Hillsborough duo pitches St. Ignatius to NorCal Division II baseball championship

The victory was a tremendous reprieve for Horn, who last pitched in the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals, failing to make it out of the first inning, yielding all four runs through two-thirds of an inning in a 4-0 loss to eventual CCS champ Valley Christian.

“I think my confidence dropped a little bit after that and I think the thing that really solidified having a good start [Saturday] was getting through that first inning, because I didn’t get through the first inning the last time,” Horn said.

This time, Horn got through five innings, then turned over the ball to his former District 52 Hillsborough All-Stars teammates Schaffer, who nailed down the save with two shutout innings. The sophomore right-hander retired the seventh inning in order, recording two strikeouts before inducing a popup to second baseman Lenny Beatie to end it.

“There was just a lot of jumping around and hugging,” Schaffer said. “We were just going crazy.”

With the NorCal baseball tournament being introduced statewide by the California Interscholastic Federation last season, this marks the first regional title ever for St. Ignatius. It is just their second CIF-sanctioned postseason championship trophy, with the Wildcats having earned one all-time CCS crown in 2012.

“It means everything,” Horn said. “It’s the first NorCal championship S.I. has ever had and, honestly, I’m just happy to be a part of the team because, honestly, I know this means everything to the seniors. … So, I’m just happy to contribute to their success and our success as a program.”

Horn — a verbal commit to Stanford — is part of an extraordinarily young St. Ignatius pitching staff. After senior Jackson Short earned the win in Tuesday’s NorCal opener against Granite Bay, the Wildcats closed out the title with two freshmen recording back-to-back victories, including left-hander Chase Gordon going the distance in Thursday’s semifinals against Bellarmine.

This wasn’t necessarily by design. In 2022, the S.I. rotation was fronted by an array of juniors, with Short and Josh Pashby leading the team in innings pitched. Pashby missed the 2023 season due to injury, however, and the Wildcats looked to a talented group of underclassmen to fill the void.

“I think we’re definitely one of the younger pitching staffs in the league,” Schaffer said. “We just kind of — I don’t know how to put it — we’re a young staff and we just do our best to be competitive out there.”

A clutch defensive play in the bottom of the first inning by catcher Patrick Ruane that set the tone Saturday.

Casa Grande (25-6) held St. Ignatius to five hits on the day, but the Wildcats produced some early run support, nonetheless. They broke through with two runs in the first inning, scoring on a squeeze bunt by Beatie, and a sacrifice fly by Nico Gomozias. The Gauchos tried to answer back in the bottom of the frame and set the table with runners at first and second and one out.

Horn — still haunted by his nightmare first inning in the CCS semis — then threw a pitch in the dirt, which put the Casa Grande runners in motion. Ruane blocked the pitch, but with the lead runner getting a quick jump to third base, the junior catcher opted to throw to second base and peg the back runner trying to advance for the second out of the inning.

Horn said had both the runners advanced “the game would have been a lot different.”

In the fifth, Casa Grande threatened again, loading the bases with one out. Horn countered with a dagger changeup, and induced a grounder to senior shortstop Kevin Malouf, who flipped quickly to Beatie at second to start an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

“I was so hyped,” Horn said. “I was so happy. I knew I needed to get that groundball and I got it. It was amazing. … Everyone was just screaming. It was just great.”

Schaffer allowed one base runner on a sixth-inning single but retired the side in order in the seventh to record the first save of his varsity career.

“His seventh inning was lights out,” Horn said.