The Mission Prep Royals lost in the final seconds against Culver City High school Friday night in the semifinals of the regionals in Northern California. The final score was 52-50. That ends the Royals run in the Division III California State Championship playoffs. They finish the season with a record of 23-10. Under coach Terrance Harris, they were 12-2 in the Mountain League.
St. Joseph High School of Santa Maria beat Dougherty Valley of the East Bay 87-76 Saturday night. The Knights will play Modesto Christian Tuesday night in the semifinal game in the Open Division of the state championships. The winner of that game advances to the championship game against either Centennial or Harvard-Westlake. Those teams’ records are 30-3 and 31-2 respectively.
The Cal Poly beat #18 Oregon State in one of four games played at Cal Poly’s Baggett Stadium over the weekend. After losing close games to the Beavers Thursday and Friday nights, the Mustangs beat Oregon State 4-2 in the opener of a doubleheader Saturday. The Beavers won the final game Saturday afternoon, 3-1. True Freshman Gavin Turley of Chandler, Arizona drove in two runs in the third inning with a single into center field. Micah McDowell of Nova Scotia had three singles. Mason Guerra of Beaverton, Oregon added a single and a home run for the Beavers.
The Mustangs are now 3-7 for the season. The Beavers improve to 9-2.
Former Bearcat Mark Armstrong is a Graduate Assistant on the Mustang Coaching Staff. After a remarkable career at Paso Robles High School, Armstrong played catcher for four years for the Mustangs. He says the Mustangs are in a rebuilding mode, after losing shortstop Brooks Lee and pitcher Drew Thorpe, who were drafted by Major League Baseball last June. Lee was drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Twins. Thorpe was selected in the second round by the New York Yankees.
While he’s coaching Mustang baseball, Armstrong is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Quantitative Economics. He says he’s attended accelerated math classes at Lewis Middle School and Paso Robles High School. “I want to take baseball as far as I can. I love the game.” In Saturday’s games, Armstrong worked with relief pitchers in the bullpen before they went into pitch against Oregon State.
