Corona baseball team outlasts Etiwanda in Division 1 pool-play opener
CORONA - Trey Ebel was looking for the hit that would put the Corona baseball team back on top Tuesday afternoon.
As it turned out, getting hit got the job done.
Ebel was plunked by a pitch with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Kobee Finnikin trotted home and scored the decisive run as the Panthers escaped with a 5-4 victory over Etiwanda in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 pool-play opener.
Corona (22-6) will host Orange Lutheran (24-5) in another pool-play game Friday afternoon. The winner of that game advances to the quarterfinal round, while the losing team will have the opportunity to move on via an elimination game Tuesday, May 19.
Ebel, a senior shortstop, perhaps was hoping to replicate a swing that gave Corona the lead in the first inning. Ebel jumped on a 1-0 fastball from Etiwanda starter Michael Aleman and launched it over the batter’s eye in center field for a two-run home run.
Ebel hit only three homers across his first three high school seasons. Tuesday’s tape-measure shot was his ninth this season.
“That was pretty sick. I’ve never done that before,” Ebel said about hitting the ball over the batter’s eye. “I kept telling myself to be on time for the fastball. … All credit to my strength coach for helping me get stronger. That’s the reason the ball is flying far.”
The Panthers extended their lead to 4-1 in that inning after a sacrifice fly by Adrian Ruiz and an RBI double by Jesiah Andrade. It might have been more, but Aleman got Joseph Flores Jr. to line into an inning-ending double play to strand two more runners.
Corona starter Mason Sims allowed only three hits in four innings of work Tuesday but had trouble attacking a tight strike zone. Sims walked six batters and hit three others. He did manage to limit the damage to no more than one run in any of the frames.
“It was a tough day for our pitchers. I’ll say it nicely, we could never figure out what the zone was from our end,” Corona coach Andy Wise said. “Sims did a great job working out of trouble. Avoiding those big innings is how you’re going to win big games.”
Etiwanda’s Landen “LJ” Roellig was a menace for Corona’s defense. Roellig walked in the first inning, stole second and scored the game’s first run on a single by Angel Mejia. Roellig stole third in the fourth inning and later scored on a groundout by Mejia.
The Eagles were trailing 4-3 when Roellig led off the sixth inning with an infield single. Roellig swiped his third bag of the game, and the threw by Andrade sailed into the outfield and skipped by Christopher Woodson, allowing Roellig to score the tying run.
“He has a very high baseball IQ and really runs the bases well,” Etiwanda coach Don Furnald said about Roellig. “He has been on varsity for three years and just knows how to play the game. … We expect that kind of play and leadership from our seniors.”
Aleman shook off the rough opening inning and held Corona scoreless the next four innings to keep the Eagles in the game.
“Once he got command of his off-speed and kept the ball down, he showed what he can do,” Furnald said. “He really battled.”
But Aleman had trouble spotting his pitches during the top of the sixth. Andrade reached on an infield single with one out, and Aleman then hit Romeo De La Torre and walked Anthony Murphy to load the bases. Andrade’s next pitch hit Ebel in the arm.
“It would have been nice to swing the bat and drive in a run or two, but we’ll take the runs any way we can get them,” Ebel said.
Murphy allowed a one-out walk in the top of the seventh but got a line out to right field and ground out to short to end the game.
Etiwanda did not take full advantage of 12 free bases (eight walks, four hit by pitches), as it stranded 12 runners on the bases.
“We can’t be leaving the bases loaded like we did today,” Furnald said. “We need to get those timely hits to beat good teams.”
Etiwanda (20-8) will host Santiago (18-11) in a pool-play elimination game Friday afternoon.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 11:42 PM.