SANTA ANA – The formula of good pitching, timely hitting and error-free defense has won many baseball games.
It did so again Tuesday for Santa Margarita. The Eagles made the most of their three hits and got a complete game from Collin Clake to defeat Corona 2-1 in a Boras Classic South first-round game at Mater Dei.
Santa Margarita (15-3) will play Aquinas (13-2) in a second-round game Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Mater Dei. Corona (14-4) will play Cypress (16-5) in a consolation-round game Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Mater Dei.
Tuesday’s game, which ended Corona’s winning streak at eight games, matched two teams that are high in CIF Southern Section and state rankings. Santa Margarita is No. 2 and Corona is No. 4 in the CIF-SS Division 1 top 10. The CalHiSports.com California rankings have Santa Margarita at No. 2 and Corona at No. 3.
Clarke, a senior right-hander, gave up six hits and struck out eight. He allowed back-to-back walks in the second inning when Corona got its run. Clarke did not give up a walk after that.
“My coach (Willie Kuhl) talked to me and said, ‘It seems like you’re over-throwing,’ ” Clarke said, ” ‘so just to try to settle in and relax and hit your spots with your off-speed stuff.’ ”
On the other side, Corona left-handed pitcher Ethan Schiefelbein was terrific. The senior, who signed with UCLA, struck out 12 in six innings, exhibiting a high-octane fastball and confident command of his off-speed pitches.
Santa Margarita scored its first run in the top of the first inning. With two outs Luke Lavin singled, stole second base and scored on Logan de Groot’s two-strike single.
Corona tied it in the bottom of the second. Jaylen White and Billy Carlson got the back-to-back walks to start the inning. Daniel Rivera’s sacrifice bunt advanced White to third base and Carlson to second and Jared Saldana’s single made it 1-1.
Santa Margarita scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. With one out, Blake Wilson walked and…
Read the full article here
