base on Bradley Beaudreau’s single. Brady Guth’s single to center field drove in Thomas to make it 2-1.
Manning got the next two batters out – Lawson Olmstead on a fly ball to right field and Manning caught CJ Ciampas’ foul pop up to end the game.
While disappointed by the outcome, Mercado was proud of how his team battled to the end Saturday.
“Our guys compete, man,” said Mercado, who was a Monarchs teammate of Pat Manning. “We preach that a lot in all we do. I’m proud of these guys.
“They showed all the heart they have. That’s a really good arm (Manning) that just beat us right there. There’s no shame in losing a one-run ballgame to that guy.”
Mater Dei got its first hit in the fourth inning, a leadoff single by Sebastian Navarro, and its other was a two-out double by Lawson Olmstead in the fifth.
Thomas, a senior right-hander, pitched well for the Monarchs. He went six innings, allowed five hits and no earned runs.
The Wildcats went into the game with a .339 team batting average and were averaging seven runs a game.
West Ranch scored a run in the first inning. Wildcats leadoff batter Landon Hu reached on a two-base error, moved to third base on Manning’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a ground out.
The Wildcats scored their other run in the fourth inning. Michael Murr led off with a single and advanced to third base when Orlando Gutierrez got on board on an error. Ryan Oh’s high-bouncing single over third base drove in Murr for a 2-0 lead.
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