In order for St. John Bosco High to become the first baseball program to win consecutive Southern California Regional championships, the top-seeded Braves entrusted the most consistent and reliable pitcher in the state during the postseason in order to complete their remarkable run.
Jack Champlin, a 17-year-old junior, retired all seven batters he faced, including three strikeouts, needing just 27 pitches to close out a 4-0 victory Saturday against No. 7 Patrick Henry of San Diego in the Division 1 regional final.
Champlin appeared in all seven postseason contests for St. John Bosco (30-4), recording two victories and five saves, the last one punctuated with a comebacker Saturday, which he flipped over to first base to help the Braves capture a Division 1 regional championship after rallying to win the Division 3 regional crown last year with a 5-4 triumph against Bakersfield Christian.
Champlin, who earned the win in relief in last season’s regional final, didn’t surrender a run in 11 ⅔ postseason innings this year for St. John Bosco, which supported starter Brayden Krakowski with all four runs in the first two innings.
Krakowski allowed three hits in 4 ⅔ innings, along with one walk and a strikeout.
Ian Brooke, Cody Cappelletti and Kayden Henson had hits for Patrick Henry (23-11-2), which rebounded from a 3-0 loss May 30 to Granite Hills in the CIF-San Diego Section Open Division championship game to knock off Santa Margarita and Crespi in consecutive days to reach its first regional final.
Patrick Henry fell in its first appearance in the Division 1 Southern California Regional baseball final | Photo courtesy of Patrick Henry
St. John Bosco, which concluded the season by winning 19 in a row, struck right away against Patrick Henry starter Brady Gunn in the bottom of the first inning, as James Clark led off with a triple and scored on a single by Noah Everly.
Miles Clark drove in Everly on a two-out RBI single for a 2-0 advantage.
James Clark produced a run-scoring double in the second that brought home Macade Maxwell, with Jaden Jackson increasing the lead to a four-run advantage following an infield single.
Jimmy Gunn came on in relief for Patrick Henry, allowing only one hit and striking out three during the final four innings.
Moises Razo and Maxwell added hits for the Braves, who didn’t lose during the final two months of the season, following a 10-5 setback April 8 against Trinity League rival Santa Margarita.
St. John Bosco rebounded with two victories in April against Santa Margarita to contribute to its league title, followed by outlasting the Eagles by a 3-2 margin in nine innings May 30 to capture the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 championship at Cal State Fullerton.
The Braves have won 10 consecutive postseason contests under coach Andy Rojo since a 2-1, eight-inning loss to Beckman in last year’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championship game, including a 2-0 triumph May 27 against top-ranked Corona (28-3) in the Division 1 semifinals to reach another section final.