It was a battle of the Tigers when the Elsinore Tigers ran off with a late lead in their 5-3 victory over the South Pasadena Tigers Friday, June 11. Elsinore was down 3-2 in the top of the sixth inning of their quarterfinal match-up when an error scored two runs. Elsinore allowed South Pasadena to score three runs in the fifth inning, which was led by sophomore Quinn Stirling and senior Noah Teer, who each had RBIs in the inning.
Elsinore (18-5, 10-2) got things started in the first inning when Dallas Slayton singled on a 1-1 count, scoring one run. From there, it was a pitcher’s duel through the later innings. Ian Sluder was the winning pitcher for the Tigers of Elsinore. Sluder went two-thirds of an inning, allowing zero runs on one hit and walking one. Josh McAninch and Logan Farley entered the game out of the bullpen and helped to close out the game in relief. McAninch recorded the last six outs to earn the save for Elsinore, who were the first-place team out of the Inland Valley League.
Schroeder took the loss for the South Pasadena Tigers. The pitcher went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out five and walking one. Kyle Thoulion started the game for Elsinore. The lefty went four innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, striking out four and walking one. Slayton led Elsinore with two hits in four at bats.
South Pasadena tallied nine hits in the game. Teer and Stirling each managed multiple hits for South Pasadena. Teer went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead South Pasadena in hits. Elsinore head coach, Matt Mosiello, who is in his first year with the Tigers, is no stranger to the postseason, having led his former Vista Murrieta Broncos to the playoffs in each of his six seasons at the helm. Mosiello is still seeking that first-ever illustrious CIF Southern Section title, but has now taken his Tigers to the semifinals, a feat that he also did in his first season with Vista Murrieta (2013).
Elsinore has not had a winning season since 2014, which is also the last time they went to the postseason. The Tigers will have their hands full in the semifinals this week, where they will run up against an Aquinas team that has only lost two games all season. Aquinas was the top seed in the Division 6 brackets and won the Ambassador League title this season going 11-1, falling only to Ontario Christian, 7-4, back in the middle of May. Their semifinal match-up will take place under the lights in Elsinore early in the week. The winner will move on to the CIF Southern Section finals, which will be held on either Friday, June 18, or Saturday, June 19. More info can be found online by visiting www.cifss.org.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
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