EAGLES SEE SEASON COME TO QUICK END

In what should have been the best day of the 2021-22 school year at Granite Hills High quickly turned into the worst day for the softball team when the Saints came marching in.

The St. Anthony Saints, from Long Beach, scored early and often to dampen the final day of classes.

St. Anthony, the No. 4 seed in the SoCal Softball Division III Championships, marched in with four firstinning runs to force topseeded Granite Hills into scramble mode.

Any comeback by the Eagles was made tough by an offense with just four hits as St. Anthony mashed 12 hits, including a three-run homer and a solo blast in the first inning that led to a 7-4 victory Thursday.

Now 18-10, St. Anthony will visit the winner of the No. 3 Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon-No. 2 Temple City game Saturday at 4 p.m.

“This team’s record last year wasn’t very good,” said first-year head coach Michelle Miller of Granite Hills. “We came into the season hoping to be .500 and we got to within one win of the SoCal finals. I wouldn’t change a thing this season because we faced some obstacles, but we rebounded late in the season to win CIF.”

Long Beach St. Anthony 7, Granite Hills 4

Granite Hills collected the San Diego Section Division II title with an 8-4 win over Poway last Saturday.

St. Anthony’s first inning, with Nata Leomiti’s three-run homer and Miracle McKenzie’s solo homer, shocked the Eagles.

Another run in the second inning pushed the Saints’ lead to 5-0 before the Eagles (20-13-1) scored twice in the third inning.

Freshman Kaleigh Baugher’s single chased home the first run and a second run scored when Kailey Sandoval was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

What looked like a big inning, though, fizzled when the next three batters made out.

“Coming off winning CIF, we were on a high,” Miller said. “We kept telling the girls they had already accomplished so much. It definitely would have been great to get to the SoCal finals. We met all of our preseason goals.”

Baugher led the Eagles’ offense with a 2-for-3 day with an RBI.

Division II: No. 7 Mater Dei Catholic beat No. 6 Tesoro 2-0 and will play for the title at noon Saturday against No. 1 Torrance at El Camino College.