Santa Margarita takes D2 title in 12

It was a championship baseball game for the ages. No runs were scored for 11 innings at Dodger Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It was two pitchers from Santa Margarita and two pitchers from Norco refusing to give in.

In the top of the 12th inning of the Southern Section Division 2 final, Santa Margarita got a leadoff single, then an error put runners on second and third. The bases were loaded with one out, when Milan Tolentino came to bat and sent a fly ball to deep right field.

Michael Forbes, a receiver in football for Norco, pulled off the catch of the year, turning his back to home plate a la Hall of Famer Willie Mays and grabbing the ball in his mitt near the warning track. Jack Collins tagged up and scored.

Santa Margarita came away with a 1-0 victory.

“It was insane all 12 innings,” said relief pitcher Spencer Edwards, who retired 13 consecutive batters after entering the game for Santa Margarita with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. He retired 19 of the 20 batters he faced.

Edwards, who has a 4.3 grade-point average and is headed to Cornell, gave upone hit and struck out six in 62⁄3 innings of relief.

“I was locked in and wanted to give the boys a win in their last high school game,” Edwards said. “I couldn’t let them down.”

Great Oak wins

There was no stopping senior pitcher Cameron Mabee and his Great Oak teammates at Dodger Stadium. Mabee retired the first 15 batters and finished with a one-hitter in the Temecula team’s 7-0 victory over La Cañada in the Division 3 championship game.

“This is awesome,” said Mabee, a Cal Poly Pomona signee who gave up a single to Zach Feehan to start the sixth to ruin his perfect game. He finished with one walk and eight strikeouts.

“I didn’t really focus on the perfect game,” he said. “I focused on throwing strikes.”

Great Oak (23-9-1) scored seven runs in the fourth inning, helped by four bunts that put constant pressure on La Cañada (22-8). Mabee started the inning with a double after a pop fly behind home plate wasn’t caught and a foul ball to left field also wasn’t caught. He was one of 12 batters in the inning and added a two-run single.