Becerra masterful on the mound as Harvard-Westlake wins D1 title
FULLERTON » It seemed fitting that Christian Becerra had the baseball in his hands to end the game Saturday night.
A hard-hit grounder down the first base line to Bennett Markinson was scooped up and underhanded to Becerra who ran over from the mound to touch first base and make the final out in Harvard-Westlake’s 3-0 win over JSerra at Cal State Fullerton to capture the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title that eluded the Wolverines in 2019.
“That 2019 loss hurt,” Becerra said of the team’s 2019 loss to Cypress 2-0 at Dodger Stadium. “That bus ride was brutal. But we got it done this time.”
Becerra was the star of the night, throwing a complete game with seven strikeouts and allowing just one hit to shutout the No. 1-seeded Lions for the first time this season.
“To be able to bring this home to a culture and a group of people much further than just this group of 28, it’s an honor,” Harvard-Westlake coach Jared Halpert said. “I’m honored to be part of this program, school and administration. This was amazing.”
The Wolverines took a 2-0 lead in the third inning after Jacob
Galloway laid down a bunt that JSerra pitcher Eric Silva threw to first base, but a miscue caused the ball to get away. The error allowed for Alex Shane and George Cooper to run home. In the bottom of the inning, Becerra delivered his biggest strikeout of the night with two JSerra runners on base to get out of the inning.
“We had a game plan of fast balls away, sliders out ... it worked the whole game,” Becerra, a Cal commit, said of his approach Saturday night. Becerra finishes the year 11-1.
The nail in the coffin came in the top of the seventh when Alex Shane hit a single to score David Lozano to make it 3-0. Despite the night creeping past 11 p.m., the Harvard-Westlake faithful began to feel the crowning was imminent.
It was the third time this year Harvard-Westlake beat JSerra (27-8) after wins of 2-1 and 6-4. Becerra said it didn’t matter.
“Every game is different,” he said. “Especially one like this, when it’s down to one game, especially after playing all these playoff games, it doesn’t matter.”
Harvard-Westlake finishes the season 30-4, and moves to 2-3 all time in CIF finals, winning its first plaque since 2013.
The team decided to opt out of the CIF State SoCal Regional playoffs next week.