Bishop Amat’s Montanez Guesses Right

It was the perfect scenario, the perfect pitch and, as Bishop Amat center fielder Abel Montanez admitted, luck.

Montanez’s hit off the wall in right-center with two outs in the bottom of the seventh gave the Lancers (24-6) a 10-9 victory over Fountain Valley (24-7) in the CIF Division I title game Saturday night at Blair Field.

The two teams combined for 15 runs in the final three innings, but the only one that will be remembered is the one driven in by Montanez, who lined a fastball from Fountain Valley’s Chad Gonzalez, driving in Dennis Wyrick and the school’s first Division I baseball title.

“It was the perfect situation. You couldn’t ask for anything else,” Montanez said. “But I have to credit it all to luck. I was looking for a fastball and he threw me one.”

Bishop Amat was defeated by Fountain Valley, 14-7, in last year’s final, and the Barons had won the two previous titles. It looked as if they would win another, leading, 9-7, with only three outs remaining. But Bishop Amat’s Joe Hurka led off the Lancers’ half of the seventh with a double and a batter later Casey Flanigan doubled him home.

Wyrick, a freshman, singled home the tying run on a 0-2 pitch, and then was sacrificed to second. After Bobby Alcarez, who had two triples, was intentionally walked, Montanez came to bat. The first pitch he saw was high, the second was perfect luck.

“I knew when it left my bat that we had it won, “ Montanez said.

Anaheim Canyon 5, Upland 1--Jeffrey Leuenberger pitched a two-hitter as the Comanches (27-3) won the Division II title, their first in baseball since 1984. Upland finished 22-7.

Rialto 6, Fontana A.B. Miller 0--Kevin Lorian pitched five innings of no-hit ball before Leonard Magdaleno relieved him as the Knights (20-7) beat the Rebels (21-8-1) in the Division IV title game at UC Riverside.

Jesse Jorrin got A.B. Miller’s only hit in the seventh inning off Magdaleno.