Jake Escalante's one-hitter, Soquel's small ball helps Knights avenge loss, reach D-I semifinals | High school baseball
PACIFICA - Soquel High's highly regarded baseball team finally earned the postseason victory it knew it was capable of on Saturday.
Senior left-handed pitcher Jake Escalante, a Cal State Fullerton commit and MLB Draft prospect, threw a complete-game one-hitter, and the No. 5 seed Knights played small ball to perfection to oust No. 4 Saint Ignatius 6-0 in the Central Coast Section Division I quarterfinals in front of hundreds of sun-soaked fans at Fairmont Park.
With the win, the Knights officially flushed their heartbreaking, one-run loss to Valley Christian in the D-I quarterfinals last season. They also avenged their 5-4, walk-off loss to the Wildcats in nonleague action in Pacifica on April 9, which was decided on a misplayed flyball to right field. Escalante started on the mound both of those games.
"I feel like everybody's like, ‘If you can do it, then go do it,' " said Knights coach TJ Moran, after taking a post-victory selfie with his players. "So it was just nice to finally do it."
In addition to advancing to the semifinals, Soquel (22-4 overall), the repeat Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion, qualified for the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs with their win - a program first.
It became the first team from Santa Cruz County to win its opener in the top level of the section playoffs since No. 5 Santa Cruz knocked off No. 12 Bellarmine in Open Division action in 2017. (The Cardinals were eliminated in the second round by eventual champion Valley Christian, 1-0.)
The Knights are out to prove they aren't a one-hit wonder. They're hungry to prove themselves again in the next round, Moran said.
They face No. 1 Saint Francis (25-3) of Mountain View at Excite Ballpark in San Jose in the semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Soquel beat the host Lancers 6-3 in the Knights' season opener on Feb. 26. The stakes will be significantly higher this time.
With several pro scouts in attendance at Dekker Diamond, Escalante, armed with a fastball that has been clocked at 93 mph, mixed speeds and locations well. He walked four batters, beaned one, and struck out five - the latter of which were celebrated with clenched fists and yelling.
"They're a great baseball team, credit to them," said Escalante, of the Wildcats, the third-place finisher in the West Catholic Athletic League. "They had a great season and they deserved to win against us the first time. This time, we just knew we were coming back with a vengeance."
Escalante had a cut on his left hand, sustained during the prom, that affected his ability to grip the bat, but it didn't affect his pitching, his coach said.
"He's incredible," Moran said. "It was great to have him have a few low-pitch innings and that put him in position to be able to finish the game. …He's such a competitor, man."
Wildcats starter Leo Rhein, a junior right-hander, was also up to task, through he had help from his defense, at least early on. The Wildcatz finished with four throwing errors; Rhein, tested by numerous Soquel bunts, didn't help his cause.
"Basically, stealing a page out Valley Christian," Moran said. "We learned when we go against them how effective it can be."
Wildcats centerfielder DJ Delaney robbed the Knights of a pair of hits with sensational catches in third inning. He made a diving stop on Luke Santee's line drive to shallow right center for the first out, and made a sliding stop to rob Escalante - and SI's right fielder.
Soquel's 6-foot-7 first baseman Connor Corlett, who will play next season at Whitman College, returned the favor in the bottom half of the third. After leadoff hitter Archer Horn was beaned with one out, Corlett snared a line drive from Delaney in foul territory and made a full-extension dive to tap first base with his glove hand to double off Horn, who was late diving back to the bag.
"That was insane, dude," Moran said. "How crazy is that? Such great hands. Basketball probably helps a lot, but for his size, he's just so coordinated and so athletic. That's why when Whitman was picking him up, I'm like ‘The kid's a literal 6-7 athlete and the kid's a stud.' And that proved it right there. Not only that, but the headiness to dive to the base to get the out. That was insane. His game IQ is nuts."
Corlett later made a leaping catch on a high throw from shortstop Hudson Summerrill for the putout.
Senior catcher Cash Moran produced all the offense the Knights would need in the fourth inning. He reached on a throwing error at shortstop, stole second base, and scored after Sam Whelan's bunt to left of the pitcher's mound was thrown away.
The Knight added two insurance runs in the fifth inning. Sophomore Anthony Skinner drew a walk and Santee followed by reaching base on a bunt that was thrown away by Rhein. Skinner moved to third on the error and scored on Trey Sousa's sacrifice bunt, and Santee scored on Moran's two-out single.
AJ Wineinger broke up Escalante's no-hitter bid with his single in the bottom half of the frame.
The Knights tacked on three more runs in the seventh. Sousa and Escalante singled against reliever Connor Law and Moran sacrificed them over. Summerrill, a Fresno State commit, was intentionally walked to load the bases and that decision backfired after a pitch from Law grazed the jersey of the next batter, Brady Downs, to drive in a Sousa.
Escalante scored on a wild pitch and Summerill scored on Corlett's base's loaded groundout.
"Jake went out there and pitched his (butt) off," Delaney said. "He's a great pitcher. You do that for seven innings, you're gonna win a lot of ballgames. On offense, they executed well and, unfortunately, we didn't. That's a good team and I'm rooting for them the rest of the way. I hope they go really far and win everything."
THE SCORES
Soquel 6, Saint Ignatius 0
Up next: D-I semifinals Soquel at Saint Francis
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Excite Ballpark, San Jose
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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 12:57 PM.