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Bishop Amat High School of La Puente rallied in the late innings to defeat favored Palm Desert 4-3 and win the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 baseball championship June 6 at Dodger Stadium.
Trailing 3-0 after four innings, the Lancers got a run in the fifth on Jayson Gonzalez’ ground-out, then scored three times in the sixth to take the lead. Scott Hurst’s run-scoring ground-out plated one run, Michael Palos’ double tied the score, and Bryan Menendez delivered the game-winning RBI single to score pinch-runner Bijor Decena.
With their win, the Lancers ended Palm Desert's 16-game winning streak by extending their own to 10 straight. Bishop Amat ended the season 21-11, with its fourth CIF championship since 2007 under coach Andy Nieto.
Later that evening at Dodger Stadium, Santa Margarita High School of Rancho Santa Margarita won the Division 1 title, 3-1, over Foothill for the Eagles’ first-ever CIF championship.
Griffin Canning struck out 11 and Jordan Steele and Nick Meyer delivered run-scoring singles for Santa Margarita in a three-run sixth inning. Canning survived a bases-loaded, none-out situation in the bottom of the sixth when Foothill tallied its only run, and closed out the game in the seventh.
Santa Margarita, Trinity League runnerup, finished 20-10-1, while Foothill, Century League champion, ended 22-11. The baseball title marks the sixth CIF crown in 2013-14 for the Eagles, who earlier won in girls’ water polo, boys’ and girls’ basketball, girls’ soccer and girls’ swimming.
Correction
In St. Paul's CIF-Southern Section softball championship May 30 victory, it should be noted that Niko Walker hit the sacrifice fly incorrectly attributed to another player in last week's Tidings article.