Bonita Freshmen Defeat DB to Win League Title, Then Dunk Coach

THE SPLASH THAT REFRESHES: The only way you could cool off the Bonita freshmen team was to end the season and shower coach Tim Alley with an ice bath.

Trailing 4-3, Bonita erupted for four runs in the bottom of the third and went on to defeat Diamond Bar 7-4 behind the pitching of Aaron Castro and Sam Monsen. With the win, Bonita took the Hacienda League title and, more important, signaled to varsity coach John Knott that he has a lot of top prospects with which to replace his departing seniors.

Bonita got on the board in the bottom of the second. After Brian Lancaster was hit by a pitch, Danny Gelalich singled him to third with one out. Then Alec Tiscareno stroked a two-run triple. Kenny Walters then scored Tiscareno with a solid single for Bonita’s third run.

The lead was short-lived, however.

In the top of the third, Diamond Bar’s Jonathan Chamberlain slammed a three-run homer and then clean-up hitter Gerado Ramirez belted a solo blast to put Diamond Bar up 4-3.

Bonita came back with four runs in the bottom half of the inning, aided by two costly Diamond Bar errors. Bonita put runners on the corners after Alex Gonzalez led off with a single and Justin Gomez got aboard via an error. Monsen followed with a flair single to score Gonzalez and tie the score, 4-4.

Then with two outs, Gelalich grounded to short but the infielder threw it away and Gelalich circled the bases like a tornado with Gomez and Monsen scoring ahead of him.

Diamond Bar never recovered. Coach Tim Alley handed the ball to Monsen who slammed the door shut over the final frames.

The final drama played out along the left field foul line when several players tried to give the coach a Gatorade shower, but Alley showed some nifty halfback moves to escape any serious dunking.

His players showed they also knew how to maneuver through a gantlet of teams they faced during the season, and that’s why they are the league champs today.