Just got back to the office here. I know TomS is going to be upset that I couldn’t make it to the Calvary Chapel-Maranatha baseball game, but believe me when I say that I tried. In fact, I was really looking forward to watching Dylan Covey pitch. It’s 8:03 p.m. as I’m writing this and I haven’t even gotten started on my Pasadena-Arcadia baseball story. Anyway, Arcadia clinched at least a share of the Pacific League title after beating Pasadena, 5-1, on Tuesday afternoon at Arcadia High. It is the Apaches’ first league title since 2003 when Mike Parisi was coaching Arcadia. It was a stale game for the most part, but there were some good moments. Case in point was Arcadia’s Garret Tuck. He pitched five strong innings and allowed one run on four hits to earn the victory. A.J. Smouse pitched two scoreless innings to record the save. Then there was the amazing catch in right center by Pat Carroll. Chris Klein came to the plate with Nathan Bernstein at third and Ives Brown at first. On a 2-1 pitch Klein sent a shot to near center field. Carroll raced from left and extended his arm out to make the catch that had it been dropped surely would have cleared the bases to give Pasadena a 2-1 lead with just one out. Then in the sixth, Huntzinger made a diving catch to steal Bernstein of a double. “They tie the game with that,” said Arcadia coach Nick Lemas of Klein’s hit that was caught by Carroll. “Then they can take the lead and still be hitting and that changes the momentum. That was a phenomenal catch. (Carroll) had to run back … It was just amazing; I’ve seen Jim Edmonds make that play. That was a high-class play and Huntzinger has been doing that all year long.” Pirisi knew how big that catch was for Arcadia. “Carroll made a great catch and that could have put us right there and put a lot of pressure on Arcadia. This is a game of inches and it didn’t quite work out.” Arcadia can clinch the title outright with a win over Crescenta Valley. If CV beats Arcadia and Burroughs beats Burbank, that would put both teams with the same amount of losses but the Apaches get the first seed from the Pacific League because they own the tiebreaker over Burroughs. Still, there’s no way Arcadia wants to share the league title.

Temple City now holds the No. 3 spot in the Rio Hondo League after beating La Canada, 4-0. San Marino beat South Pasadena as well. The Rams have a favorable schedule since they close the season vs. Blair while the Spartans have to play a tough San Marino team. I don’t think a team from the Rio Hondo League will be awarded an at-large berth, so whoever loses on Thursday will be out of the playoffs.