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Minutemen Edged in CIF Semifinals, Qualify for State Playoffs

First published in the June 2 print issue of the Pasadena Outlook.

The Maranatha High School varsity baseball team was edged at Torrance, 2-1, in the CIF-SS Division II semifinals last Tuesday.
Senior Nick Cook doubled and scored a run, while juniors Adrian Lopez and Isaac Ton each produced a base hit. Junior Bryan Richman walked once, stole a base and added an RBI, while senior Angelo Aleman, senior Camden Andrews and junior Cider Canon each walked once. Freshman Zachary Strickland allowed one hit and one walk with three strikeouts over four scoreless innings, while freshman Jacob Yun took the loss, allowing five hits and an unearned run with two strikeouts across 2.2 innings.
“I feel like we had a great season; we led the entire San Gabriel Valley in wins,” head coach Matt Shupper said. “That is something we pride ourselves on. We put a challenging schedule together and I think it’s time that people in the San Gabriel Valley recognize Maranatha as the top school for baseball.”
Despite the heartbreaking loss, No. 8-seeded Maranatha (24-7 overall record) isn’t finished yet as it earned its first-ever trip to the Southern California CIF Regional Championships. The Minutemen traveled to No. 1-seeded Etiwanda (25-8 overall), the CIF Division II champion, on Tuesday; the result was unavailable by the Outlook’s press deadline.
“We had graduation on Saturday so my seniors are excited to have one more opportunity to play together, hopefully three more opportunities,” Shupper said. “This team is really tightly knit; the seniors are a really close bunch and anytime we can spend more time together on the baseball field is a good time for us.”

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