St. Francis graduate Nash Horton was a freshman when the baseball team won their first-ever Central Coast Section title three years ago. He had a shot last week to cap off his illustrious career by adding a second trophy into the display case on campus.
However, Horton and the No. 2 seeded Sharks fell short to deliver following an 8-0 loss against No. 8 Santa Clara in the Division IV finals at Santa Clara University on May 30.
“Obviously it’s a game that I really cared about, but it’s part of baseball. You win and you lose,” Horton said. “There was a lot of good in today’s game on the mound, and there was also some bad. Every baseball game has good and bad.”
Santa Clara senior pitcher Drew Diffenderfer put on a performance he’ll never forget, allowing just one hit and two walks while tallying seven strikeouts en route to the Bruins’ first-ever section championship in the program’s history.
Freshman Noah Magana broke up the no-hitter bid with a single in the bottom of the sixth, but it was all the offense the Sharks could muster.
“Just some unlucky breaks here and there, mental errors, sometimes on me,” Horton said. “Stuff happens. I’m not gonna beat myself up over one game.”
St. Francis head coach Ken Nakagawa said they talked about not letting the moment overwhelm them, and he still doesn’t believe that was the case.
“We just didn’t have a very good offensive performance,” he said. “Taking nothing away from what [Santa Clara did] over there. They played better than we did tonight, that’s the bottom line.”
Nakagawa tipped his cap to the Sharks’ senior class for grinding it out and returning to the championship game after they won the D-IV title in 2022.
“This is where they finished their career, not a bad way to finish,” he said.
St. Francis, which placed fourth in the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s top tier Gabilan Division, began its exciting postseason run with a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Hillsdale in the quarterfinals on May 24.
Horton recorded 13 strikeouts, and didn’t surrender both runs until the top of the seventh inning. He also had a lead-off home run in the opening frame, setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
The Sharks followed up with another nail-biter in the semifinals. Senior Javier DaRosa-Fonseca drove in the game-winning run in a 1-0 walk-off win in extra innings against No. 6 Homestead on May 27.
Evan Dyer was lights-out on the mound, allowing five hits while tallying eight strikeouts on 111 pitches thrown in nine innings of work. He went 2-5 with a 4.09 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 13 appearances for the Sharks this season.
Horton and DaRosa-Fonseca both earned All-PCAL First Team honors following a stellar final season at St. Francis.
DaRosa-Fonseca finished batting a .303 average (27-for-89) with a pair of home runs, six doubles, 29 RBIs, 23 runs scored and four steals, while Horton finished batting a .368 average (35-for-95) with six home runs, three triples, seven doubles, 14 RBIs, 35 runs scored and 21 stolen bases.
Horton—who will continue his baseball career at Pepperdine University—went 5-2 with a 1.62 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 11 appearances on the mound. He also made some history by recording the program’s first-ever perfect game following a 1-0 win against Salinas on April 5.
“I can’t really put into words how grateful I am, and if I had to sum up my career I’d talk about the people around me,” Horton said. “The seniors that have been here for all four years and the seniors that came along, I’ve become best friends with them, and they’ll be friends for the rest of my life.”
Horton along with DaRosa-Fonseca, Dyer and Mason Borrego were all part of the historic 2022 championship team. Nakagawa said having an opportunity to bring home another title was nearly a full circle moment for him, which is why it’ll be harder than ever to say good bye.
“Would have loved to win the second today, but it’s baseball,” Horton said. “We left a big impact on this school, and nobody can take that away from each and every one of us. I think that’s what we should really focus on. When we look back on our high school career, we may remember this game, but we’ll remember the tiny little things that happened before it.”
Senior Donovan Dominguez and sophomore Nicky Fantl earned all-league second team honors, while Magana was given the Sportsmanship Award. St. Francis was also presented with the Elgie Bellizio Team award.
Dominguez wrapped up his final season with the program batting a .321 average (26-for-81) with three doubles, 14 RBIs, 16 runs scored and six stolen bases.
Fantl had a solid second year with the Sharks as he finished with 26 base hits, including two triples, two doubles, 19 RBIs and scored seven runs. He also recorded 19 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched.
St. Francis will lose eight seniors after this season. Yet, there is a group of promising youngsters on the rise with sophomores Maximus Madrigal and Fred Ortiz, and freshmen Jacob Fonseca and Jeremiah Mendez leading the way.
Madrigal had 13 hits, including one double, nine RBIs and four runs scored. He went 1-0 with a 3.85 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 11 appearances on the mound this season. Fonseca finished with 11 hits, four RBIs and scored eight runs.
Nakagawa said it was a bummer the JV program was non-existent because any extra playing time would have helped the younger players tremendously with reps and so forth. But, the experience of reaching a section championship game also helps.
Plus, competing in the PCAL Gabilan Division shows why they do so well in the playoffs every year.
“Our underclassmen got a lot of experience this year,” Nakagawa said. “Our future is bright. I’m extremely excited for our younger players.”
