Cajon leads CBL baseball by one game with four remaining; hosts Redlands on Thursday

While Beaumont High was edging Citrus Valley 7-6 on Monday (April 20), Cajon opened its three-game series with Redlands, beating the Terriers 10-1 to take a one-game lead in the Citrus Belt League baseball standings with five games left in the regular season.

Entering Thursday’s final games of a three-game series, Cajon is 9-2 (16-8) overall, followed by Citrus Valley at 8-3 (10-12 overall); Yucaipa High at 7-4 (13-10 overall), and a three-way tie for fourth place between Beaumont, Redlands and Redlands East Valley at 3-8.

In games played April 13–16, Cajon took two of three from REV while Citrus Valley swept Redlands 3-0 and Yucaipa swept Beaumont 3-0.

Citrus Valley 9, Redlands 5

The Terriers took a 4-3 lead in the third inning of their April 16 contest, but the Blackhawks then outscored RHS 6-1 to take the win. Nathan Reyes had a double and two RBI for CVHS. Nathan Castillo was 3-for-3 with an RBI. Aaron Rossi, Tristan Garcia-Rojas and J. Thomas Brock all drove in runs for CVHS.

Nolan Tornberg pitched five innings to get the win and Jacob Caldera pitched two scoreless innings in relief for CVHS. Donovan Hayhurst drove in two runs for RHS. Diego Uribe and Eyam Eldevik also contributed RBIs. Brodie Nieto was 2-for-4 for RHS. CVHS swept the three-game series.

Cajon 14, Redlands East Valley 0

Cajon’s Gavin Garcia pitched six innings of two-hit ball, striking out 11 and walking two as the Cowboys shut out REV on April 16. Garcia was also 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and three RBI.

Steven Rubio, Evan Valdivia and Hugo Sanchez combined for three hits each and drove in eight runs for Cajon. Sanchez pitched one inning of relief, yielding one hit and striking out two. Nick Story, Caleb Jamroz and Michael Mares each had hits for REV as the Wildcats lost two of three in the series.

Yucaipa 5, Beaumont 2

The Thunderbirds swept the three-game series against the Cougars, capped by pitcher Logan Pashman’s complete-game three-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks. Pashman has signed a letter of intent to play at Texas A&M–Texarkana.

Zach Scribner was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Andrew Zarate, Jason Franco and Enrique Estrada also drove in runs for YHS.

CBL games this week

Beaumont 7, Citrus Valley 6

The Blackhawks held a 5-3 lead after five innings Monday, but Beaumont scored four runs in the top of the seventh to take control. CVHS rallied with one run in the bottom half, but the Cougars held on.

Dennis Chavez earned the save with three innings of one-hit relief. Victor Verdugo had a double and two RBI for Beaumont.

Freshman Aaron Rossi was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI for CVHS. Nolan Tornberg yielded the game-winning runs in relief.

Cajon 10, Redlands 1

The Cowboys won their third straight game to open the series as RHS dropped its fifth in a row.

Gavin Garcia was 2-for-3 with a triple and four RBI. Jordan Solarzano went 3-for-4 with a double and triple, and Caleb Koster scored four runs. Cajon collected 13 hits and played error-free defense.

Riley Nguyen allowed three hits in five shutout innings. Donovan Hayhurst and Diego Uribe led Redlands with two hits each.

Yucaipa 23, Redlands East Valley 3

Yucaipa erupted for 12 runs in the sixth inning and finished with 17 hits.

Landon Von Kaenel had five hits, two doubles, five RBI and three runs scored. Damian Cordero and Jason Franco each drove in three runs.

REV committed seven errors, leading to eight unearned runs.

April 21 games

Citrus Valley 2, Beaumont 0

Jake Clark pitched a four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts for his first complete game of the season. Tristan Garcia-Rojas drove in both runs.

Yucaipa 12, Redlands East Valley 0

Jake White threw a two-hit shutout as Yucaipa collected 15 hits. Von Kaenel continued his hot streak, going 9-for-11 through the first two games of the series.

Cajon 12, Redlands 0

Elon Hickman improved to 4-0 with a 0.23 ERA, allowing one earned run all season. Steve Rubio, Hugo Sanchez and Caleb Koster led the offense.

Thursday’s games

Redlands at Cajon; Redlands East Valley at Yucaipa; Beaumont at Citrus Valley. All games start at 4 p.m.

Next week’s games

All six teams close the regular season with series April 27–28 and April 30: Redlands vs. Yucaipa, REV vs. Beaumont, and Citrus Valley vs. Cajon.