Seeking to secure a Division 2 CIF-Central Section title, Arroyo Grande’s baseball team lost a heartbreaker 4-3 in the 9th inning to Bakersfield Christian.
The Eagles (24-9) had won 10 in a row coming into the contest, and held their own at 3-3 in the ninth in Visalia, punching in the tying run on a wild pitch after a last-ditch rally on a leadoff single in the top of the seventh by Jackson Ralph.
Arroyo Grande was led offensively by Jones Stumph and Ralph, who each had two hits in the contest.
Arroyo Grande starting pitcher Grady Pope threw four innings, striking out three, and allowing one earned run.
Reliever Zack Johnson pitched a strong four innings, giving up only one earned run, a walk-off hit to award Bakersfield Christian (25-6-1) the title.
“I’m very proud of boys,” said Arroyo Grande Coach Steve Tolley. “This team, the entire year, they never gave up, and they did it against a really, really good high school baseball team (in Bakersfield Christian).”
Eagles junior shortstop Ruben Servin, hitting a team-high .479 on the season, smashed a go-ahead RBI double in the fourth off Ole Miss commit McCoy Silicz, whose fastball tops out at 94 miles per hour.
“We talked about, at the beginning of season, that a couple little mistakes, and they are magnified in championship games, and that’s what happened,” Tolley said. “I’m proud of the way these kids played to only give up four runs to a team that’s full of Division-1 commits. We pitched well, and we did a lot of things well.”
Arroyo Grande will move on to the state CIF state playoffs with an automatic bid. The schedule is yet to be announced.
This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 9:41 PM.
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Nick Wilson is a Tribune contributor in sports. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley and is originally from Ojai.