Santa Margarita’s baseball team clinched a berth in the CIF-SS playoffs with a 4-3 win over Servite on Friday in the final Trinity League game for both teams at Santa Margarita High.
The Eagles finished in third place in the standings. The six-team league awards guaranteed playoff berths to the top three finishers. Santa Margarita went 7-8 in league, two games ahead of Servite and JSerra.
Santa Margarita, No. 3 in the Orange County Top 25, is 15-12 overall. The Eagles will be in Division 1 when CIF Southern Section baseball playoff brackets are released May 12.
Luke Blanchard was 2 for 2 for the Eagles with an RBI and a stolen base. Hayden George held Servite to one earned run in his six innings of pitching.
No. 11 Servite is 14-13 and has the .500-or-better overall record to be eligible for at-large berth consideration. No. 8 JSerra is 10-15.
In the Crestview League:
No. 6 Villa Park 11, No. 10 Foothill 2: Shawn Romero was 4 for 4 and Ezra Ornelas was 3 for 4 for the Spartans (21-5, 7-3), who are tied with Cypress for first place.
Villa Park had 17 hits. Ornelas, Romero and Aidan Young each had two RBIs.
The Spartans will play No. 9 El Dorado twice next week.
In the Empire League:
No. 16 Fullerton 7, Laguna Hills 1: Fullerton clinched the league championship with the win over the Hawks.
Fullerton (18-8-1, 9-2) was led by Malachi Meni, who was 3 for 3, and Wayne Warden, who homered and had two RBIs.
In the Golden West League:
Costa Mesa 5, Katella 2: The league champion Mustangs remained undefeated in the league.
Grady Jackson and TJ Smith drove in two runs each for Costa Mesa.
Will Clark held Katella to one run in his five innings of pitching.
In the North Hills League:
Troy 4, Sonora 2 (8 innings): The Warriors (17-8, 5-5) clinched a playoff berth for the first time in seven years with their victory in 8 innings.
Darren Woo gave up one earned run in his eight innings of pitching.
In the Sea View League:
No. 18 San Clemente 4, No. 25 El Toro 3: The league-champion Tritons (17-9, 9-2) increased their winning streak to 12 games.
Barrett Wood had two hits and two RBIs for San Clemente.
In the South Coast League:
No. 14 Aliso Niguel 10, Tesoro 2: Cooper Flemming had 10 strikeouts in 5 innings on the mound and contributed two hits for the Wolverines (22-6, 9-3), who are league co-champions with Trabuco Hills.
Austin Hays was 3 for 3 with two RBIs for Aliso Niguel. Carson Etnire drove in two runs for the Wolverines.
In the Sunset League:
No. 17 Fountain Valley 4, No. 7 Los Alamitos 1: The Barons (15-11, 9-8) kept themselves in contention for a playoff berth with the win over the Griffins (17-9-2, 10-8).
Barons starting pitcher Nathan Martinez struck out six in five innings. D’Angelo Diaz and Tyler Peshke both pitched one scoreless inning.
No. 1 Huntington Beach 14, No. 19 Edison 3: Trevor Goldenetz drove in four runs and hit a triple for the Oilers (22-4, 15-2).
Cole Clark and Ethan Porter both went 2 for 2 with an RBI for Huntington Beach.
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