Segerstrom's season of strife ends with tough loss

Segerstrom endured a great many challenges this season to get to the   playoffs.

The Jaguars lost their top two hitters, one to academic ineligibility, the   other when teammates had enough of his disruptions and voted to extract him from   the roster. There was a seven-game losing streak at midseason.

They recovered well enough to make their CIF-Southern Section playoff debut   in the school’s third season of varsity baseball. They exited in a rough way, a   10-0 loss to Hawthorne on Tuesday in a CIF-Southern Section Division III   wild-card game at Segerstrom.

Segerstrom, the No. 3 team from the Golden West League, finished 14-12.   Hawthorne (17-10-1), an at-large team from the Ocean League, will play at   top-seeded Beckman in a first-round game Friday.

The Jaguars were held to two hits. Hawthorne starting pitcher Eloy Trujillo,   a senior left-hander, threw a no-hitter through five innings before giving up a   single in the sixth. He is 10-1, and Segerstrom coach Andy Wise figured Trujillo   would tough to beat.

"We saw he was 9-1, we saw the 63 innings and the 78 strikeouts," Wise said.   "We knew he was going to come here and compete."

Wise was disappointed the Jaguars did not compete as well.

"We didn’t give it a good effort bunting or on the bases," he said. "We just   didn’t play."

Segerstrom’s seven-game losing streak was followed by a five-game winning   streak in Golden West League games that propeled the Jaguars into the playoffs   for the first time.

A young program making its playoff debut always has room for improvement, and   usually room for optimism, too. Two freshmen started for the Jaguars on Tuesday,   and that academically ineligible player is a sophomore seeing a tutor to improve   his grades, and he was at the game Tuesday cheering for his ex-, and perhaps   future, teammates.

"We made big strides this year, definitely," Wise said. "Our goal was to make   the playoffs and win league, but that didn’t happen. We did make the playoffs,   but we would have liked to make a run in the playoffs."

In Division   I:

Mission Viejo   2, M.L. King of Riverside 0: Matt Florer hit a two-run double in the top   of the sixth inning for the Diablos (17-11). Mission Viejo, an at-large team   from the South Coast League, will play at Moore League champion Millikan of Long   Beach in the first round Friday.

Mission Viejo finished tied for fourth, with San Clemente, in the South Coast   League. San Clemente beat Mission Viejo in two of their three league games. But   San Clemente, with a 12-14-1 overall record, did not have the .500-or-better   record needed to qualify for an at-large berth.

The South Coast League designated Mission Viejo as its No. 4 playoff   representative, and the CIF-Southern Section, by rule, had to accept the   league’s designation and thus awarded Mission Viejo an at-large position in the   Division I playoffs.

Brea Olinda   1, Moorpark 0: Travis McGee pitched a four-hitter for the visiting   Wildcats (15-12). They will play at top-seeded Norco in the first round Friday.   Norco (23-4) is ranked No. 6 in California.

Brea Olinda finished fourth in the Century League, and qualified as an   at-large team.

In Division   II:

Huntington   Beach 14, John Glenn of Norwalk 8: Buddy Johns and Kory Kovac had three   hits apiece for the host Oilers (15-12), who will play Thursday at Sierra League   champion Chino (20-6). Huntington Beach is the Sea View League’s No. 3 playoff   representative.

In Division   IV:

Calvary   Chapel 8, North Torrance 1: The host Eagles (17-11) scored three runs in   the first inning and rode the complete-game pitching of James Petrilli to   victory. Calvary Chapel will play at top-seeded Bishop Amat of La Puente (23-5)   in the first round Thursday.

Notre Vista   of Riverside 9, Century 1: The visiting Centurions (11-16) were   eliminated by the Braves (13-14).

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com