Sage makes CIF final

For every Sage Hill School home baseball game, sisters Kandis and Juliet McGee try to bring their English bulldog. The McGees are students at the school and team managers, and their dog “Zeus” has become the team’s unofficial mascot.

Kandis said Zeus is an emotional support dog for the Lightning.

In the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs, Sage Hill hasn’t needed much support, when it comes to runs. The pitching has been that dominant for the Lightning.

Whomever Sage Hill starts, Brett Super or Ashwin Chona, opposing hitters continue to struggle. In 28 innings, one run is all Sage Hill has allowed.

The lone run top-seeded Sage Hill gave up was in Tuesday’s semifinal game against No. 4 La Cañada Flintridge Prep. When the Rebels scored in the top of the second inning, it also marked the first time the Lightning fell behind in the postseason.

Sage Hill didn’t trail for long, scoring twice in the bottom half of the second inning to take the lead. That was more than enough offense for Sage Hill to make history.

Chona went five strong innings, and Super threw the last two, helping Sage Hill advance to its first section final by knocking off the defending champion, 4-1, at home.

There was no dog pile at the end, just Lightning players celebrating upright in the infield. There was a dog on the field afterward, though.

Zeus made his way toward the left-field line, where players grabbed and played with the dog. They petted Zeus for good luck, as if Sage Hill needs any with Chona or Super pitching.

Chona struck out six, walked one and allowed one run and four hits, improving to 12-0. The freshman left-hander has the same record as Super this year. Whenever they throw, Sage Hill has never lost.

Only once this year has a team defeated the Lightning, coming in the second game of an opening day doubleheader on Feb. 27. Since then, Sage Hill has won an Orange County-record 26 games in a row.

Two of those victories have come against Sage Hill’s next opponent. Sage Hill (27-1) faces rival Crean Lutheran (23-7), the No. 2 seed, for the championship at UC Riverside on Saturday.

The section finals appearance is also a first for the Saints, who finished second to the Lightning in the Academy League this year and last year.

“We all know each other. We can’t hide anything from each other,” Sage Hill Coach Dominic Campeau said of the upcoming matchup. “They don’t need any extra motivation. They’re just going to go there and we’re going to go about our business like we’ve been doing all year.”

Dating back to last year, Sage Hill has won four straight against Crean Lutheran. Each one has been close, Sage Hill twice winning by two runs at home and twice by one run on the road.

Before Aidan Schraeder’s bloop single near the left-field line put Flintridge Prep up, 1-0, in the second inning, the last time Sage Hill trailed in a game was when it traveled to play Crean Lutheran on May 6. Crean Lutheran led the Lightning, 4-3, after five innings, and in the sixth Sage Hill scored twice to pull off a 5-4 come-from-behind win, clinching its second consecutive undefeated league crown.

You would understand why Campeau wasn’t worried when Flintridge Prep (19-6) jumped ahead of the Lightning.

“We knew we had a lot of time,” said Campeau, whose team rallied right away.

Conner Hatz, a freshman, drew a leadoff walk in the second inning off starter Robbie Leslir (6-3). Another freshman, Daniel Fishman, bunted Hatz over to second base. Matt King’s groundout to second base moved Hatz to third base.

With two outs, Leslir induced a grounder, a chopper to the shortstop, and Jack Pelc beat the throw. He recorded an infield single and drove in Sage Hill’s first run to tie things up at 1-1. Pelc stole second base on Leslir’s first pitch to Pelc’s brother, Edward, another freshman. A pitch later, the younger Pelc singled in the older Pelc to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead.

“After we scored those two runs in the second, everything was easy after that,” Chona said.

Coltrane Tait made things a little bit more comfortable for Chona. With runners in scoring position in the fourth inning, the senior, who went three for four, singled to left, bringing in two runs to make it 4-1 Sage Hill.

Chona came out for the fifth and retired the side in order on nine pitches for the second straight inning. Chona, who threw 78 pitches, gave way to Super. The junior, who threw a no-hitter in Sage Hill’s 2-0 win at home over Santa Paula in the quarterfinals, said he needed a bullpen session before he starts for Sage Hill on Saturday.

Super’s 31-pitch bullpen session included giving up no hits, striking out two and hitting one. He made sure Sage Hill’s second semifinal appearance in the program’s history didn’t end like the first one six years ago, when the Lightning lost the lead late and suffered a 4-3 heartbreaking setback at home to Lancaster Desert Christian.

“He’s been just as dominant [as Super] the entire season,” Campeau said of Chona, whose earned-run average is 0.65, just a tad above Super’s 0.54 ERA. “It’s a great one-two punch [with Super and Chona]. Either way we’re in good shape. It’s great because we can use them both on Saturday.”

Campeau also said he hopes to see Zeus one last time this season.

“The girls got that dog several months ago,” said Campeau, referring to the McGee sisters. “He’s been following us throughout or winning streak.”

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CIF Southern Section Division 6

Semifinal

Sage Hill 4, Flintridge Prep 1

SCORE BY INNINGS

Flintridge Prep 010 000 0 – 1 4 3

Sage Hill 020 200 x – 4 7 0

Leslir and Pilar; Chona, Super (6) and Bush. W – Chona, 12-0. L – Leslir, 6-3. 2B – Pilar (FP).