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Carter Head (left) and Nick Molina led Beckman to a victory Friday. (PHOTOS: Jacob Ramos, For OC Sports Zone).
On the back of solid pitching and a two-run home run by designated hitter Nick Molina, Beckman High School’s baseball team walked away with a 4-2 Sea View League victory against San Juan Hills in its last regular season game of the 2025 season Friday at Beckman.
The game served as Beckman’s (15-13, 5-7) final chance to finish above .500 overall, giving them a chance to make the CIF playoffs via an at-large bid if they do not finish top-four in the Sea View League. Teams with overall marks of .500 can petition for post-season play.
Beckman entered the game missing multiple key pieces from last year’s CIF Division 3 championship team, both due to graduation and injury but was able to win its third game in a row over the Stallions this week.
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The Patriots already faced San Juan Hills (12-11, 4-5) twice in the week before Friday’s matchup, winning both games 4-3. Because San Juan Hills had a better league record, both victories were technically upsets. Talking to OC Sports Zone postgame, Beckman Coach Kevin Lavalle disputed that notion.
“I know people because of our records are gonna look and go ‘wow Beckman upset San Juan Hills three times this week,’ but I don’t think we did,” Lavalle said. “I think that was us playing baseball the way we were kinda struggling to play it early in the year. Now things are finally coming together.”
Beckman trotted out Carter Head on the mound. Head got the win going five innings with four strikeouts and two earned runs. After earning the win, Head spoke about his outing.
“[San Juan Hills] definitely has a dominant lineup [with] a lot of good hitters. I knew I would have to have my best stuff today [to] keep them off balance,” Head said. “I knew I had to go out there and compete.”
The Patriots got on the board in the first inning after a wild pitch allowed Gus Powell to score from third. Despite a first inning where Stallions starting pitcher Anthony Rasic allowed two hits and a walk, the senior got out of trouble with the sole run allowed.
After a scoreless second inning, San Juan Hills’ Ethan Meeker took a fastball deep to left-center field for a home run that hit the Beckman scoreboard. A senior and the Stallions’ two-hole hitter, Meeker is looked at as a major contributor for San Juan Hills.
The bottom half of the third included another gutsy pitching by Rasic, who found himself in a bases-loaded jam with only one out, before striking out a hitter and then inducing a flyout to right field to keep the game knotted at one. Rasic finished the afternoon with 4 ⅓ innings pitched, two earned runs and four strikeouts. Postgame, San Juan Hills Head Coach Bret LeVier talked about Rasic’s outing.
“I think he did a good job,” LeVier said. “He gave us a chance to win, and that’s all we can ask for.”
Head worked through some of his own traffic in the top fourth, allowing a leadoff double but pitching through the next three batters without giving up another baserunner.
A wild pitch allowed Hudson Doss to advance to third, but during the next at-bat Patriots catcher Moe McEvoy saw Doss leading too far off the bag and threw him out to end the inning.
The Stallions took the lead for the first time on the afternoon after an RBI single by Tanner Kessler scored Cash Meyer.
However, the Stallion lead was short-lived, an error put one on for the Patriots, and after a strikeout by Rasic, Nick Molina backspinned a fastball over the right-center field fence for a go-ahead two-run home run. Asked about the moment postgame, Molina described his approach at the plate and his emotions after giving his team the lead back.
“I saw it coming [my] first at-bat … I saw that fastball. I was able to get it the other way,” Molina said. “I was excited, a lot of adrenaline.”
Garrett Gondolfo entered for the Stallions after the homer and limited the damage to two.
Beckman made its own pitching change, giving the ball to Ricky Schoeffler, who pitched a clean sixth inning.
Beckman got an insurance run in the sixth inning courtesy of a Stallion wild pitch, scoring Powell. Headed into the seventh, Beckman carried a 4-2 lead and was three outs away from a series sweep where Schoeffler got the save for the Stallions, striking out two in a perfect seventh inning.
After the win, Lavalle was asked what he would say to the CIF Comittee as Beckman awaits the possibility of an at-large playoff berth.
“I would say that nobody wants to play the Pats right now, so that’s for sure. Pats in five.”
San Juan Hills still has four games remaining, including a three-game league series next week with Mission Viejo.