Baseball Recap: Santiago Falls Short of Academy for Academic Excellence in the Playoffs

Santiago and Academy for Academic Excellence squared off in some playoff action on Tuesday, but Santiago had to settle for second. They fell 10-7 to the Knights.

Santiago got a good showing from Josefa Rodriguez, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Those zero earned runs gave Rodriguez a new career-low.

Isaiah Cortez

Runs Batted In

05/20/25 vs Academy for Academic Excellence	3
05/15/25 vs Public Safety Academy	3
04/09/25 vs Santa Ana Valley	3
04/08/25 vs Santa Ana Valley	2
04/04/25 vs Magnolia	2
+ 4 more games

At the plate, Isaiah Cortez made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run. Santiago is 2-1 when Cortez posts three or more RBI, but 6-14 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Chris Arceo, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and one stolen base.

Santiago's loss dropped their record down to 8-15. As for Academy for Academic Excellence, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 13 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-9 record this season.

Santiago does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Academy for Academic Excellence, they will square off against Twentynine Palms at 3:15 p.m. on Friday. The Knights will need to watch out since the Wildcats have now posted at least ten runs in their last three contests.