St. Bonaventure Players Will Don Caps, Then Add Gowns

Thanks to the flexibility of Southern Section officials, St. Bonaventure High’s four seniors will be able to play for a championship and attend graduation ceremonies.

“We were so scared for a while [we’d miss graduation],” first baseman Shannon Fink said. “I have to give a speech and Annie [Marostica] has to give one and we were like, ‘Should we even write one?’ ”

St. Bonaventure will play top-seeded La Reina at 7:30 Friday night at Mayfair Park in Lakewood in the Division V final. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

The graduation ceremonies begin at 4 on Saturday.

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The Division V title game is the section’s only final featuring two teams from the same league.

La Reina (23-4) finished as the Tri-Valley League’s undefeated champion. St. Bonaventure (19-9) finished league play at 5-5.

St. Bonaventure has not defeated La Reina in a league game in more than three seasons.

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Chaminade is one of three 1999 champions who have advanced to title games this weekend.

The Eagles (18-12), who capped a 25-6-1 season with a 10-0 victory over Bloomington last season, will play Calabasas (20-7) for the Division IV title at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Other teams trying to repeat are Cerritos in Division II and Pacifica in Division III.