SOUTHERN SECTION DIV. II BASEBALL FINAL: IT'S NO GOLDEN ENDING ST. FRANCIS BEATEN BY FOOTHILL ON ODA'S EIGHTH-INNING HOMER FOOTHILL 4, ST. FRANCIS 3 (8).Byline: ERIK BOAL Special to the Daily News ANAHEIM -- An extra-inning, game-winning home run extended St.Francis High of La Canada Flintridge's dream season all the way to its first Southern Section baseball final. Brian Oda's eighth-inning walk-off shot Saturday provided a nightmare for an ending. St. Francis built a three-run lead against Foothill of Santa Ana Santa Ana, city, El Salvador Santa Ana (sän'tä ä`nä), city (1993 pop. 129,873), W El Salvador. It is the second largest city in the country and the commercial and processing center for a sugarcane, coffee, and cattle region. and were six outs away from handing USC-bound pitcher Brad Boxberger his first loss of the season in the Div. II championship game. But after St. Francis' five seniors began their day with the celebratory tossing of caps at the school's graduation ceremony, it was Foothill that ended the day by throwing their caps in exhilaration as Oda touched home plate, putting the final stamp on a 4-3 victory at Angel Stadium. ``It's beyond a dream come true, but I have to believe it's reality,'' said Oda, who took advantage of a hanging curveball from relief pitcher relief pitcher n. Baseball A pitcher who replaces another during a game. Noun 1. relief pitcher - a pitcher who does not start the game fireman, reliever Luke Collis to hit his team-leading ninth home run into the waterfall waterfall, a sudden unsupported drop in a stream. It is formed when the stream course is interrupted as when a stream passes over a layer of harder rock—often igneous—to an area of softer and therefore more easily eroded rock; the edge of a cliff or in left-center field. ``It really did just happen. He left the third (curveball) hanging and it was over.'' Before Saturday, St. Francis (25-5) had recorded four walk-off victories this season, most notably Tuesday's 6-5 semifinal triumph over West Torrance, courtesy of Taylor Smale's ninth-inning home run. Smale was presented with a similar opportunity in the top of the eighth, as the senior first baseman batted with Joe De Pinto pinto Spotted horse, also called paint, piebald, skewbald, and other terms to describe variations in colour and markings. The American Indian ponies of the western U.S. were often pintos. Most pure-breed associations refuse to register horses with pinto colouring. on third and two outs. But after delivering two-game winning hits in St.Francis' first four playoff games Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship and driving in the team's first run Saturday as part of a three-run fourth, Smale ran out of magic as he popped out to first. ``He got us here with the shot he hit on Tuesday,'' said St. Francis coach Mike Solar, whose team built its advantage in the fourth on a run-scoring triple by Andrew Sember and an RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in double by Ramiro Carreon. ``But the law of averages says you're not going to get the big hit all the time. It was a gutsy guts·y adj. guts·i·er, guts·i·est Slang 1. Marked by courage or daring; plucky. 2. Robust and uninhibited; lusty: "the gutsy . . . performance by (Boxberger). I thought we did a good job against him, but he made the pitches when he needed to. ``And you have to tip your hat to (Oda). We had a great moment on Tuesday and they had theirs (Saturday).'' Before Oda ended the Southern Section's first extra-inning championship game since 1997, UCLA-bound Justin Uribe looked to be the hero for Foothill (27-4) -- the division's top-ranked team in the state by Cal-Hi Sports -- tying the score in the sixth with a three-run homer, the first of his career. ``I've got to give a lot of credit to Justin,'' said Oda, who missed an opportunity to give Foothill the lead in the sixth when he struck out with two on and one out. ``I feel like I stole his bread a little bit, but he came up big for us.'' Christian Bergman held Foothill in check through five innings INNINGS, estates. Lands gained from the sea by draining. Cunn. L. Dict. h. t.; Law of Sewers, 31. , limiting a potent lineup to three hits and retiring seven in a row at one stretch. Even after Foothill tied the score, the UC Irvine-bound pitcher regrouped to strand runners in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on in the sixth and seventh before giving way to Collis (7-2) in the eighth. After Collis recorded the first two outs, Oda lifted Foothill to its first baseball title in dramatic fashion. ``It was a classic. What more do you have to say,'' Solar said. ``(Luke)had great stuff, but he hung a curve and that stuff happens. It's not where he threw it, it's where (Oda) hit it. ``We've shown all year that when we get in these environments, these guys can play with anybody. We made plays, they just made one more.'' erik.boal@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: St. Francis relief pitcher Luke Collis, left, is consoled after giving up a walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be a home run that gives the home team the lead in the bottom of the final inning of the game — either the ninth inning, or any extra inning, or any other regularly scheduled final inning. to Foothill's Brian Oda in the eighth inning in·ning n. 1. a. Baseball One of nine divisions or periods of a regulation game, in which each team has a turn at bat as limited by three outs. b. innings (used with a sing. . Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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