Crespi

Landon Hodge, the Mission League player of the year from Crespi, was selected with the first pick of the fourth round by the Chicago White Sox in Monday’s MLB amateur draft. The catcher is an LSU commit.

Day 2 involved rounds four through 20. Pitcher Riley Kelly from Tustin High and UC Irvine went to the Rockies with the 107th pick. Shortstop Colin Yeaman from Saugus and UC Irvine was a fourth-round pick (No. 124) of the Orioles. Pitcher Sean Youngerman, who attended Chaminade, Westmont College and Oklahoma State, went to the Phillies at No. 131.

Outfielder Josiah Hartshorn from Orange Lutheran went to the Cubs in the sixth round (No. 181). USC pitcher Caden Hunter was a sixth-round pick (No. 184) by the Orioles.

In the eighth round (No. 237), Tampa Bay took former Burroughs and Fresno State pitcher Aidan Cremarosa. Outfielder Nick Dumesnil from Huntington Beach and Cal Baptist went to the Tigers are No. 249.

In the ninth round (No. 279), the Tigers selected pitcher Trevor Heishman, who helped St. John Bosco win the Southern Section Division 1 title.

Grant Leary of Crespi High has a future as a golfer _ and photographer.

After winning the Southern Section individual title last week with a 66, Leary went on to practice his other fun endeavor — photography. He was shooting photos for the school yearbook at Crespi’s Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoff game.

Asked to set up a photo of himself, he brought out an iron, put one of his unused tees in his mouth and posed with a smile.

Only a junior, Leary won the tournament at Temecula Creek Country Club. He went to the final hole tied. He faced a seven-foot putt for a par but wasn’t aware of its importance.

“I knew it was a very big putt,” he said. “I didn’t know if it was for a tie or the win.”

He didn’t celebrate after making it but later learned it gave him victory.

Golf was the last sport he started playing in eighth grade. His father is a golf instructor.

Next up is the regional state qualifier on Thursday at Los Serranos Golf Course.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

There was drama, clutch hitting and a little luck in Friday’s Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal playoff game between Crespi and Mira Costa.

“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky,” Crespi coach Mike Glendenning said.

The game ended in the bottom of the ninth with a Nate Lopez pop fly falling in left field as Mira Costa’s shortstop, left fielder and center fielder tried to catch it. It scored the winning run in the Celts’ 3-2 victory.

What a game it was. Tyler Walton was cruising along with a one-hitter and a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning for Crespi. With one swing, Lucas Schermer of Mira Costa sent an 89 mph fastball far over the left-field wall to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead. Crespi fans were stunned and suddenly silent.

Just before Crespi players went to hit in the bottom of the seventh, catcher Landon Hodge gathered his teammates in the dugout and reminded them to trust each other.

“We’ve been here before and came through,” he said.

Up came Gavin Huff, one of 11 seniors set to graduate Friday night. He hit a ball to left field into the wind down the line. It carried to the foul pole, struck it, then caromed back onto the field. The umpires signaled home run to tie the game.

Mira Costa junior pitcher Garrett Jacobs was magnificent, striking out six in seven innings. Hodge finished with three hits for Crespi (24-2). Diego Velazquez threw three scoreless innings of relief. Mira Costa (28-3) had its 26-game winning streak come to an end. Crespi advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals against host Santa Margarita.

Gavin Huff of Crespi gets hug in dugout after his game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh.

(Craig Weston)

Afterward, Crespi’s seniors were hustled into two vans and driven from Hartunian Field to the Celts’ Encino campus to shower, change and participate in graduation ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. Hodge’s uniform, hands and arms were so covered in dirt from three hours of catching, sliding and hitting that he might have needed a car wash to make it to graduation.

More drama happened at Villa Park, where Trinity League champion St. John Bosco pulled out a 4-3 win in nine innings. Jaden Jefferson had an RBI double in the top of the ninth. But the big moment was the bottom of the seventh, when Villa Park came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game and had the winning run on third with two outs. Jack Champlin came out of the bullpen to record a strikeout for the Braves.

Top-seeded Corona received a leadoff home run from Anthony Murphy, his 11th of the season, and relied on a one-hitter from Ethin Bingaman to get past Norco 2-0. Norco freshman pitcher Jordan Ayala impressed with his performance. It will be Corona at St. John Bosco in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Santa Margarita got a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh from Warren Gravely IV to defeat Los Alamitos 5-4. Before that, Los Alamitos tied the game on a Sutton Deninno home run in the seventh.

Division 2

West Ranch 10, Sultana 0: Hunter Manning threw a no-hitter and struck out eight to move West Ranch into the Division 2 semifinals. It was the second no-hitter this week by West Ranch pitchers. Nolan Stoll and Mikey Murr hit home runs.

Etiwanda 8, Servite 3: Derick Kim had two hits and four RBIs and LJ Roellig and Josh Adams hit home runs to send the Eagles into the Division 2 semifinals.

Fountain Valley 5, Torrrance 2: Logan Hunt threw five scoreless innings while allowing one hit for Fountain Valley.

Mater Dei 2, Foothill 0: Brandon Thomas struck out 13 with no walks for the Monarchs, his second shutout of the Division 2 playoffs. Gavin Lauridsen struck out nine for Foothill.

City Section

University 8, Jefferson 1: Evan Han had two hits and two RBIs in the City Section Division III championship game.