Citrus Valley’s Caldera hurls 3-hitter as Blackhawks beat REV twice in CBL play

Senior pitcher Jacob Caldera pitched a complete-game three-hitter with 15 strikeouts and his teammates banged out 13 hits in an 11-1 victory over 2025 Citrus Belt League champion Redlands East Valley on April 4.

Caldera threw 107 pitches in the seven-inning game. For his productive effort on the mound, Caldera was named the Inland Empire boys’ athlete of the week by The Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Press-Enterprise and Daily Facts.

Caldera’s brilliant outing came on his first start of the season. In 18 innings pitched to date, he has a 3.11 earned run average with 31 strikeouts in 18 innings and has limited opponents to a .203 batting average.

Freshman Aaron Rossi had two hits, including a double and two runs batted in while Peyton O’Loughlin had two hits and two RBI, Tristan Garcia-Rojas also had two hits and two RBI. Nathan Castillo had two hits and an RBI and scored twice for the Blackhawks.

CVHS won the opener of the three-game series on March 31, 8-7. REV responded with a 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks on April 2. Ethan Snellings pitched a complete game for REV, allowing four hits and a pair of runs with eight strikeouts on 104 pitches.

Snellings contributed to his own success with a pair of hits and two runs batted in. Brayden Juarez and Nick Story both were 3-for-3 at the plate and scored three of the Wildcats’ five runs. Gio Palos also had two hits for REV.

Meanwhile, Redlands High rallied after losing its first two games to Beaumont by scores of 10-3 and 4-1 to blow out the Cougars 13-4 in game three on April 4 with an 11-hit attack.

Diego Uribe and Eyan Eldevik combined for four hits and eight RBI for the Terriers. Jaden Rose had three hits and scored four runs to aid the victory.

Yucaipa High lost its first two CBL games to Cajon High 5-4 and 6-5 then prevailed over the Cowboys 7-6 in nine innings on April 4. The teams were tied at 6-6 in the sixth after the Thunderbirds opened an early 6-0 lead.

Zach Scribner and Enrique Estrada both drove in two runs for the Thunderbirds. Xavier Romero drove in two runs with a single. Jason Franco was 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Cajon’s Gavin Garcia had two hits and two RBI. Hugo Sanchez of the Cowboys had four hits in five at-bats including a double and two RBI.

The second week of CBL play started Monday (April 6) with Citrus Valley beating Yucaipa 7-2 while Cajon beat Beaumont 7-5 and Redlands defeated REV 6-4. On Tuesday (April 7) RHS downed REV 12-4 while Yucaipa beat CVHS 5-1. Beaumont and Cajon played their second game on Wednesday (April 8).

The schedule for Thursday (April 9) – Redlands vs. REV, Citrus Valley vs. Yucaipa; Beaumont vs. Cajon to wind up their three-game series.

CBL standings as of Wednesday at 5 p.m. –

1. Cajon 3-1 (10-7)
2. (tie) Citrus Valley 3-2 (5-11) and Redlands 3-2 (12-5)
3. Banning 2-2 (10-6)
4. Yucaipa 2-3 (8-9)
5. Redlands East Valley 1-4 (8-9)