Francis Parker edges Foothills Christian for CIF baseball title
It has been a dozen years since the once-dominant Francis Parker High School baseball team won a CIF San Diego Section championship.
The drought came to an end Thursday night.
The Lancers scored three times in the first inning and hung on for a 6-4 win over Foothills Christian to capture the Division 4 title at San Diego State’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The game ended on a bizarre double play. With two on and one on in the top of the seventh. Parker shortstop Noah Kisch fielded a high-chop groundball near the second-base bag.
He tagged the second-base runner, then tagged the bag for a game-ending unassisted double play.
The victory was the 11th championship for Parker, which first won it all in 1975 under coach David Glassey. And last won the championship in 2014, again with Glassey in command.
The fifth-seeded Lancers (24-11) were led by center fielder Jake Musicant, who singled, was walked intentionally, had an inside-the-park home run and scored three times.
“I saw the ball go by the outfielder and was running as fast as I could,” said Musicant, a junior. “I picked up my coach as I rounded second and he was waving me in.
“Winning this is awesome. The last two years we didn’t even make the playoffs. Now we win it all.
“I love playing with this group.”
John Mika had a pair of singles, doubled, scored a run and drove in one for the Lancers. Oliver Pannese drove in a run.
Joseph Jacques started on the mound for Parker and went the first four innings. He ran into trouble in the fifth and gave way to left-hander Boone Russell, who got out of the jam, working the final three innings for the save.
“I had to trust my stuff, trust myself and trust my teammates,” said Russell, a sophomore.
“Winning this feels great. We send the seniors out as champions. We re-establish the program and hopefully start our own legacy.”
Trevor Cochran had a big night for No. 7-seeded Foothills Christian (22-13) with three singles.
The Knights missed a chance in the third inning, leaving the bases loaded after scoring a run.
Parker advances to the Southern California Regionals with pairings to be announced Sunday afternoon.
Only the champion from San Diego advances in Divisions 2-3-4-5.
Mt. Carmel 5, La Costa Canyon 3: In a Division 1 “if necessary” game played Thursday, Mt. Carmel scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to knock out top-seeded La Costa Canyon and advance to Saturday’s championship game.
The fifth-seeded Sundevils will play No. 3-seeded Madison at 2:30 p.m. at USD’s Fowler Park for the title.
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