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POMONA, Calif. - The Otters are the champions! Cal State Monterey Bay scored five runs in the 9th to defeat SF State 12-9 and claim the 2024 CCAA Baseball Tournament Championship.
The championship game had everything baseball fans would want; strong starting pitching, great defense and not one, but two incredible late-game comebacks.
SFSU trailed by as many as five runs in the seventh. It cut the lead to 5-3 on a three-run homer by
Nick Allred in the bottom of the seventh before rallying to take the lead with a six-run eighth inning.
The first five batters of the inning reached on a walk or single before
Anthony Alvarez capped the scoring with a three-run triple to give the Gators their first lead of the game at 9-7.
Everyone in the park felt the momentum swing into SF State's dugout, and many believed they'd see the Gators lifting the trophy but not the Otters.
Pinch hitter Garrett Santos started the inning with a walk. After a strikeout,
Chase Lindemann and
JJ Engman were hit by pitches to load the bases. A long at-bat resulted in a strikeout for the second out of the inning, bringing
Jaden Sheppard to the plate as the last hope for the Otters. The first baseman singled to second base, allowing all the runners to move up a base and cut the deficit to 9-8.
That also brought tournament MVP
Nico Hartojo to the plate with a chance to tie or take the lead with a hit. The shortstop quickly fell behind 0-2 but found a way to get the bat on the ball and drive it up the middle for a two-run, go-ahead single. Two batters later,
Jimmy Garcia would extend the lead to 12-9 with a single to right field.
It was then Cal State Monterey Bay's turn to try and close the game. It didn't come easy as the first two batters of the inning reached for SFSU. After a fielder's choice put Gators on the corners, CSUMB
coach Walt White went to his bullpen for
Antoine Valerio. The righty struck out the first batter he faced before getting a grounder to third to end the game and record his second save of the season.
Drew Aguilar earned the win after throwing an inning, which included getting the Otters out of more trouble with two strikeouts to end the eighth. Starter
Daniel Flores pitched very well for CSUMB. He went six innings, allowing five hits and three runs, all of which came in to score on Allred's big fly.
Playing in its sixth game in four days, San Francisco State used nine pitchers to cover its nine innings.
River Diaz De Leon had the longest appearance as he covered 3.2 innings, allowing three hits and just one run.
The Gators' first baseman had an outstanding CCAA Tournament. The junior first baseman collected 14 hits in 25 at-bats for a .560 average. He scored seven runs and drove in six. Allred led all student-athletes with eight RBI, and
Derek LaFerreire drove seven runs. Both of them joined Johnson on the all-tournament team along with Jacob French.
On his way to earning tournament MVP honors, Nico Hartojo hit .571 (8-for-14). The senior shortstop had the walk-off hit in the Otters' first game and the go-ahead, two-out, two-run single in the winner-take-all championship game. He finished with six RBI and seven runs scored, and he reached base in 11 of his 17 plate appearances (.647 ob%).
Lindemann finished the tournament with 7-for-19, scoring three runs and serving as the table-setter at the top of the Otters' lineup, but everyone left the ballpark talking about his defense. Playing in left field throughout the tournament, Lindemann made some incredible catches, including a play where he smashed into the fence while robbing a possible home run ball in the day's first game. He followed it up with another diving catch and a few long runs to grab flies on foul grounds.
Lindemann and Hartojo were joined on the all-tournament team by
Sergio Solis,
Ryan Io, and
Jaden Sheppard.
Cal State Monterey Bay and San Francisco State will now await their postseason fates on Sunday, May 12 during the NCAA Selection Show on
NCAA.com. The Otters know they are in as the CCAA's automatic bid and are hoping for the opportunity to be one of the two host sites for the West Regional. SF State hopes to earn an at-large bid and qualify for the regional for the first time since 1995.