1-A BASEBALL : Santa Fe Christian, Borrego Square Off

A catcher’s equipment is often called the tools of ignorance, and it was ignorant, A.J. Applefield confessed, to catch a game earlier this season with a severely injured left thumb.

It nearly cost Applefield the rest of his junior season and Santa Fe Christian a shot at its first San Diego Section baseball title.

The fourth-seeded Eagles (15-7) will play third-seeded Borrego Springs (14-5) in today’s 1-A championship at 1 p.m.

Applefield injured his thumb April 11 during the second inning of a Lions Tournament game against Clairemont.

“Originally, I had fractured a bone in there in a collision at home,” Applefield said. “It didn’t hurt, but then I tore the ligaments by catching the rest of the game.”

Later that evening, after X-rays had been examined, doctors told him he’d be out for the season.

Applefield missed only two games.

“Fortunately, we had a good backup catcher in Andy Strader,” Applefield said. “He played first base so we just switched positions.”

Forced to wear a brace and limit his batting practice, Applefield actually improved.

“I had to shorten up my swing a little because I wasn’t able to roll my wrists through,” he said. “I also couldn’t hit everyday like I had been.”

Applefield, who has recently returned to catcher, has a .538 batting average (35 for 65), 11 doubles and 30 RBIs. Shortstop Mark Loeffler is second in average (.453) and RBIs (14) and leads the Eagles in home runs (three).

Outfielder Deric Shires is hitting .421 with two homers and 10 RBIs and offensive catalyst Ryan Flanders, an infielder, is hitting .358 with 23 runs and 11 stolen bases.

Andrew DeGrassie (8-2, 1.63 ERA) will start on the mound.

The Rams will counter with senior right-hander Oscar Cortes (5-2). Cortes (.521 batting average) and senior infielder Nate Barling (.517) are the captains and leading hitters.

Both teams have won nine in a row but were surprise finalists.

SFC, which had to win its final two regular-season games to even make the playoffs for the first time in years, routed both Calvin Christian, 9-1, and top-seeded Holtville, 13-2, to advance to its first baseball final.

Borrego Springs has only 125 students and no junior varsity program. The Rams have been to the finals three times but lost each game.

“They have a good Little League program here in Borrego, and there’s a real baseball tradition here in the community,” Borrego Coach Steve Dunn said. “That community tradition and support is really starting to show now.”

To reach today’s final, its first since 1988, Borrego overcame a 5-5 start to finish in a first-place tie with Calvin in the Citrus League. The Rams then edged Mountain Empire, 6-4, in the quarterfinals and second-seeded LJCD, 5-4, in a nine-inning semifinal.

Against LJCD, the Rams thought they had won when a bases-loaded walk forced home the apparent winning run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The umpire, however, ruled that since the runner on first failed to advance to second--instead, opting to celebrate with teammates around home plate--that he was the third out in the inning.

After numerous arguments failed, Borrego won the game again in the bottom of the ninth.

1-A Rosters

Borrego Springs 1 Oscar Cortez, if/p 3 Nate Barling, if/p 7 Ryan Ries, of 8 Sean Stevenson, if 11 Jesus Cortes, inf 12 Mike Ortley, of 13 Jaime Ruiz, if 14 Enrique Ruiz, if 15 Kyle O’Brien, of 16 Scott Kurry, of 18 Arturo Villafana, of 19 Sam Hernandez, of 20 Tony Monzano, if 23 Aaron Asche, if 25 Seth Hibdon, c 26 Chris Guelke, of Coach: Steve Dunn

Santa Fe Christian 1 Noah Bowman, if 3 Mike Corrales, of 4 Tim Johnson, p 6 Roman Aguilar, c 6 Ryan Flanders, if 7 Mark Loeffler, if/p 8 Rob Thompson, of 9 Andy Strader, 1b/p 10 Chris Schmidt, of 11 Andy DeGrassie, p 12 Steve LaPutz, if/of 13 Deric Shires, of/p 14 A.J. Applefield, c 15 John Huckstep, of Coach: Bill Marinello