ANAHEIM – Savanna’s baseball season ended Tuesday afternoon with a 5-3 loss to top-seeded Oaks Christian of Westlake Village in a CIF-SS Division 4 second round game at Savanna High.
Savanna (17-15) sent their 10-game winner, George Avina, to the mound and he pitched a complete game. Avina gave up a pair of runs in both the second and third innings.
Starter Spencer Vogelbach gave up seven hits scattered over five innings to collect the win, while relief pitchers Jon Adler and Phillip Bickford combining to shut out the Rebels in the final two innings for Oaks Christian (26-3-1).
Vogelbach gave up a lead-off double to Christian Mosqueda to open the game, but struck out the side as the Rebels squandered an early scoring opportunity and stranded a pair of base runners.
The Lions opened up the scoring in the second frame when Kruger hit a lead-off double and later scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Cole Taylor. Tyson Quolas also drove in a run in the second to give Oaks Christian a 2-0 lead.
Avina found himself in similar territory in the third inning as he gave up another lead-off double, this time to Chris Davis Jr. After a walk and a passed ball, the Lions had runners on the corners and a groundball was able to score Davis Jr. after third baseman Eric Calderas’ force attempt throw to second did not make it in time.
Kruger then drove in another run, making the score 4-0.
After a solo home run by Kruger in the fifth, the Rebels clawed back into the game with three runs in the fifth, including a two-RBI single by Avina. The rally started as Carlos Lopez was hit by a Vogelbach pitch and Cameron Griffith singled. Three batters later with the bases loaded, Avina cracked the first pitch he saw for the Rebels first runs of the contest.
Calderas added an RBI single of his own that cut their deficit to two runs but the Rebels would not get any closer.
Lions catcher Jack Kruger went 3 for 4 including a solo homer over the left field fence that put the Rebels in a 5-0 hole.
