Instead of First, St. Francis Gets the Worst

Ray Kasper’s home run in the 11th inning lifted Loyola High to a 6-5 victory over St. Francis on Friday, earning the Cubs (19-7, 9-3 in league play) the Mission League baseball title and denying the Golden Knights a Southern Section playoff berth.

St. Francis (11-9-1, 7-4-1) tied the game, 5-5, in the sixth on Matt Blaney’s solo home run.

Chaminade (17-6-1, 8-3-1) and Crespi (19-6, 8-4) took the league’s second and third playoff berths.

Had St. Francis beaten Loyola, the Golden Knights and Chaminade would have tied for the title with Loyola and Crespi tying for third.

Rio Mesa 9, Hueneme 8--Paul Ayala’s two-out single in the seventh drove in Albert Ambriz with the winning run and the Spartans (10-11-1, 8-5-1) claimed the Channel League’s final automatic playoff berth at Hueneme (5-18, 4-10).

Rio Mesa’s victory eliminated Buena (16-7, 8-6), which was upset by last-place Oxnard on Thursday.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

Saddleback 5, Pierce 2--Dom Lombardi’s solo home run in the sixth inning broke a 2-2 tie for the Gauchos (27-13) in the opener of a best-of-three Southern California regional playoff series at Saddleback.

Keith Reed (8-4) struck out nine, walked four and allowed seven hits in 6 1/3 innings for the Brahmas (28-13), who left the bases loaded in the ninth.

SOFTBALL

Santa Clara 5, Santa Paula 0--Darlene Duarte (9-5) pitched a three-hitter with a walk and three strikeouts as the Saints (7-8, 12-9) clinched third place in the Frontier League and the final playoff spot.