Baseball: Sophomore Jesse Bergin pitches Harvard-Westlake into Division 1 final

A year ago, there was lots of fuss being made around Harvard-Westlake that freshman Jesse Bergin might one day join the class of elite Wolverine pitchers in recent years such as Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Max Fried. But Bergin never got the chance to show his stuff because of injuries.

Fast forward to Tuesday night’s Southern Section Division 1 semifinal against top-seeded JSerra and unbeaten pitcher Collin Quinn. In the spotlight and facing one of the best hitting teams in Southern California, Bergin fulfilled all the promise and potential projected for him, throwing a four-hit shutout in a 2-0 victory that sends the surprising Wolverines into the Division 1 final against Murrieta Mesa on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino.

“I knew their offense was the real deal,” Bergin said. “I just went out and my motto for the entire game was never get too comfortable. Just compete.”

In inflicting the first defeat on Quinn in 13 decisions, Harvard-Westlake broke through in the fourth inning on Leo Kaplan’s RBI triple off the left-field wall at Blair Field, followed by an RBI single from Casey Slattery.

Cameron Deere went three for three for Harvard-Westlake, which finished in third place in the Mission League but has played well throughout the Division 1 playoffs. It’s quite an accomplishment for first-year Coach Jared Halpert, who took over for Matt LaCour, the coach who guided Harvard-Westlake to a Division 1 title in 2013.

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