On a crisp spring evening in Southern California, the St. John Bosco baseball squad clinched its second consecutive CIF Southern Section Division 1 title, edging Norco 2-0 in a game that will be remembered for its dominant pitching.
A Pitcher's Redemption
Julian Garcia, the sophomore right-hander who had been sidelined for a year after Tommy John surgery, delivered a complete‑game one‑hitter, striking out 14 batters while throwing 86 pitches, 66 of them for strikes, and flashing a fastball that reached 95 miles per hour on several occasions.
The performance marked a dramatic turnaround for Garcia, who had been the losing pitcher in a CIF Division 3 final two years earlier and had spent the intervening season rehabilitating. His coach, Andy Rojo, described the outing as “the story of the year” for the program.
Support came from teammates Miles Clark, who contributed a sacrifice fly that brought home Moises Razo in the fifth inning, and Jack Champlin, whose sixth‑inning triple plated Aaron Garcia to extend the lead. Norco’s Jordan Ayala had opened the game by retiring the first ten batters and recording six strikeouts, but the Bosco offense broke through when Clark’s fly found the gap.
The victory not only cemented the Braves’ place in recent sectional history but also underscored the resilience of a program that has turned setbacks into championships. With the win, St. John Bosco joins the ranks of teams that have captured back‑to‑back titles, a feat that will be chronicled in the school’s athletic archives.