Cypress baseball clinches league championship with win over Foothill
By Steve Fryer, The Orange County Register The Tribune Content Agency
Landon Anderson (1) of Cypress dives to catch a fly ball hit to left field by Patrick Petrossi (5) of Foothill, but misses the catch, leading to a Foothill score in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Patrick Petrossi (5) of Foothill is safe at second after beating the throw to Jake De Laquil (5) of Cypress in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Presley Gaborno (15) of Foothill celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run in a Crestview League baseball game against Cypress at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hibiki Suzuki (7) of Cypress fields a ball hit by Presley Gaborno (15) of Foothill in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hibiki Suzuki (7) tosses the ball to Jake De Laquil (5) of Cypress to attempt a force out at second on a grounder by Presley Gaborno (15) of Foothill in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jake De Laquil (5) of Cypress gets helmet slaps the dugout after scoring in a game against Foothill in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jake De Laquil (5) of Cypress tags out Jaxon Foshay (44) after attempting to steal second base in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Presley Gaborno (15) of Foothill gets helmet bumps at home plate from AJ Nagler (1) and Brayden Bianchi (2) after hitting a home run in a Crestview League baseball game against Cypress at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Evan Kim (3) of Foothill fields a ball in left field hit by Jake De Laquil (5) of Cypress in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Pitcher Evrett Rycroft (31) of Foothill pitches against Cypress in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Evrett Rycroft (31) and Jackson Phillips (38) of Foothill close in on Tyler Velarde (36) of Cypress after being caught in a rundown between third base and home in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ben Martinez (13) of Cypress celebrates with a kick after he drove in a run with a double in a game against Foothill at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tate Belfanti (3) of Cypress pitches against Foothill in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Presley Gaborno (15) of Foothill slides into home for a score in a game against Cypress at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Foothill head coach Chris Price, right, during a game against Cypress in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
SANTA ANA – Cypress catcher Benjamin Martinez had a conversation recently with the team's coach, John Weber.
"You said I wasn't very good," Martinez told Weber. "I took that personally."
To which Weber replied, "Hell, yeah."
That's the fire Weber wanted to see from the junior. Martinez was the backup catcher for Cypress' baseball team until Noah Johnson broke his right hand earlier this month and Martinez moved into the starting lineup.
Martinez had a three-run double and drove in four runs overall Friday as Cypress beat Foothill, 8-5, to clinch at least a share of the Crestview League championship.
Cypress is 9-1 in the five-team Crestview League with two league games remaining. The Centurions play second-place Villa Park (5-3 in league) twice next week, starting with a game Wednesday at Villa Park.
It is Cypress' 13th consecutive league championship season, excluding the 2020 season when there were no league championships because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foothill is in third place with a 3-5 league record. The Knights (15-9 overall) have four league games remaining, starting with two against La Habra next week. They two games against El Dorado in two weeks, which is the final week of the regular season.
Foothill is No. 11 in the county rankings.
Cypress junior left-hander Tate Belfanti pitched the first five innings Friday. He gave up two hits, one of which was a first-inning solo home run by Presley Gaborno. Belfanti, who is committed to Texas Christian University, struck out eight and walked two.
Belfanti, who is 7-1-1 with a 1.07 ERA, has 79 strikeouts in 46 innings.
Foothill's batters had trouble catching up with Belfanti's fastball.
Cypress scored an earned run in the top of the first inning. Garborno got around on Belfanti fastball to pull it over the left-field fence to tie it, 1-1.
The Centurions scored an unearned run in the second inning for a 2-1 lead.
They broke it open with a five-run third inning that featured Martinez's bases-loaded double to deep center field.
Foothill scored three runs in the sixth inning, which included a two-run single by Brayden Bianchi.
The Knights scored another run in the seventh on an RBI double by Patrick Petrossi.
Cypress reliever Nick Nelson got a strikeout for the final out.
Weber has been impressed by Martinez's contributions with the bat and with his defense behind the plate.
"He's been amazing these past couple of weeks," Weber said.
Cypress had scored only three runs over its previous two games, including a 1-0 win over Foothill in 10 innings on Wednesday. So Weber was happy to see his team score eight runs Friday.
"At batting practice we've been swinging it really well," said Weber, who is in his 21st season as coach at Cypress where he has 443 career wins. "We've had the best batting practices we've had all year these last three weeks, but in games we haven't been doing a thing. So it was good to see this."
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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 10:05 PM.
