PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Knuff’s Single Is Enough to Give Mater Dei a Title

David Knuff lives for these situations. Angelus League title on the line, two outs, bottom of the seventh, bases loaded and Mater Dei trailing by a run.

“I loved it,” Knuff said. “I was thinking that it was going to come down to me. I wanted to swing the bat.”

Knuff did, slapping a two-run single into left field to give the Monarchs a 4-3 victory over Bishop Amat Wednesday at Mater Dei. Besides clinching the league championship--the Monarchs fourth in the past five seasons--it also gave Coach Bob Ickes his 300th victory.

“That made it even better,” Knuff said.

It was just another big moment for Knuff.

During the fall, he was a key member of the Monarchs’ football team, which won the Southern Section Division I championship. He was the team’s leading receiver and was also a starting linebacker.

Knuff entered Wednesday’s game hitting .443 with three home runs. He went 0 for 3 before coming up with the game on the line.

“He loves those situations,” Ickes said. “He also wants to make the big catch or have the guy run the ball at him in football. In baseball, he wants to be up there in the crucial situations.”

This was as crucial as it could get. The Monarchs (21-3 overall, 12-2 in league play), who were one game ahead of Bishop Amat, trailed, 3-1, heading into the bottom seventh.

Don Matthewson led off with a single, but was forced out. Brian Barajas then doubled to left, knocking starting pitcher Eddie Hernandez out of the game.

Jeff Frankel hit Jesus Peindo’s first pitch into left to make it a one-run game. Cale Carter walked and Keith Frankel struck out, bringing up Knuff, who reached for an outside pitch and lined a single to left.

None of it appeared possible through six innings. Hernandez, who had been the only Lancer pitcher to lose a game this season, was able to tip-toe through the Monarchs’ powerful lineup.

He gave up eight hits but was able to escape most of the jams.

Mike McDonald (7-0) matched Hernandez, giving up only four hits. However, two were bases-empty home runs by Artie Baeza.

In another Angelus League game:

Santa Margarita 3, St. John Bosco 1--Stan Bruno hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to break a 1-1 tie for visiting Santa Margarita (13-7, 9-5).

In the Orange League:

Savanna 5, Magnolia 0--Steve Krier (6-2) pitched a one-hitter, striking out 10 for the host Rebels.

Western 8, Brea-Olinda 0--Sophomore Matt Montgomery pitched a three-hitter, striking out eight for visiting Western (6-18, 2-12) in the upset of first-place Brea-Olinda (17-6-1, 12-2).

In the Pacific Coast League:

Laguna Hills 9, Estancia 2--Jason Pierson singled in two runs during a six-run second inning for the host Hawks (17-8, 11-3).

In a nonleague game:

El Toro 7, Marina 4--Randy Gant had two doubles and scored twice and Geoff Schnitzer had three hits and an RBI for the host Chargers (12-11).