Wes Ghan Gibson has changed the culture of San Marcos baseball.
For the first time in program history, the Royals won a third straight Channel League championship, beating crosstown rival Santa Barbara High, 7-1, on Friday at Joe Mueller Field.
After improving to 12-1 in league, the Royals learned they clinched the outright title during their postgame meeting in left field. They were informed that second-place Buena lost to Pacifica, 8-7, giving them a three-game lead with two to play against the Bulldogs in the final week of the regular season.
San Marcos players jumped for joy, screamed and hugged each other upon hearing the news.
“We weren’t ready to win the league championship with this game,” admitted third baseman Caden Hodina. “We didn’t expect Buena to lose, but once we found out, you saw the celebration.”
Ghan Gibson said the title is a testament to the hard work the players have put in since fall practices.
“That’s just what it takes to be a good team and to beat a team like that twice,” he said. “I don’t remember the last time San Marcos has swept Santa Barbara in a series. And that goes to their tradition and who they are. It’s hard, man. It’s tough to beat that team twice and really proud of my boys for just playing hard.”
The Royals (17-5 overall) took care of business with aggressive at-bats, good defense and solid pitching.
They scored three runs in the second to erase a 1-0 deficit, three more in the fourth and one in the sixth.
On the mound, Darren Orlando and Eric Perez combined to limit Santa Barbara to one run and four hits. They walked three and hit three batters.
San Marcos banged out 11 hits, with Brad Cekada leading the way with a 3-for-4 day, including a triple. He scored the Royals’ first run on an Orlando sacrifice fly during a three-run third inning against Santa Barbara starter and ace, sophomore Eric Anthony.
Brad’s twin brother, Brendan, Cole Schoenwetter and Steven Bradley each had two hits in the win.
“Last year, we struggled against him,” said Hodina, who doubled and scored in the fourth inning before Anthony was lifted. “This year we had little extra motivation to hit the ball as hard as we could. I think we did a really good job of that. Anything over the plate, we were swinging hard as we could and tried to find some gaps.”
Ghan Gibson said the team was well prepared for Anthony.
“Their guy mixes it up very well. He’s had success all season,” said the coach. “We went to work for the last few days and really honed in on what we think we could do well against a great pitcher like that. And we were able to get a few swings on balls and have some success.”
Schoenwetter sent a message in the first inning that the Royals were locked in. He crushed a triple into the right-center field gap. Anthony, however, escaped unharmed as he got the final out on a ground ball to shortstop.
Schoenwetter walked in the third and doubled into the left-field corner in the fourth.
“I’m going up there with the intent of hitting the ball as hard as I could, and I was able to do that twice,” said the standout pitcher who was the designated hitter in the lineup. “I thank Wes for all the help he’s given me hitting. I didn’t hit the last few years, so it’s nice to be able to do that. I had nine at-bats last year and 10 the year before, so it’s been great to be able to actually get up in the box consistently and swing.”
The Cekada brothers were terrors at the plate. Brad Cekada tripled to center to start the big second inning against Anthony. He also had a single in the third and a RBI single in the sixth.
In the fourth, Brendan Cekada followed a single by Steven Bradley and Hodina’s double with a two-run single to center for a 5-1 lead. He scored the sixth run on Owen Estabrook’s single.
“You guys see the results, I see those guys in the cage every single day. Those guys are workhorses,” said Ghan Gibson of the Cekadas.
Santa Barbara coach Steve Schuck felt his team’s performance was a reflection of how it practiced following the 11-inning 6-5 loss against San Marcos on Tuesday.
“They didn’t lose the game today, they lost it on Wednesday and Thursday in practice,” he said. “I think what happened was they got after Cole (on Tuesday) and felt a sense of accomplishment in that game. There was a collective sigh of relief. I warned them about that on Wednesday and Thursday.
“We came out and we didn’t execute on the mound and we didn’t execute in the box. (San Marcos) played their game. Their (starting) pitcher was good, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Hopefully, it’s a lesson. We don’t have a shot at Channel League anymore — that door shut today. But we still have a shot at the playoffs.”
Santa Barbara’s run came on Grady Wilson’s single after Jetner Welch reached second on an error.
The Dons (7-5 in league and 12-12 overall) loaded the bases against Orlando with two outs in the top of the fourth. Ghan Gibson brought in Perez and he induced a groundout to shortstop to end the threat.
“Shout out to Eric,” said Hodina. “It’s his first year on varsity and he’s been a rock coming in.”
On the winning tradition he’s built at San Marcos, Ghan Gibson said the seniors on this year’s club learned from the group of seniors that won the title in 2021.
“These guys were the young bucks. They got to see how it was done. They got to go to work. They had to be the guys that wished they were those seniors. I think that’s where that motivation comes from.
“These seniors right now are a definition of what we’ve tried to accomplish and the culture we’ve tried to create here. And that’s just having that work ethic and wanting to compete on the baseball field, no matter what, and enjoy this game. It’s a beautiful game.”