Flintridge Prep baseball rallies, tops Salesian in semifinal thriller

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Flintridge Prep baseball pitcher #6 Robbie Leslie, center, being mobbed by infielder Hamilton Evans, left center, and other players, came in relief to win the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball player #12 Cole Pilar celebrates scoring a run to tie the game at 8-8 in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball relief pitcher #6 Robbie Leslie, celebrates the 3rd strike at the top of the 7th inning that gave his team the win in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball pitcher #8 Robbie Leslie throws in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball player #20 Richard Pan throws the player out from 3rd base in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball player #2 Daniel Chiarodit races to first base for a hit in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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With blue watching closely, Flintridge Prep baseball player #17 Hamilton Evans throws #24 Patrick Pena out at 3rd base in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball player #17 Hamilton Evans celebrates scoring a run in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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With player #12 Cole Pilar waiting for him, left, Flintridge Prep baseball player #2 Daniel Chiarodit, right, scores a run in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball catcher #12 Cole Pilar celebrates scoring a run to even out the game at 9-9 the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball player #17 Hamilton Evans gets one of his hits in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Prep baseball player #20 Richard Pan is congratulated by #17 Hamilton Evans after Pan scored what turned out to be the winning run in the CIF SS Div VI semi-final home game vs. Salesian High School at Glendale Sports Complex in Glendale on Tuesday June 2, 2015. Flintridge Prep won 10-9 and moves on to the final game.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

By Andrew J. Campa, <em><a href=”mailto:andrew.campa@latimes.com”>andrew.campa@latimes.com</a></em>

June 2, 2015 8:58 PM PT

GLENDALE — If there was a common refrain in regards to the Flintridge Prep baseball team this season, perhaps it’s that the Rebels were just a little too young to win this season.

The explanation fit when the Rebels started the season winless in their first seven games, when Flintridge Prep finished runner-up in Prep League play to archrival Pasadena Poly and also, on Tuesday afternoon, when the Rebels fell behind versus Santa Fe League champion Los Angeles Salesian by large deficits.

Despite all these setbacks, the Rebels proved that next year can wait, because they’re still making history in this one.

PHOTOS: Flintridge Prep comes back against Salesian to advance to CIF championship

Flintridge Prep rallied from holes of five and three runs and a final one-run deficit in coming back to defeat visiting Salesian, 10-9, in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division VI playoffs on Tuesday afternoon.

With the victory, the Rebels (16-12) punched their ticket to the school’s first CIF championship game since 1951 on Saturday versus Long Beach St. Anthony at UC Riverside at 3:30 p.m.

“I’ll admit it, I thought we were a year away,” said emotional Flintridge Prep Coach Guillermo Gonzalez. “We’re so young, but maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe this team doesn’t realize that most teams lose in those positions.

“We’ve gone through so many challenges this year, but we’ve always fought – always. I’m so proud of these guys. I can’t explain it.”

Even in the last inning, the Rebels had to battle for the final out, up, 10-9.

Flintridge Prep reliever Robbie Leslie picked up two quick infield outs to lead off the top of the seventh before the Mustangs (15-10) made one final charge.

Salesian’s Geovanni Islas singled to center with two outs and moved to second on a walk to Patrick Pena before both players advanced a base on a wild pitch.

The wild pitch was the final gaffe for the Rebels, as Leslie fanned Salesian’s next batter looking to end the threat and end a wild 2-hour-and-40-minute contest.

“I had trust in Robbie at the end,” Flintridge Prep starting pitcher Richard Pan said. “I didn’t have my best stuff and I know our defense had our problems, but we’re a young team and that’s a good thing. We didn’t let it get to us. We just picked each other up.”

Flintridge Prep either tied or trailed for the entire game until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Rebels entered the frame down, 9-8.

With one out, singles from Cole Pilar and Pan (two for four with two RBIs and a run) and a wild pitch allowed Flintridge Prep to knot the score at 9.

A single from Isaac Kim and a walk to Aidan Schraeder loaded the bases with one out for Theo Rosenfeld, who knocked in the winning run on a sacrifice fly to right field that brought in Pilar and gave the Rebels a 10-9 lead.

On the fly ball to right, Schraeder had actually wandered too far from first base and could have been doubled off, but no Mustangs player picked up on the potential inning-ending mistake, much to the chagrin of Salesian skipper Dave Sifuentes.

“The errors, the mistakes really killed us and that’s unfortunate,” Sifuentes. “Maybe the missed double play in the fourth hurt the most. That really stung us.”

Sifuentes was referencing a wild fourth inning in which his team scored five runs in taking an 8-3 lead, only to squander the advantage with two crucial errors that allowed Flintridge Prep to tie the game.

The Rebels had loaded the bases in the fourth with one out when a tailor-made double ball play was thrown away by the shortstop, which allowed the Rebels to score their first two runs of the inning.

Flintridge Prep added two more runs on singles from Pilar and Pan before an outfield error allowed the Rebels to knot the game at 8.

“I can’t explain how we came back,” said Pilar, who finished three for three with two RBI and a run. “We just did. We just kept hitting and didn’t quit.”

Salesian’s five-run fourth was largely fueled by three Rebels’ errors along with a run-scoring single from Andrew Amador and a sacrifice fly from Nickolas Gutierrez.

Previously, the Rebels committed the first of their five errors in a three-run second inning for Salesian, which included a run-scoring single from Jairo Cuellar and a bases-loaded walk to Islas.

Flintridge Prep came right back in the second behind leadoff batter Daniel Chiarodit, who singled and scored the first of three Rebels runs in the inning. The big hit of the inning was a two-run single from Leslie, which was followed by a Pilar double.

“I know, I know, we’re supposed to be too young for this,” said Chiarodit, a sophomore who finished three for four with two runs and a stolen base. “We only have a couple of seniors on this team and we’re not supposed to be here. I guess next year can wait.”