Santa Margarita wins Division 2 baseball title over Norco in 12 innings
It was a championship baseball game for the ages. No runs were scored for 11 innings at Dodger Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It was two pitchers from Santa Margarita and two pitchers from Norco refusing to give in.
In the top of the 12th inning of the Southern Section Division 2 final, Santa Margarita got a leadoff single, then an error put runners on second and third. The bases were soon loaded with one out. Milan Tolentino came to bat and sent a fly ball to deep right field.
Michael Forbes, a receiver in football for Norco, pulled off the catch of the year, turning his back to home plate a la Hall of Famer Willie Mays and grabbing the ball in his mitt on the warning track. Jack Collins tagged up and scored.
Santa Margarita came away with a 1-0 victory.
“It was insane all 12 innings,” said relief pitcher Spencer Edwards, who retired 13 consecutive batters after entering the game for Santa Margarita with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and retired 19 of the 20 batters he faced.
Edwards, who has a 4.3 grade-point average and is headed to Cornell, allowed one hit and struck out six in 6 2/3 innings of relief.
“I was locked in and wanted to give the boys a win in their last high school game,” Edwards said. “I couldn’t let them down.”
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Forbes threw the eight innings for Norco. Martin Delgado threw the final four. Forbes’ catch was so unlikely that Collins deserved kudos for staying on the bag and not leaving it before he caught the ball. Third base coach Seth Melton was yelling out, “Back, back, tag, tag!”
“It was unbelievable,” Edwards said of the catch. “I was surprised he caught it.”
Norco appealed to the umpire that Collins left the third-base bag early. He did not, but Santa Margarita coach Chris Malec was concerned.
“I was so nervous when they were checking,” Malec said. “I gave the third-base coach a big high-five.”
Matt McClure threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings for Santa Margarita before Malec went to Edwards with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth. Edwards got a strikeout and groundout to keep the game scoreless.
Both teams expected a pitching duel. Forbes, one of the best athletes at Norco, has been tough to beat all season. McClure has been Santa Margarita’s ace over the last month of the season.
Neither team was willing to give an inch.
“That’s the type of team we are,” said Forbes, whose twin sister, Megan, won a Division 1 softball title with Norco on Friday. “Norco is a place that never quits. We always give it all we got.”
He said his catch was similar to going out for a pass in football and looking the ball in. It would have been all people talked about if Norco had won.
Twitter: @latsondheimer
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