Esperanza’s ride stopped short by J.W. North

LOS ANGELES – Aggressive base-running, timely hitting and clutch pitching got Esperanza to a CIF championship baseball game.

It was a team that did all those things better Friday that kept Esperanza from winning that CIF championship baseball game.

Esperanza lost to J.W. North of Riverside, 7-1, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 final at Dodger Stadium.

North knocked out 12 hits and Huskies pitcher Evan Perez threw a complete game as North won its second CIF baseball title.

The Huskies (27-7) won their only other CIF baseball championship in 1994, when their star was that season's Division 2 player of the year Adam Kennedy, who later would be a star for the Angels in their 2002 World Series triumph.

Esperanza finished 23-11. The Aztecs, champions of the Century League in their first year in the league, were shooting for the school's fourth CIF baseball crown. They most recently won it in 1997, and lost in a CIF final the following year, Esperanza's last CIF baseball title-game appearance until Friday.

Esperanza took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and held that until the fourth when North scored three runs to take a 3-1 advantage. The Huskies put the game away with four runs in the top of the seventh.

Esperanza coach Mike Curran, in his 30th year coaching the Aztecs, was impressed by the Huskies.

"They did all the things we've been doing up until now," Curran said. "We just didn't get guys on and then get them around the bases."

Esperanza took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Nick Catalano led off with a walk, and when Ryan Cooper's single to center field was juggled, Catalano never slowed down, sprinted around third base and scored.

North scored three runs in the fourth on four hits, including RBI singles by pitcher Evan Perez and designated hitter Juan DeLaCruz, to take a 3-1 lead.

Esperanza's own aggressive base-running this season had created many runs and victories, especially during the four playoff victories in the earlier rounds, and the Aztecs did not deviate from their style Friday. Such risks sometimes have rewards, and sometimes not. With two outs and Ryan Aguilar on first base, Ryan McCall singled to center where North center fielder Steven Pena bobbled the ball, prompting third base coach Curran to wave McCall home, but Pena recovered the ball and made a great one-hop throw to catcher Andrew Saucedo who caught it, pivoted left and tagged out the sliding Aguilar.

"That throw was unbelievable," Curran said.

North put together four hits in the big seventh inning that yielded four runs. The big blow was a three-run double by Saucedo.

Cooper, Esperanza's senior right fielder, was disappointed but appreciated the opportunity to play in a CIF final at a major-league park.

"Obviously, to win would have been great," Cooper said. "But to play in a stadium like this against a team like that, that was great. The whole experience of this season, the whole ride, was awesome."