Championship Game from the HC Baseball National Championship Series
Good evening everybody and welcome to baton rouge louisiana all eyes across the nation are on baton rouge tonight as we will crown a geico high school national champion let’s take a look at how these teams got here we are seeing california we are seeing arizona these clubs yesterday in the semifinal round
Got victories over illinois california hit three home runs in that game to post a 10-3 victory and arizona came back from a big mid-game deficit to overturn favored louisiana i’m lynn rollins we are so delighted to be with you wherever you may be watching let’s bring in todd walker college
Baseball hall of famer lsu all-america a 12-year major league veteran you know we have seen excellent baseball all week here todd we expect it to be culminated by a wonderful game tonight this is huge for both of these teams yeah big and it’s making a lasting impression on
These kids for sure remember california beat arizona on wednesday night eight to two so these two teams are familiar with each other two big offenses california scored 42 runs in this tournament already in just four games they’ve only given up 11. and as for arizona they were down six nothing to louisiana like
You mentioned yesterday scored eight runs in the fifth fifth inning to beat that team nine to seven beat louisiana and that’s how they got here today these two teams can really swing it well there are stars throughout the lineup for both teams but let’s look at a couple of
Geico players to watch for both california and arizona how about jackson forbes he’s hitting three-hole for arizona tonight he’s got a home run in this tournament he’s committed to arizona carson mcintyre is committed to oregon state oregon state had a big year this year they were the number three
National league seed in college baseball and for california ralph velasquez is committed to coach willie bloomquist and arizona state and aiden espinoza committed to the bruins of ucla austin nye a 6-2 200-pounder and uh this guy is really good only a sophomore going to be a junior fastball when he’s excitable
Going to get up to 94 95 miles an hour two looks at spinners the slider and the curveball and he’s also going to mix in a change up he’s committed to vanderbilt and tim corbin you’re throwing something out twist the ball in your glove a little bit throw a fastball
Teetum tiedemann waits and then slams this one deep to right center field but it is caught on the warning track in deep right field by brady reynolds josh tiedemann gets the ball first for arizona yeah big arm 90s fastball he’s got the 12-6 curve he played first base yesterday and he was
Athletic moving around the back so he’s going to be athletic on the mound and a lot of pitch ability in this kid josh tiedemann we had four games on monday four games on tuesday wall to wall baseball continued on wednesday with four more games semifinals last night in the championship game tonight
This is driven deep to left center field and it is gone a home run aiden espinosa whacks one over the left center field wall to get things started for california you can pucker up and kiss that baby goodbye That’s a good way to lead off a game aidan espinoza gets the fastball out over the plate outer third he hits it sharply but right at the second baseman jackson forbes makes the play and if you get by these catchers they don’t get down quick enough
A line drive is snared by the shortstop he goes to one knee to get it that’s jonathan mendes yeah how about that that’s coming from the shortstop position jonathan mendes six for 13 with six rbis in this tournament so he’s been a star for sure he lifts one to shallow right field and
That drops for his seventh base hit in the last four and a half games yeah he just he just hunts hits the designated hitter first pitch swinging and he hits it deep to center field mcintyre is back mcintyre has room right at the warning track
He holds on to make the catch for the second out yeah that’s saying something yeah a liner to left center field that’s down for a base hit mendez rounds second he’s digging for third mendez is going to be waived home mendes scores all the way from first base to my life
It would be crawfish there you go a liner to left field that’s down for a base hit by espinosa here comes the runner from second base he is scoring standing up they’ve got the next runner hung up between second and third now a dropped play and a miss play on the infield
A throw from right is not in time apparently that is keep everything simple in your mind slow everything down don’t get crazy here’s a one-hopper just by the diving forbes an rbi single ground ball up the middle might have been deflected by the pitcher fielded in shallow center field by the shortstop
Neville who covered a heck of a lot of ground that is a really nice bender on the outside edge by chambers arizona does not have a base hit through two and two thirds as tiedemoon is on deck one out one on cooper neville enjoys off-roading now it’s different landscape out there
In arizona he swings and he drives one deep to right center field this is up up and away you can pucker up and kiss that baby goodbye a rising line drive that left a contrail on its way over the right center field wall a little bit of gift by california
He nubs this one to the right side pitcher’s going to have to hurry to get over to cover did they do it yes they did the throw to third appears to be in time and it is really nice reaction by justin chambers to make that decision
But he is the head coach on a substitute basis will complete the story after this play as this pitch is slammed into center field peg on its way back to the infield rolls through and an rbi single by jp acosta nice little spot put on your resume nice
Little week and i know they’ve had a blast i’ve had a lot of conversations with barber this week a drive deep to right field and it bounces on the warning track and the hit parade continues for california as ryan is on his way to second base and he drives in yet another run
California is blasting the baseball use the entire field california does a great job of using the other side of the field espinosa has had a huge day at the top of the order runner on his way and a good recovery in pig by luke jones luke jones made a very fine recovery and
Put the ball right into the glove of the third baseman couture egg when i played for the colorado rockies buddy bell always just said if the ball gets away from you take off it’s too difficult for the catcher to find the baseball make an accurate throw but right there not for
Luke jones finds it right away in a perfect throw jackson reed is the courtesy runner liner over the head of the second baseman another base hit for arizona as this team is trying to come back this tournament started with arizona and nevada california and texas illinois and mississippi and louisiana and florida
And here comes arizona taking advantage on a misfire at the plate jackson reed scored from third brady reynolds lefty on lefty matchup but you’ve got to eliminate the pull side of the field when you’re behind in the count on a left-hander and do that but it’s caught by the shortstop cooper
Neville who showed a lot of range shearer is four for 12 now in the tournament and he lines one the other way but right into the glove of tiedemann or involved in your swing and ping pong helped a lot too really oh yeah this ball is driven to the opposite side
It has some depth to it you can pucker up and kiss that baby goodbye jonathan mendes whacks one the other way It’s the second home run of the night for california and just the mental side of it having to concentrate on every pitch you know wears them down cole carlone is the new pitcher jion hits that one deep and it’ll roll to the wall in left center field
Geon follows the three-run home run by mendez with a booming double of his own now and that’s from the seven spot eric gion with the double in left field california leads that’s it sharply gloved by the shortstop who has only one slim opportunity he flipped it to third base
That’s a terrific get though by cooper neville three runs two hits three bobbles for arizona zacher has a long run zacker looks up zacker can’t get it it’s over the wall on the right side an opposite field home run by michael ryan mike o’ryan hits a blast which carries over the right field
Ball and the carnage continues for california well you called it relentless i mean i got a few more words for this offense six runs in this inning already two home runs four hits in a row for california and man they can swing at the bottom third of this lineup 93 in
Omaha rosenblatt stadium we played long beach state three times and of course he was close to that program and my goodness this is home run number four on the night and number two for espinosa aidan espinosa launches one out of sight and you can kiss that baby goodbye wow espinosa couple of homers
Both of them have been solo blows and an rbi single he’s three for four he has scored twice he’s knocked in three and it’s 15 to three and this california team will not be denied all transportation all meals everything has been provided by this organizing committee it has been splendid
All weekend and all week long 3-2 foul balls somebody find the monkey song i’m a believer here’s a smash into left center field it takes one hop two hops three hops and bounces against the wall schmidt will stop at second a ringing rbi double that rolled all the way to the wall in
Left center field carl schmidt with six hits coming in including a grand slam that’s his first hit of the game to add to the party no we weren’t on the i was gonna say that’s gotta be pretty tough was it a tandem bike no no it was two bikes i
Mean they were side by side cla stanford so there’s all these commits on this california team so that shows you the talent a run comes in on a misfire at the plate joshua butler is the pinch hitter 16 runs 14 hits a fly ball hit deep to left center field and it is
Down on the grass apparently out there in the shadows of left center [Applause] Ole miss barely got into the ncaa tournament period much less winning a regional winning a super regional and winning the college world series they were the eighth best sec team and mike bianco what a big year he had with that club this is blasted deep to right center field it’s rolling
Around now in center field and here comes arizona [Applause] [Applause] cooper neville who had the home run back in the third inning now rips this double into the gap they close it or if you’re mentioning rod laver then you probably don’t know what ghost means not really the second baseman comes up with it tries to make a valiant throw home but
It’s just not going to be there for him though tiedemann with an infield hit to the outfield if you will if forbes can deliver a base hit the lead would be cut in half which if it were two to nothing that would be a pretty good comment but
When we got a football score up there they need a touchdown on two point miranda strikes forbes out saint john bosco high school a drive out to left center field and a galloping grab is made by montejo the man knows baseball until he gets up every morning at 4am
And does his thing and i don’t know if i’ve seen 4am in my lifetime ryan drives one deep off the right center field wall he’s digging for second he thinks about taking third but will not go there and this man at the bottom of the order has walked double twice
And has a three run home run he’s been a wrecking ball in the nine looking for his first base hit but he has contributed as a base runner ground ball left side shortstop gobbles it up jonathan mendes makes the long strong throw the 3-1 pitch with two outs slammed high and playable
The right fielder backs up and it’s grabbed by freeberg and the celebration is on it’s california dreaming 16-7 the celebration is on congratulations to california celebrating a national championship todd what a feeling what a feeling and these guys earned it they rolled over everybody in the tournament they went five up and none
Down and rarely trailed if ever over the course of five games yeah long trip from california out to louisiana didn’t lose a game averaged 10 runs a game only gave up 18 runs total in five games california clearly the best team this year in this tournament and
You can imagine they’ll be back for years to come a lot of talent in that big state of california congratulations to california the geico high school baseball national champion in 2022 the final score from baton rouge louisiana is 16-7 california defeats arizona for todd walker i’m lynn rollins we thank
You for watching on espnu
NPBHUB.COM | The Fanbase of Nippon Baseball & Nippon Professional Baseball