LOS ANGELES, CA, DODGER STADIUM – –

On Saturday, May 23, the culmination of the goal of all high school baseball players saw the Verdugo Hills Dons face the Taft Toreadors in the 2026 CIF LA City Section Division 1 Baseball Championship. This annual matchup is set on the field and against the iconic backdrop of Dodger stadium. 

The #10 seed Taft Toreadors, coached by Thomas Derry and #13 seed Verdugo Hills Dons, coached by Angel Espindola, took to their respective sides. The understood, overwhelming pre-game jitters that only Dodger Stadium can provide, dissipated quickly to allow room for the focus it would take to actually take home what they were there for – a title.

Verdugo Hills, the designated visiting team, was at the plate first, coming into the game with a 13-18 record overall, 6-9 in Valley Mission League play.  

Left fielder, Moises Rodriguez, led off against Taft’s starting pitcher, Sebastian Gamez.  After getting Rodriguez on a ground ball to second base and striking out Jerod Smith looking for out number two, Gamez walked Don’s pitcher Anthony Velasquez on a full count. Velasquez would then steal second with Cutler Fannon up to bat. Fannon would hit his first of two in the game down the third baseline, bringing Velasquez home and landing him at second base with a double and the RBI. Third baseman D’Angelo Duran, would record the third out of the inning when he hit a pop fly for an out to center field.

Taft, with a 13-17 record overall,and 3-12 in West Valley league play was now at bat.

Shortstop Sebastian Fernandez hit a ground ball to Fannon for the first out.  Velasquez controlled the inning, forcing the next two batters to pop up and ground out to end the inning, with Verdugo Hills up 1-0.

The third inning saw a lot of action on base for both Verdugo Hills and Taft. In the top half, Smith hit a ground ball to second, but an overthrown ball allowed Smith to get to second base. Velasquez was in trouble early with his count, down 0-2, but on his fourth pitch, he hit a fly to center field where it dropped for a single and Smith advanced to third. Fannon was up to bat next and, on the first pitch, hit a fly ball into foul territory where third baseman Victor Jara got under it for an amazing catch for the second out. With Smith 90 feet away, Duran drove him in with a ground ball to short and Velasquez advancing to second. Gamez struck out Macias to end the visitors half of the inning with Verdugo Hills up 2-0.

Grant Joyce led off the home half for Taft.  Velasquez showed his first sign of weakness, walking him on four pitches, allowing Taft’s first base runner. Jara then hit a sacrifice bunt which advanced Joyce to second. Second baseman Brian Strasburger was up next. The count was 1-1 Dons catcher Miguel Wong tried to pick off Joyce at second, but overthrew into centerfield and Joyce found his way to third base. Strasburger grounded out to second base for the second out, but brought Joyce home for an RBI and a 2-1 score in favor of Verdugo Hills.

Both pitchers controlled the game, despite traffic on the basepaths. The fourth inning saw one left on base for both Verdugo Hills and Taft.  Wong was able to get to first on a dropped ball by Jara and Friedman took ball four for a walk.  Neither amounted to a run scored and at the bottom of the fourth the score remained 2-1.

The fifth inning was much of the same. Verdugo Hills’ Duran walked and was left on base. When it was Taft’s turn, Velasquez again dominated as Joyce, Jara and Strasburger all popped out for consecutive outs.

Inning six saw Gamez this time dominate for Taft with two ground outs to first and a fly ball to center for three outs. The score remained 2-1.  

The bottom of the sixth would see Taft with an opportunity to tie the game with only six outs left to make a comeback, and there would be traffic. Catcher Nate Swinson drew a walk on four straight pitches. First baseman Liam Barnett would also walk, this time on five pitches, advancing Swinson to second. Derry would have Lloyd Gayner pinch hit for Vargas, but he grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The seventh and final inning of this high school championship game would bring pitcher Gamez back up to the mound to face Verdugo Hills, who was up to bat for the final time with an opportunity to add to their one run lead. Rodriguez would lead off, but got caught looking for the first out. Smith took ball four, but the ball ended up live and Smith took off for second base, and he slid into scoring position safely. Velasquez struck out for the second out. Fannon was up next, and with the count 1-0, he hit the ball up the middle where it bounced off second base and into the outfield. Smith scored and Fannon was safe at second. A pinch runner came in for Fanon, but was picked off at second to end the top half with the score in the middle of seven, 3-1.

Velasquez returned to the mound looking to pitch a complete game against Taft’s last three outs for a comeback. Up to this point Velasquez had allowed only one run on one hit. Friedman came up to the plate first and walked. Berger was next up representing the tying run, but he grounded out for the first out. Joyce was next up and he flew out to left for the second out. Jara was the last remaining hope for Taft, but his drive to the left center gap was caught for the final out of the game.

Verdugo Hills Dons would claim victory and be crowned the 2026 CIF LA City Section Division 1 Baseball Champions.

Verdugo Hills Head Coach Angel Espindola had this to say about his team post-game, “You know what?  Our season didn’t start off the hottest, and we just, they just kept grinding.  They never gave up.  Never gave up, you know?  It just shows their resilience.”