Norco baseball team comes up empty against St. John Bosco in Division 1 final

FULLERTON - Baseball can be a game of inches, and the Norco Cougars were given a harsh reminder of that Friday evening.

Expand

Norco had a chance to break through against St. John Bosco’s Julian Garcia in the first inning, but Jacob Melendez’s liner down the right-field line hooked foul. The Cougars came up empty then and the rest of the game, as Garcia retired the final 20 batters he faced to lead St. John Bosco to a 2-0 win in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field.

Garcia, the Long Beach State-bound right-hander who missed his junior season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, tossed a one-hitter, walked none and fanned a career-high 14 batters. Norco batters swung and missed at 30 of Garcia’s 86 total pitches.

“In a game like this, it’s going to come down to who makes the first mistake or who can get the big hit,” Norco coach Gary Parcell said. “What bothers me the most is that we didn’t really put the ball in play very often. The didn’t have to make very many plays.”

It almost was a different story in the first inning.

Norco catcher Codey Brown jumped on a hanging curve ball and crushed it over the outfielders for a one-out double. Two batters later, Melendez hammered a change-up that missed the foul line by a few inches.

“If that falls in, now we have a one-run lead,” Parcell said. “Who knows if things would’ve played out differently if we get in front.”

Garcia struck out Melendez two pitches later to get out the inning unscathed and did not allow another base runner in the game.

“Julian has the ability to go to another level,” St. John Bosco coach Andy Rojo said. “He has another gear. I think that first inning kind of (ticked) him off a little bit. … He dug deep, and you could see their lineup little by little realizing this guy has a hold of us.”

Norco’s Jordan Ayala retired the first 10 batters and matched zeroes with Garcia through the first four innings.

“The curve ball was working at the start and then I switched to the slider,” said Ayala, who tossed a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

St. John Bosco shortstop James Clark drew a walk with one out in the top of the fourth inning, representing the Braves’ first base runner of the game. But Clark later was erased by Brown on a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play that ended the frame.

Moises Razo led of St. John Bosco’s half of the fifth with a single to left field and moved to third on a wild pitch and passed ball. Ayala fanned a batter for the first out, but the Braves (27-5) broke through when Razo scored on a sacrifice fly by Miles Clark.

“In a game like this, when the pitchers are throwing so well, scoring that first run is so important,” Rojo said. “It takes so much of the pressure off your team and adds more pressure on the other team. We took advantage of the few opportunities we created.”

St. John Bosco doubled the lead the following inning, when Jack Champlin tripled to deep left field to bring home Aaron Garcia.

And with the way Julian Garcia was dealing, a two-run lead had to seem like Mt. Everest for Norco. Garcia struck out two batters in six of the seven innings, including each of the final three. The only Cougar Garcia was unable to strike out was Zach Fielder.

Garcia got Melendez to sky out to right field for the finishing touch on St. John Bosco’s second straight Division 1 championship.

“I just went out and competed and did what I needed to do,” Garcia said. “The one hit they got really was just a bad pitch call.”

Norco should remain a Division 1 title contender next season, as the Cougars (28-5) started only one senior (Marcus Blanton).

“There’s a reason they’re here. It’s because they put the time and effort in,” Parcell said. “We hit a bump in the road today, so it means we have to work that much harder to take that final step. I believe this can be a good learning experience for everyone.”

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 1:58 AM.