Mt. Baldy League honors: Baseball

Chaffey's Lawrence Castaneda is congratulated by his teammates at home plate during Friday's CIF-SS Division 5 baseball quarterfinal game between Grand Terrace High and Chaffey High at Chaffey High School in Ontario, Friday, May 26, 2017. (Eric Reed/For The Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

MVPs: Lawrence Castaneda, Sr., Chaffey
Nolan Fernandes, Sr., Don Lugo

First team
Khoury Bethley, Jr., Don Lugo
Juan De La Torre, Jr., Ontario
Zachary Ehrhardt, Sr., Chaffey
Jesse Estrada, Sr., Ontario
Jason Gardner, Sr., Don Lugo
Rhese Gomez, Jr., Chaffey
Josh Ibarra, Sr., Don Lugo
Albert Luevano, Jr., Don Lugo
Justin Martinez, Sr., Chaffey
Emilio Mata, Sr., Montclair
Oscar Rauda, Jr., Ontario
Max Reyes, Sr., Alta Loma
Christian Serna, Jr., Alta Loma
Eddie Tanori, Sr., Chaffey
Josh Torres, Jr., Don Lugo

Second team
Armando Alcazar, Sr., Chaffey
Brandon Galindo, Sr., Alta Loma
Sergio Garcia, Sr., Chaffey
Josh Gutierrez, Alta Loma
Daniel Jaime, Sr., Alta Loma
Ix Lopez, Soph., Ontario
Alex Marquez, Soph., Don Lugo
Allen Mejia, Sr., Ontario
Jacob Ramirez, Sr., Montclair
Josh Sosa, Soph., Montclair
Darren Taylor, Jr., Alta Loma
Steve Urias, Sr., Alta Loma
Alex Villalobos, Sr., Don Lugo

Honorable mention: Connor Burns, Fr., Don Lugo; Luke Currie, Sr., Don Lugo; Jeremiah Duran, Jr., Chaffey; David Gonzalez, Sr., Ontario; Aaron Martinez, Soph., Montclair.

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Ontario baseball team bounces back from horrific season

For most baseball teams a 10-9 overall record isn’t much to get excited about. When you were 3-18 the previous year and hadn’t made the playoffs in a decade it is reason for celebration.

That is the case for the Ontario baseball team which went from 0-15 in league play a year ago to a third-place finish and playoff berth this season.

The Jaguars will play at Barstow in a first round Division 6 game Thursday.

Dan Gonzalez is in his second year heading the program and said last year was a learning one for all involved.

“We started in August and they all bought in,” he said. “We told them trust in us and trust in each other and good things would happen.”

Gonzalez singled out the fifth game of the season against Alta Loma at LoanMart Field as a turning point. The Jaguars were 2-2 through their fist four and improved to 3-2 with the 4-1 win. It gave the team as many wins in league play alone as it had managed all the previous season.

“That seemed like they game they started believing they could play with these other teams,” Gonzalez said.

The effort has been led by junior Oscar Rauda, who can play shortstop and center but has also been used as the closer.

Junior Juan De La Torre and senior Jesse Estrada are the two main starting pitchers.

Gonzalez said he count on his offense and pitching with the sore spot at times being defense.

“We’re definitely excited to build on this,” Gonzalez said. “The kids have started seeing that they can play with these teams and their confidence is growing.”

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Mt. Baldy League honors: Baseball

Don Lugo’s Benny Aguilera celebrates a run by teammate Albert Luevano against Montclair at Don Lugo High School in Chino, CA, Wednesday, May 4, 2016. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)

MVP: Benny Aguilera, Sr., Pitcher-Outfielder, Don Lugo

First team
Lawrence Castaneda, Jr., Chaffey
Josh Ibarra, Jr., Don Lugo
Daniel Jaime, Jr., Alta Loma
Jordan James, Jr., Alta Loma
Albert Luevano, Soph., Don Lugo
Patrick Perez, Sr., Colony
Max Reyes, Jr., Alta Loma
Jacob Ramirez, Jr., Montclair
Oscar Rauda, Soph., Ontario
Marcus Rodelo, Sr., Colony
Alex Rubio, Sr., Chaffey
Christian Serna, Soph., Alta Loma
Joshua Torres, Soph., Don Lugo
Jesse Villalobos, Sr., Montclair
Josh Villamarin, Jr., Montclair
Nestor Zamora, Sr., Don Lugo

** No second team was provided

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Mt. Baldy baseball teams to compete at LoanMart Field

For years the Baseline has held a one-day event where all the league’s baseball teams play at LoanMart Field (formerly known as the Epicenter).

Well this year the Mt. Baldy League will do the same this Saturday and all are excited about playing on the bigger stage.

Alta Loma has played in the “Battle of the Baseline” before as it only moved to the Mt. Baldy from the Baseline two years ago.

“Our kids are excited about it,” says first-year Don Lugo baseball coach Jeff Abel. “They’ve heard other kids talk about the experience and its great that how teams in our league will have that experience too.”

There will be three games on the day, the first pitting Ontario against Chaffey at 11 a.m. it will be followed by Colony against Montclair at 2, with the night capped off by Alta Loma against Don Lugo at 5 p.m.

There had been talk in recent years about the Mt. Baldy following the example of the Baseline but it was Montclair coach Chris Castro the got the ball rolling this year. He had discussions with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Director of Group Sales Kyle Burleson and the details were quickly ironed out.

It was a matter of finding the right weekend when the Quakes were on the road but that didn’t prove to be too difficult.

“Things really fell into place,” Castro said. “We threw out a couple of dates and found one that was good for everyone.”

Tickets can be purchased at each of the schools, through the players and coaches.

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Don Lugo dominates Mt. Baldy baseball selections

Here is the Mt. Baldy selections as made by the coaches.

Most Valuable Players – Andrew Matus, Don Lugo, Frank Donaldson, Don Lugo

First team
David Castaneda, Chaffey, Jr.
Damien Cauble, Ontario, Jr.
Noah Ehrhardt, Chaffey, Sr.
Adrian Garcia, Montclair, Sr.
Ryan Goff, Chino, Sr.
Danny Gomez, Montclair, Jr.
Matt Goytia, Don Lugo, Jr.
Kyle Guillement, Chino, Jr.
Andrew Martinez, Don Lugo, Sr.
Michael Martinez, Colony, Sr.
Daniel Perez, Don Lugo, Sr.
Chase Price, Don Lugo, Jr,.
Joshua Thorton, Chino, Jr.
Patrick Vizcaino, Don Lugo, Jr.

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