Baseball: Mater Dei conquers No. 1 Norco, 7-4

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Two home runs by junior outfielder Cory Hahn, including a grand slam, off unbeaten pitcher Matt Hobgood of Norco lifted Santa Ana Mater Dei to a 7-4 Southern Section Division I quarterfinal playoff victory over the top-seeded Cougars.

Aaron Northcraft (10-2) picked up the victory, going 5 2/3 innings. He allowed a three-run home run to Jake Clark in the first inning.

Matt Blanchard got the save for Mater Dei (24-5), striking out Wes Hatton and Hobgood during his appearance. In fact, Blanchard struck out all four of the batters he faced.

Mater Dei advances to Tuesday’s semifinals at Blair Field in Long Beach against Huntington Beach Edison, which defeated Dana Hills, 3-2. Capistrano Valley defeated Huntington Beach Marina, 11-0, in another quarterfinal and will face Riverside Poly in the other semifinal.

-- Eric Sondheimer