Chaffey claims last Foothill Conference title with 3-2 win over SBVC
RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> The first time the Chaffey College baseball players tried to douse coach Jeff Harlow with the celebratory water bucket, they whiffed. They had better luck the second try, with sophomore outfielder Albert Vargas doing the honors.
Pitcher Daniel Honorof got doused. So did catcher Logan Gopperton.
The fun came moments after the Panthers defeated area rival San Bernardino Valley College 3-2 on Thursday to secure the last Foothill Conference championship.
The Foothill is disbanding and the two neighborhood rivals will be absorbed into new conferences, which makes the win even sweeter.
"It does mean a lot," Harlow said. "I've been here a long time, and these are the teams we know and we're used to playing, and we have had some good games. The kids worked hard, and I'm happy for them."
Perhaps it was fitting that the decisive game came between the two rivals and longstanding members of the conference. It was a competitive game too, despite the cold and stiff winds not typical for April.
Honorof deserved a celebratory dousing. He went the distance on the mound, throwing 113 pitches and holding the Wolverines to two runs (one earned) and four hits while walking only one.
The Riverside Arlington graduate was eager to take the mound in the pivotal game.
"I really wasn't that nervous," he said. "I knew I had a good team behind me and they had my back. We all have each others' backs and we're in it together. No one person has to do it all."
The score was tied for the last time at 2-2 after the Wolverines (19-15, 14-9) scored a run in the seventh inning on a single by Carter High product Ryan Maestas.
Harlow admits he went to the mound after that hit and debated taking his pitcher out. But Honorof got the next batter on a flyout and cruised the rest of the way, setting down all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings.
The Panthers (26-9, 20-3) responded with the eventual winning run in the bottom of the seventh as San Dimas alum Jonathan Longtin singled and scored with two outs when Gopperton, Honorof's batterymate, blistered a ball through the left side of the infield that SBVC shortstop Gerardo Torreblanca couldn't come up with.
SBVC will settle for third place in the conference this season behind Chaffey and Rio Hondo. Next year they'll be playing in a conference with several San Diego schools, so travel time will increase.
"That game was typical of our season, just not coming up with that big hit or making that one mistake," SBVC coach Bill Mierzwik said. "It's definitely bittersweet to be going to a new conference because these were rivals we have developed over the years. Now we have to go create new ones."
The teams wrap up the regular season with a single game on Saturday at San Bernardino.