RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Ganesha High defeated Loyola 6-3 in the Southern Section Division 2 championship game at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes field. The victory followed a reversal of the team’s initial plan to skip the game in favor of attending a camp in Mississippi.
Pomona Unified School District superintendent Darren Knowles persuaded Ganesha officials to participate in the championship. Coach Jared Sandler reversed his Friday decision not to send top players to the game after speaking with Knowles. “He asked us to come play and out of respect to him we represented his school district,” Sandler said.
Ganesha broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning with a hit-and-run play and added another run on a squeeze bunt. Bryant Loo drove in three runs with a two-run double, while Dyson Grant collected two hits. Logan Schmidt, who started in center field and recorded an RBI single, made his first career relief appearance and secured the save.
“I’ve never relieved in my life,” Schmidt said. He added, “We know we’re supposed to win every time we step on the field.” Sandler said Schmidt texted him “10 times” asking to pitch in the championship game.
Schmidt has allowed one earned run in 59 innings during his first season of high school baseball and had been scheduled to throw in front of professional scouts in Mississippi on Sunday. Most Ganesha players take online classes outside the Pomona area and belong to Sandler’s club program, the Baseball Performance Academy (BPA). Ganesha uses BPA lineup cards because the school’s small budget does not cover official ones.
“It’s a small budget. You don’t get lineup cards. They’re free from BPA,” he said. He also stated, “We don’t act like any other team. We don’t say one thing to any team, any coach, any umpires. We celebrate the way we believe is right. We respect the game, we respect our opponent.” He added, “We’re very comfortable who we are.”
Loyola freshman Sheriff Hall pitched 4 1/3 innings in the loss. Loyola players Jack Murray and Magnus Mayer each recorded two hits.