Granada Hills Triumphs Over El Camino in Thrilling Finale

WOODLAND HILLS – Last Thursday’s regular season finale between the Granada Hills Highlanders and El Camino Real Royals was a fitting, thrilling end to what has been quite the season in the West Valley League. The Highlanders staged a late comeback and then held on for the 6-5 win on Senior Night for the Royals.

Granada Hills opened the season 5-11, but those early struggles forged something tougher. “This team faced the most challenging strength of schedule in the city,” said head coach Matt Matuszak. “Through our growing maturity, we’ve learned how to battle back and win games like today.”

It didn’t come easy against an El Camino squad that, despite returning only four players from last year’s championship team, looks primed for another deep playoff run. “This offense might actually be better than last year’s,” reigning coach of the year Josh Lienhard admitted. “But last year’s pitching staff was collectively tough to beat.”

A baseball pitcher in a blue jersey prepares to throw a pitch on the field, with championship banners in the background. — photo by Kristen Morquecho

Hudson December took the mound for El Camino and immediately faced two infield hits to open the game. But the Dartmouth commit showed poise, striking out Landon Tuch to escape the jam and keep Granada off the board.

A young baseball pitcher in a gray uniform throws a baseball from the mound, with a scoreboard visible in the background. — photo by Jeff Wilhite

Foss Bohlen started for the Highlanders and ran into early trouble of his own when dual-sport star Shane Bogacz ripped a double to center on his first pitch. Bogacz advanced to third on Jackson Sellz’ fly out, but Bohlen answered with a strikeout and a ground out to work out of danger.

What followed was a grinding pitchers’ duel where neither starter managed a clean inning until the fourth.

A baseball player in a blue jersey is swinging a bat at a pitched baseball during a game, with spectators in the background. — photo by David Martinez

A baseball player in a blue jersey with 'ECR' running towards home plate, wearing pink baseball gloves, with another player following behind on a sandy baseball field. — photo by David Martinez

In the bottom of the fifth, Bogacz reached on an error and scored on a JJ Saffie double to break the scoreless tie. RJ De La Rosa drove in Sellz with a deep fly to right that looked like extra bases until Javi Delgado hauled it in with an acrobatic catch.

A baseball player in a blue jersey swings a bat, while a catcher in black gear crouches nearby. The background features spectators and a blue tent. — photo by Kristen Morquecho

A baseball player in a gray uniform leaps to catch a ball above a blue fence. — photo by Kristen Morquecho

A second sacrifice fly, this one off the bat of pinch hitter Tayden Sly, plated Saffie and gave El Camino a 3-0 lead through five. Following the 1-0 mound masterpiece these teams played earlier in the week, three runs felt like a lot. But the Highlanders had other ideas.

Four of the first five Granada batters singled to start the sixth. Michael Quintana’s hit scored Max Szczech to put the Highlanders on the board and load the bases with one out. With December’s pitch count North of 90, Lienhard turned to reliever Macai Friedman, who promptly walked Adriel Merida to make it 3-2, then Friedman hit Delgado to tie the game at three.

A baseball player in a blue jersey with 'ECR' written on it is delivering a pitch on a sandy baseball field. The player is mid-throw, showcasing focused intensity, with a glove on their left hand and a baseball in their right. In the background, there are two circular scoreboard markers displaying numbers 97 and 98. — photo by David Martinez

A baseball player in a grey uniform swings a bat at home plate while a catcher crouches behind him, observing the pitch, with spectators visible in the background. — photo by David Martinez

Lienhard, known for a long leash with starters but a quick hook with relievers, went to Andrew Katzman. He lasted two pitches. His first pitch was wild and scored the go-ahead run; the next was a ball. Lienhard called time, walked back out to the mound, and handed the ball to shortstop Ryan Hauptman.

Hauptman faced lead-off batter Caleb Reclusado and Matuszak seized on the charged atmosphere, calling for a squeeze bunt that brought Merida home in a bang-bang play at the plate. Chris Fulling laid down another bunt, scoring Delgado.

Before you could check your GameChanger, El Camino was down 6-3. Five of those six runs crossed home plate without the ball leaving the infield. It was small-ball chaos at its finest.

A baseball player in grey uniform running towards first base with dust kicked up beneath him, while a coach stands in the background, observing the play. — photo by Jeff Wilhite

A baseball player in gray slides into home plate while a catcher in blue prepares to tag him. In the background, other players are visible on the field. — photo by Jeff Wilhite

El Camino struck back in the bottom of the sixth when Connor Pike reached base on a Reclusado error, followed by pinch-hitter Owen Lewis delivering a clutch single. Facing a prime scoring opportunity with two on and none out, Hauptman dropped down a sacrifice bunt, pushing both runners into scoring territory. Bogacz’s ground ball plated Pike, making it 6-4. Bohlen then coaxed a fielder’s choice from Saffie to strand Lewis at third.

De La Rosa started the bottom of the seventh by beating out an infield single and advanced to second when Merida’s throw sailed wide. With Bohlen’s pitch count in the 80s and the tying run coming to the plate, Matuszak stuck with his starter. “We were in a sticky spot there where I was in-between going to our closer or staying with Foss. And I just liked the way the ball was coming out of Foss’s hand. And he wanted it. And I just said, ‘hey we’re gonna win or lose with Foss here today.’”

The gamble paid off as Bohlen coaxed two consecutive groundouts, the second one plating De La Rosa to cut the lead to 6-5. Bohlen capped his complete game win by retiring pinch-hitter Michael Spancer on a routine fly out.

A baseball player sliding into home plate, creating a cloud of dust, while another player reaches for the ball in a competitive play. — photo by David Martinez

A baseball player sliding into base, kicking up dust, while another player looks on in the background. — photo by David Martinez

“They got the bunts down. Executed,” Lienhard reflected, “and we just left too many guys on base. Didn’t cash in.” The Royals top four hitters went a scorching 7-for-12, while the bottom of the order managed just 1 hit in 15 at bats. December impressed through five inning, fanning seven batters before the Highlanders finally got to him in the pivotal sixth.

A baseball player in a blue jersey with 'ECR' printed on it is running on the field, wearing pink gloves, with a blurred background of a blue fence and a championship sign. — photo by David Martinez

A baseball player in a blue jersey swings a bat while a catcher in gray gear prepares to receive a pitch, with spectators visible in the background. — photo by David Martinez

Matuszak praised Bohlen’s gutsy 8-hit, one earned run complete game effort, but was looking forward to the playoffs. “We made four errors today. We got to sharpen the sword. We got to perfect our craft. And we got to be better at the plate. We only scored in one inning all week. Fortunately for us it was six runs.”

The CIF Open Division playoffs kick off Wednesday, May 13 with El Camino earning the No. 2 seed to host South Gate, while Granada Hills Charter claimed the sixth seed and will travel to face Bell. Should both teams advance, it would create a highly anticipated Highlander-Royals rematch in the semifinals, with the winner earning a coveted trip to Dodger Stadium.