San Diego Prep Baseball : Christian Conquers All Odds to Win Crawford Tournament

After losing two of its first three games in the Crawford tournament, the Christain High School baseball team found itself seeded last entering the final three games. But the Patriots defied the seeding system and won the tournament Saturday, defeating host Serra, 7-6.

The first three games of the tournament are used to seed the teams for the second round, which began Thursday. Christian (3-2-1) beat University City, 9-4, and then beat No. 1-seeded Mira Mesa Friday, 7-6, to earn a berth in the championship game.

Mike Castle went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and scored what proved to be the winning run in the seventh inning. After leading off with a double, Castle scored on Craig Johnson’s single to give Christian a 7-5 lead.

Mike Ippolito had three RBIs. Castle (2-0) got the win after pitching five innings.

In other Crawford tournament games:

Morse 9, Clairemont 3--Dwayne Lager went 4 for 5 with a triple and three RBIs to give the host Tigers the win over the Chieftains. Paul Anderson was 3 for 3 with three RBIs. Morse had 18 hits, while three pitchers limited Clairemont to seven hits.

La Jolla 8, Mira Mesa 7--La Jolla combined three hits with seven Mira Mesa errors to beat the Marauders.