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Golden Knights’ playoff bid denied
Baseball: St. Francis High eliminated from postseason consideration following 1-0 loss.
By Charles Rich
ENCINO — For the second consecutive season, there won’t be a playoff appearance made by the St. Francis High baseball team.
A lack of clutch hitting and shaky defense proved to be the chief reasons for its demise.
St. Francis was eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday afternoon following a 1-0 Mission League road loss to Harvard-Westlake at Franklin Field.
The Golden Knights (12-14, 2-9 in league) got a splendid outing from starting pitcher Ramiro Carreon (3-3) and didn’t commit an error. However, a listless St. Francis offense mustered just three hits.
“We’ve been struggling a bit defensively all year,” said first-year St. Francis Coach Brian Esquival, whose team will close out its season at 3:15 p.m. Thursday against Harvard-Westlake at Jackie Robinson Field in Pasadena. “We made too many errors and had no timely hitting.
“We had a couple of chances [Tuesday] and we didn’t take advantage.”
Harvard-Westlake (13-12, 4-7) got the lone run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a swinging bunt single to first by shortstop Colin Weidmann. The Wolverines moved into fourth place in league behind Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Crespi and Loyola. The top four teams from league move on to the postseason, which will begin next week.
St. Francis, which last qualified for the playoffs in 2006 when it advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division II championship contest, wasted golden scoring chances in the fourth and fifth against senior starting pitcher Nik Turley (6-3).
St. Francis had runners on second and third with two out before the Brigham Young University-bound Turley, a left-hander, got Jefferson Nolan on a grounder to second to conclude the fourth.
In the fifth, Jeff Johnson led off with a single and then stole second. However, Turley rebounded in a big way by striking out the next three. Turley finished with 12 strikeouts.
“You have to tip your cap to Turley,” Esquival said. “They executed on a swinging bunt and that’s a tough loss.”
Carreon, a senior, might have turned in his best effort of the season.
He scattered six hits and struck out five.
“I felt good all day long,” Carreon said. “We didn’t put a complete game as a team together all year.”
A lack of clutch hitting and shaky defense proved to be the chief reasons for its demise.
St. Francis was eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday afternoon following a 1-0 Mission League road loss to Harvard-Westlake at Franklin Field.
The Golden Knights (12-14, 2-9 in league) got a splendid outing from starting pitcher Ramiro Carreon (3-3) and didn’t commit an error. However, a listless St. Francis offense mustered just three hits.
“We’ve been struggling a bit defensively all year,” said first-year St. Francis Coach Brian Esquival, whose team will close out its season at 3:15 p.m. Thursday against Harvard-Westlake at Jackie Robinson Field in Pasadena. “We made too many errors and had no timely hitting.
“We had a couple of chances [Tuesday] and we didn’t take advantage.”
Harvard-Westlake (13-12, 4-7) got the lone run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a swinging bunt single to first by shortstop Colin Weidmann. The Wolverines moved into fourth place in league behind Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Crespi and Loyola. The top four teams from league move on to the postseason, which will begin next week.
St. Francis, which last qualified for the playoffs in 2006 when it advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division II championship contest, wasted golden scoring chances in the fourth and fifth against senior starting pitcher Nik Turley (6-3).
St. Francis had runners on second and third with two out before the Brigham Young University-bound Turley, a left-hander, got Jefferson Nolan on a grounder to second to conclude the fourth.
In the fifth, Jeff Johnson led off with a single and then stole second. However, Turley rebounded in a big way by striking out the next three. Turley finished with 12 strikeouts.
“You have to tip your cap to Turley,” Esquival said. “They executed on a swinging bunt and that’s a tough loss.”
Carreon, a senior, might have turned in his best effort of the season.
He scattered six hits and struck out five.
“I felt good all day long,” Carreon said. “We didn’t put a complete game as a team together all year.”
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