Corona wins invitational crown in North Carolina

The third time indeed was the charm for the Corona baseball team.

Corona reached the championship games of the Prep Baseball Report and Boras Classic invitationals earlier this season but came up short both times. The Panthers travelled to the other side of the country this past week to participate in the National High School Invitational in Cary, North Carolina. And this time they are returning home with the winner’s trophy.

Seth Hernandez went the distance and tossed a fourhitter, as Corona knocked off Orange Lutheran 3-0 in the championship game Saturday afternoon. The Panthers avenged a 4-2 loss to the Lancers in the PBR championship game played March 8.

Corona (19-2 overall) grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second inning when Sam Burgess led things off with a single and later scored on a twoout error. And the Panthers tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning. Ethan Schiefelbein singled home Burgess with two outs, while Tyler Ebel plated Schiefelbein with a double.

Hernandez worked out of a few tight spots during Saturday afternoon’s game. Orange Lutheran (18-5) had runners at first and third with one out in the third inning, but Hernandez got back-to-back fly outs to avoid damage. The Lancers had two runners on with no outs in the sixth inning, but Hernandez escaped after a double play and a fly out.

Corona outscored the opposition 19-5 over its four games in the tournament, and the pitching staff recorded three shutouts.

The Panthers opened the tournament with a 8-0 run-rule win Wednesday over Puyallup (Washington). Hernandez (two innings) and Mason Sims (three innings) combined on a one-hitter. Corona sent 12 batters to the plate and scored all eight runs in the second inning. Schiefelbein had a three-run double in the inning to get the scoring started.

Corona squared off against Trinity Classic Academy (Florida) in a second-round game Thursday. Schiefelbein fired a one-hitter and struck out 12 batters in the 2-0 victory. The Ucla-bound senior southpaw retired the first 11 batters before surrendering a walk and a single in the fourth inning. Schiefelbein then set down the final 10 batters. Burgess belted a two-run home run in the fifth inning to give the Panthers the lead.

The Panthers’ closest contest came in Friday’s semifinal game against defending NHSI champion Huntington Beach.

Corona led 3-1 after the first inning, but Huntington Beach scored twice in the third and fourth innings to take the lead. Corona cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth, but the Panthers were trailing by a run heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.

Huntington Beach’s Otto Espinoza retired the first batter of the inning, but Corona collected four straight singles to win the game in walk-off style. Brady Ebel got that rally started with a single to right field, and Hernandez followed with a hit to left. Josh Springer singled home Ebel to tie the game, and Billy Carlson singled in Hernandez for the winning run.

Carlson moved from shortstop to the mound in the sixth inning and tossed two hitless innings to earn the win.

Corona is undefeated in the Big VIII League (9-0) and enters the week with a game lead over Centennial in the league standings. The teams meet three times this week: Monday and Friday at Corona and Wednesday at Centennial. Corona is the Big VIII League’s defending champion, but two of its losses in league play last season were to the Huskies.