SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — After eight innings of low-scoring baseball, Santa Margarita scored four runs in the ninth inning to beat JSerra 5-1 in a Trinity League game Wednesday at JSerra High.
The win clinched the three-game season series for Santa Margarita (13-10, 5-6) over JSerra for the second consecutive season. Santa Margarita won the first game of the series 3-2 Tuesday on a walk-off two-run single by Carter Enoch.
JSerra (9-12, 4-7) stranded runners in scoring position in multiple innings but the back-breaking out came in the eighth inning. With runners on first and second with two outs, Takashi Rutherford singled to left field but Ben Finnegan threw out JSerra’s runner at the plate to stifle the potential walk-off hit.
Santa Margarita was lifted by the stellar defensive play and broke the game open in the ninth inning. Chase Marlow drew a bases-loaded walk to score the go-ahead run with two outs.
In the ensuing at-bat, Notre Dame commit Warren Gravely IV cleared the bases with a triple that was just past the outstretched arms of JSerra’s center fielder to give the Eagles a 5-1 lead.
“That was tough to come back and win in their yard,” Santa Margarita coach Chris Malec said. “Our guys continued to stay in the fight and continued to stay positive.”
Finnegan’s throw home to preserve the game saved Malec from having to relive a painful memory. Santa Margarita lost to JSerra in the 2023 CIF-SS Division 1 championship game on a walk-off hit in a similar spot, but Finnegan’s throw made Malec exhale.
“That play was so slow developing it was kind of like when you take your 8-year-old bowling and ball rolls five miles per hour and all the sudden he gets a strike,” Malec said. “I had flashbacks to the CIF game a couple of years ago and I thought ‘oh no.’ To get it as quickly as he did and have the ball on-target was just incredible.”
Both starting pitchers were excellent and pitched their way out of jams. Santa Margarita’s Brennan Bauer scattered seven hits over eight innings with one run allowed and five strikeouts.
Bauer has been a varsity contributor for three seasons and is approaching 20 career wins.
“He’s got a four-pitch mix and ultimately he has been pitching in big games since his sophomore year,” Malec said. “He’s got a cool, calm demeanor and is a competitor on the mound. The experience he has let him to be able to compete in these environments.”
JSerra left-hander Otto Graham allowed nine hits but just one run over 6 ⅔innings with three strikeouts.
Finnegan led the fourth inning off with a triple for Santa Margarita and scored on a single by Gavin Spiridonoff to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
JSerra responded in its half of the fourth inning with a solo home run from Oregon State commit Blake Bowen to tie the game.
Eight Santa Margarita players recorded hits and four had multi-hit games. Finnegan went 2 for 5 with a double and a triple. Brody Schumaker had two hits including a leadoff bunt single to start the rally in the ninth inning.
The series win was much needed for Santa Margarita, which entered the week on a five-game losing streak. Santa Margarita was swept by Orange Lutheran last week and was shut out in all three games.
“You fight for every win in the Trinity League,” Malec said. “For the kids to bounce back and show some resilience after a tough week, it’s just a credit to who these kids are.”
The teams entered Wednesday tied for third place in the league standings behind St. John Bosco and Orange Lutheran. The final game of the series is at Santa Margarita on Friday.
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