Leuenberger Lifts Canyon to a Title

Jeff Leuenberger, a junior pitcher for Canyon, couldn’t believe how long it took for Saturday night to come.

He had gotten up early and did little more than wait around for his team’s Southern Section Division II baseball championship game against Upland at Blair Field.

To make matters worse, the game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., started 45 minutes late because the earlier game ran late.

But once his game finally started, he made quick work of the Highlanders, pitching a two-hitter in Canyon’s 5-1 victory.

“It felt like the day lasted forever,” said Leuenberger (12-2) after a game that lasted about an hour and 45 minutes.

Besides being a championship game, it was also a chance for Leuenberger and many of his Canyon teammates to get revenge.

Upland defeated Canyon and Leuenberger, 4-2, in the opening round of the playoffs last season.

Leuenberger, a right-hander, gave up a run in the first on a walk to Scott Iavarone, a stolen base and a run-scoring single by No. 3 hitter Kevin Schultz.

But Leuenberger was in total command after that.

He didn’t give up a hit after the second inning and the only two baserunners after the second reached on errors. He finished with eight strikeouts, including Jason Payne and Nick Nagle for the final two outs of the game.

Leuenberger was helped by strong defense. Shortstop Bobby Fly went up the middle for one ball in the fourth then went deep in the hole to get a grounder and throw out Will Morris to start the seventh.

When Canyon Coach Mike Najera was asked how many consecutive games Canyon had won to close the season, he said he wasn’t sure.

“Someone asked me that earlier and I said that I didn’t know. I didn’t want figure it out and jinx us.”

But he then took a moment and realized it was his team’s 14th consecutive victory.

Canyon (27-3) was the winningest baseball team in Orange County this season.

It was also the school’s second Southern Section title, the first came in 1984 under Coach Hi Lavalle, who now is an assistant.

Canyon, seeded second, pretty much stole a run in the second to take a 3-1 lead. Josh Fraser opened with check-swing single to center field and took second on a wild pitch.

He reached third on a wild pickoff throw. Leuenberger then walked giving Canyon runners at first and third base.

Leuenberger then broke for second and got intentionally trapped in a rundown.

Fraser broke for home a few seconds later and scored when shortstop Kevin Schultz threw over the head of catcher Steve Flores and off the umpire for an error.

Canyon’s first two runs came in the first. Troy Mills singled and went to second on a sacrifice by Leuenberger. He scored an out later when Mike Tomarelli sliced a double down the left-field line.

Designated hitter Brandon Smith then drove home Tomarelli with a hard single up the middle.

Smith added an RBI double off the wall in left-center to give Canyon a 4-1 lead.

Doo-jin Baek followed Smith’s double with a triple to the right-field fence to make it 5-1.