Miscues Prove Costly for St. Francis in Loss to Corona : Prep baseball: Unearned run eliminates Knights from the Southern Section 3-A Division playoffs, 5-4.

Corona High’s seventh-inning rally wasn’t pretty, just effective. And appropriate, considering all that had transpired up to that point.

The Panthers loaded the bases on an error, a hit batter and a walk, then pushed across the winning run on a fielder’s choice Friday to beat St. Francis, 5-4, in a Southern Section 3-A Division baseball quarterfinal at Brookside Park in Pasadena.

So ended a contest that featured seven pitchers, six errors and four unearned runs.

“Both teams definitely didn’t play their best,” St. Francis designated hitter John Workman said. “We just weren’t all there today.”

But Corona, which never before had advanced beyond the quarterfinals, will take the win just the same. The Panthers (17-13) will meet Tustin, an 8-1 winner over Garden Grove, in next week’s semifinals.

Doug McDaniel started the winning rally by hitting a one-out grounder to Kirk Hagge, St. Francis’ sophomore shortstop. But Hagge lost control of the ball and didn’t even make a throw to first.

Two pitches later, junior reliever David Cass (1-1) hit Tim Crutchfield to put runners at first and second. Brian Rios followed with a walk to load the bases.

Cleanup hitter Randy Martin, who had a pair of doubles earlier, then reached on a fielder’s choice as McDaniel scored from third with the winning run.

In the bottom of the seventh Rudy Martinez drew a leadoff walk, but after Workman hit a high fly to left for the first out, Adrian Lelea grounded into a double play to end the game.

Pitching was among the Knights’ concerns coming into the game. Workman, the ace of the staff with seven wins and two saves, pitched 10 innings in a 4-3 victory over La Mirada on Tuesday and could not be used against Corona.

“I was sitting in the dugout thinking, ‘If we had only won it in the seventh on Tuesday--like we should have--I could have pitched three innings of relief today,’ ” Workman said.

Nevertheless, it was Corona that needed pitching help first. Freshman right-hander Randy Knoll (7-3) had to leave the game after experiencing elbow pain warming up for the third inning.

That forced the Panthers to call on Rene Campos, a sophomore right-hander who had not pitched at the varsity level before. Campos came on with Corona holding a 2-0 lead, but St. Francis (11-12) took advantage of his nervousness, scoring twice on two walks, an error and a Workman double down the right-field line.

After Corona pushed across an unearned run in the fifth to go back ahead, 3-2, Workman again tied the score in the bottom of inning. Brew McGoldrick hit a one-out single and, an out later, Martinez singled to send McGoldrick to third. Workman, a right-handed hitter, then blooped the ball into right to drive in McGoldrick.

The teams traded runs again in the sixth, Corona scoring on a single by winning pitcher Steve Bernier (8-3) and St. Francis tying it on an error and consecutive singles by Hagge and Yves Brancheau.