Sam Garewal's one-hitter leads Canyon Crest past Montgomery for San Diego Section Division 2 championship

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- When Sam Garewal takes the mound, runs are extremely hard to come by. The Montgomery Aztecs learned that the hard way on Friday evening.

The senior left-handed pitcher at Canyon Crest Academy was at his best, tossing a one-hitter and striking out 11 batters to lead the Ravens past Montgomery 2-0 in the San Diego Section Division 2 Championship game.

“Sam was incredible today, he literally carries us in every game,” senior outfielder Marco Lombardi said.

Lombardi’s single in the third inning was the first hit of the day by either team. The next two batters would each reach base for the Ravens, but Montgomery pitcher Fidel Lopez held strong and escaped the bases loaded jam.

An inning later, Lombardi came back up with two on and two out and launched a 2-1 offering over the centerfielders head for a triple, scoring the only two runs of the game.

“I’ve never had a bigger hit ever.” Lombardi admitted after the game.

Garewal returned to the mound in the bottom of the fourth inning, now with the lead for the first time. He struck out two of the three batters in the inning and cruised through the final three innings, retiring 15 batters in a row overall.

“Today was one of those games once we got those two runs it felt like we didn’t need to do more,” Lombardi said. “I don’t think that’s a good mentality to have as an offense, but it ended up working out.”

The win earned Canyon Crest their first CIF baseball title in what was their first championship game appearance.

“This game is just special because we got that banner, we got that ring and we got that school pride, it feels amazing,” Lombardi added.