By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor In the final week of the 2018 regular season, there is still some drama that has yet to play itself out. Maranatha needs just one win in their final two games with defending champion Village Christian to earn the outright Olympic League title. Poly is, as expected, the Prep League […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
In the final week of the 2018 regular season, there is still some drama that has yet to play itself out.
Maranatha needs just one win in their final two games with defending champion Village Christian to earn the outright Olympic League title.
Poly is, as expected, the Prep League champions.
La Salle is done with their regular season schedule and will have this week off, and they get some much needed time to get healthy,
They will enter the CIF playoffs on a four-game win streak after sweeps of Bishop Amat and Cathedral.
Pasadena and Muir have arguably the area’s most remaining drama to be settled.
Muir has a one-game lead in third place over both Pasadena and Burroughs with two games to play.
The top four teams in the Pacific League get automatic playoff spots.
Muir can get in the easy way with one win in their two-game series with PHS or they can hope Burbank wins at least once against their rivals from Burroughs.
PHS could really use some momentum, because they were decimated, 20-0, in a pair of losses to first-place Arcadia.
Flintridge Prep is currently in third place in the Prep League with two games remaining against second-place Rio Hondo Prep.
St. Francis is down for the count after losing six consecutive Mission League games in terms of postseason chances, but the Golden Knights can surpass Loyola for fifth place if they dominate their three-game series with the Cubs this week.
Maranatha (20-4, 10-0) has won their lucky-13th game in a row with Friday’s 10-0 victory over Cerritos Valley Christian.
All eyes will be on the Village Christian-Maranatha game Tuesday night at 6 at Brookside Park.
The Minutemen can earn the outright Olympic League championship with a win, and they’ll have the area’s and probably the section’s best pitcher on the mound.
Dawson Netz (8-0, 0.14 ERA) is on a 48-inning streak of not having allowed a run and it’s already a CIF-SS record.
Netz now has 78 strikeouts to just 8 walks in 49 innings pitched in 2018.
If that wasn’t enough, the MHS pitching staff has gone 46 straight innings without allowing a run after Friday’s seventh consecutive shutout.
Will Downing is now 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA over his 30 innings on the mound.
Charles Acker is 3-1 and has had two of his best outings recently, so the Minutemen hope to enter the playoffs with their staff set.
Offensively, Max Blessinger and Marco Martinez pace the entire area.
Blessinger is batting an area-best .513 with 40 hits, 31 runs scored, 18 RBI, 8 doubles and 26 stolen bases.
Martinez is second, with a .483 average on 29 hits, he’s scored 23 runs and driven in a team-best 24 runs.
Martinez had seven doubles and an area-best four home runs.
MHS and Village Christian face off for the third and final time in 2018 on Thursday out in Sun Valley.
Poly (20-2, 10-0) has won 16 consecutive games.
The Panthers have not been challenged in Prep League play.
Through Saturday’s games, Poly has outscored its opponents in league by a margin of 105-19, while going 10-0.
Matt Queen, Matt Loomis and Franco Alonso continue to anchor the pitching staff.
Cameron McFarlane, Sean McTigue, Alonso and Queen have been key to the offensive surge as well.
Poly has three games this week and should enter the playoffs on a 19-game win streak.
On Monday, they will host Salesian.
Poly will travel to Chadwick on Tuesday and host Firebaugh in a regular season finale on Thursday.
They are ranked No. 1 in the final regular season CIF-SS Division 6 poll.
Muir (11-7-1, 7-5) couldn’t be more excited as they head into the final week of their regular season.
First off, they have a pair with crosstown rival PHS and head into the series on a four-game win streak, while Pasadena has lost three consecutive games.
The Mustangs host PHS on Tuesday and then travel to Pasadena on Friday.
With one win, Muir would secure their first CIF-SS playoff spot since the end of the Reagan Administration.
Brian Love, Emiliano Martinez and Valente Vera have been outstanding on the mound, and especially of late.
Amaris Harrison continues to pace the Mustangs’ offense.
The sophomore is batting .339 with 20 hits and 12 RBIs.
His brother Aryonis Harrison, a junior, had been mired in the mid-250’s, but Aryonis is playing his best baseball and is approaching the .300 mark as the regular season winds down.
Even with a loss or sweep, there are a number of ways Muir could still make a postseason appearance, but they’ve obviously prefer to go in on a hot streak.
La Salle (14-10, 8-4) will be silent this week as they’ve played their regular season schedule out, because they compete in just a five-team Del Rey League, but they will enter the postseason with high hopes.
And for good reason.
First of all, they’ve won four consecutive games, including two over the league champs from Bishop Amat and two more over the bottom feeders from Cathedral.
Secondly, Landon Smith has consistently given La Salle a chance to win every time he takes the mound, and Zane Lindeman is dissecting opponents like he did last year when he was named our Pasadena Sports Now Pitcher of the Year.
Smith is 4-1 with a 1.75 ERA and Lindeman is now 4-2 with an 0.80 ERA, which is second best in the area.
Jeff Daley has also served as one of the area’s most reliable relievers/closers, and is 4-2 with a 2.01 ERA.
The Lancers’ bats are waking up too.
Ethan Patrick has been incredible over the last two years and the Loyola Marymount-bound shortstop leads the program in average (446), hits (33), RBIs (16) and he’s second to Henry Kavanaugh with 17 runs scored.
One of the area’s most consistent and under-the-radar stars has been La Salle catcher Brennan Mace.
Mace is batting .426, with 23 hits, 14 RBIs, 9 runs scored and five doubles, and he’s been solid behind the plate.
Mark Daley has been consistent all year, and the sophomore is batting .313, with 21 hits, 11 RBIs and 9 runs scored.
Pasadena (15-10, 6-6) was the next to last victim of the Arcadia steamroller.
The Apaches swept the Bulldogs by a combined score of 20-0 and are now 23-0 on the season.
The sweep leaves PHS one-game back of Muir for third place and they are tied in fourth with Burroughs (6-6).
As mentioned above, PHS and Muir will meet on Tuesday and Friday, while Burroughs and their rivals at Burbank battle in a two-game series.
The Bulldogs could do themselves a huge favor with a win over their rivals at Muir, but there are still other ways to get in.
The probable match ups are the following:
Tuesday: Pasadena’s Jacob Green (4-1, 1.09 ERA) vs Muir’s Valente Vera (3-4, 3.11 ERA)
Friday: Muir’s Brian Love (5-1, 1.29 ERA) at PHS and their ace Alvie Castro, who is 6-2 with a 1.50 ERA.
PHS needs it bats to have a big week.
Adrian DePasquale in considered one of the area’s best all-around catchers and hitters.
The 6-foot-1 senior leads PHS in average (.407), tied for first with Castro in both hits (24) and RBIs (16).
Jacob Green is hitting .371 with 23 hits and 10 RBIs.
Castro is hitting .343 and he’s scored a team-best 18 runs.
St. Francis (8-18, 3-12) has little to play for but pride.
But one other thing on the line, as we mentioned above, is the chance to catch or leapfrog over fifth-place Loyola (4-11 in league) if the Golden Knights can dominate the three-game series with the Cubs.
Over the past six Mission League games, St. Francis is 0-6 and they were outscored by Harvard-Westlake and Alemany by a combined score of 64-15.
And their ace, Chris Stamos, who had been brilliant to this point, allowed 13 runs on nine hits without recording an out before he was yanked in the first inning in the Wolverines’ 22-6 victory on April 27.
Four days later, all five of Alemany’s runs were attributed to Stamos in the 5-2 loss to the Warriors.
Through the first 163 innings, St. Francis pitchers have walked 163 batters and their offense has averaged under three runs per game in Mission League play.
The Golden Knights have a collective batting average of .249.
Aaron Treloar, Mikey Kane and Christian Muro are the three Golden Knights with a batting average north of the .300 mark.
Treloar (.351 average, 26 hits, 16 RBIs), Kane (.342, 27 hits, 10 RBIs) and Muro (.316, 24 hits, 8 RBIs) have been reliable all year.
In spite of all the difficulties getting consistent pitching and a significant offensive production, there is still a chance to end on a positive note.
With one win against Loyola in the final three-game series, second-year coach Aaron Dorlarque’s program could match last year’s win total.
And with two or more, they would surpass the 9-win total of 2017, when the Golden Knights finished 9-20.
Final Week’s Baseball Schedule:
Monday:
Baseball: Loyola at St. Francis at 3:30
Baseball: Salesian at Poly at 4
Tuesday:
Baseball: Pasadena at Muir at 3:30
Baseball: Village Christian at Maranatha at 6
Baseball: Marshall at Arroyo at 3:15
Baseball: Poly at Chadwick at 4
Baseball: Flintridge Prep at Rio Hondo Prep at 3:30
Wednesday:
Baseball: St. Francis at Loyola at 3:30
Baseball: Flintridge Prep at Rio Hondo Prep at 3:30
Thursday:
Baseball: Loyola at St. Francis at 3:30
Baseball: Maranatha at Village Christian at 4
Baseball: Marshall at Mountain View at 3:15
Baseball: Firebaugh at Poly at 3:45
Friday:
Baseball: Muir at Pasadena at 3:30
Baseball Standings Through May 6:
Del Rey League:
Bishop Amat (14-11-2 overall, 8-2 in league)
La Salle (14-10, 8-4)
St. Paul (9-12, 5-5)
Serra (10-13-1, 2-7)
Cathedral (7-13, 2-7)
Mission League:
Harvard-Westlake (23-3 overall, 15-0 in league)
Alemany (17-10, 12-6)
Notre Dame (19-8, 10-5)
Chaminade (19-8, 9-6)
Loyola (12-15, 4-11)
St. Francis (8-18, 3-12)
Crespi (5-20, 1-14)
Mission Valley League:
Arroyo (10-8 overall, 7-3 in league)
El Monte (10-9, 7-3)
Mountain View (8-10, 6-4)
South El Monte (9-16, 5-5)
Marshall (7-12, 5-5)
Gabrielino (6-13, 4-5)
Rosemead (1-17, 1-10)
Olympic League:
Maranatha (20-4, 10-0 in league)
Village Christian (19-4, 8-2)
Whittier Christian (13-16-1, 5-7)
Heritage Christian (11-14, 2-8)
Valley Christian (10-14, 1-8)
Pacific League:
Arcadia (23-0 overall, 12-0 in league)
Crescenta Valley (21-4, 12-0)
Muir (11-7-1, 7-5)
Pasadena (15-10, 6-6)
Burroughs (12-14, 6-6)
Burbank (7-12, 5-7)
Glendale (3-19-1, 0-12)
Hoover (1-22, 0-12)
Prep League:
Poly (20-2 overall, 10-0 in league)
Rio Hondo Prep (10-6, 6-3)
Flintridge Prep (13-7, 5-5)
Chadwick (9-10, 4-6)
Firebaugh (1-17, 0-11)
