Montclair Prep Goes to Bat for 2nd Title in Row

There will be no three-peat, so Montclair Prep will try to settle for a repeat.

The Mounties will seek their second consecutive Southern Section 1-A Division baseball title when they meet Orange Lutheran at 7:30 tonight at Blair Field in Long Beach.

The championship game represents Montclair Prep’s last postseason appearance for at least 12 months. The school’s athletic department goes on probation for the next academic year during which time the Southern Section has banned all Montclair Prep teams from the playoffs in the wake of recruiting violations by the school’s football program.

Does that make for extra incentive?

“I don’t think so,” Montclair Prep Coach Walt Steele said. “We don’t think about things as the ‘last hurrah.’ ”

In other words, to borrow the team’s slogan for the year, it should be “business as usual” for Montclair Prep.

Lately, business has been good. The Mounties (20-3) have won 17 consecutive games and blew out their first two playoff opponents before squeaking past San Jacinto, 3-2, Tuesday in the semifinals.

That victory was secured without the services of leadoff hitter J. T. Billingslea (.280), No. 2 hitter Shad Knighton (.380) and cleanup hitter Brent Polacheck (.440), all of whom were suspended for one game because of a violation of team rules. All three will be back in the lineup tonight.

“I would think that they’d really be ready to play,” Steele said. “After having had to watch one from the bench, where they’re not used to being, I would think it will be interesting.”

The starting pitching assignment goes to Steve Cain, a junior who has played second fiddle to standout Russell Ortiz (11-1). Ortiz pitched a complete game against San Jacinto, leaving him with three innings of eligibility tonight.

But Cain is hardly a second-stringer. He is 7-0 and has a 1.53 earned-run average.

“When we worked things out at the start of the playoffs, we figured (Cain) would go in the final,” Steele said. “We have more than enough confidence in him.”

Orange Lutheran (19-8) will counter with Jason Fox, who is 4-3 with a 3.11 ERA. Coach John Malmquist’s team has won five in a row and claimed the Olympic League title on the last day of the regular season.

Orange Lutheran’s leading hitter is second baseman Phil Matheson, who is batting .402. Cleanup hitter J. P. Presley is batting .400 and designated-hitter Matt Hendren is batting .393.