Mater Dei, Pleasant Grove meet for Boras Classic title

Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove, Calif.) recently won the CIF Division I state basketball championship and Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) captured the Open Division championship, but the teams didn't get the chance to meet to see which team was best.

That won't be the case in baseball.

Pleasant Grove (11-3) and Mater Dei (15-1) will meet in the championship game of the inaugural Boras Classic on Saturday at University of Pacific in Stockton. Game time is noon.

The tournament, which claims to be the "de facto state championship" started with 16 teams competing in a northern regional two weeks ago and 16 teams competing in a southern regional last week. Pleasant Grove upset tournament favorite Elk Grove to capture the north title while Mater Dei shut out Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) for the south championship.

For Pleasant Grove, winning the Boras northern regional proved to be a reversal of fortune. After starting the season 3-0, the Eagles dropped to 5-3 heading into the tournament. However, four straight wins, including an 11-1 victory over rival Elk Grove, started a resurgence that has the Eagles at 12-3 heading into Saturday's matchup.

"The Boras was a great tournament, an unbelievable opportunity for Sacramento baseball," Pleasant Grove coach Rob Rinaldi told the Sacramento Bee. "We played well. Pitching and defense can take you a long way."

For Mater Dei, the Boras Classic final is just one more competitive game among a string of competitive games for the Monarchs. After winning the National High School Invitational against some of the top competition in the country, Mater Dei came home and began play in the SoCal Boras Classic. Although the Monarchs struggled in the first game of the tournament, a 6-5 win over Hart (Newhall, Calif.), they had little trouble capturing the crown. Jacob Erickson, for the second tournament in a row, pitched a shutout to give Mater Dei the title.

"They're really mentally tough right now," coach Burt Call told the Orange County Register during the Boras Classic. "We've been preparing for this since September."

The Monarchs, now 16-1, have been getting outstanding play from third baseman Ryan McMahon. The defensive MVP at the NHSI, McMahon was the tournament MVP of the Boras Classic. He's batting a team-best .458 with 20 RBIs, 17 runs, five doubles and three home runs.

Tyler Adkison has also been a factor on offense with a .400 batting average, 13 RBIs, seven doubles and two home runs. Defensively, Erickson, the team's No. 4 pitcher, is 3-0 with a 0.31 ERA and 26 strikeouts and one walk in 22.2 innings pitched. Aaron Cross leads the team in wins, however, with a 5-0 mark. He has 24 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched.

While Mater Dei is batting .328 as a team, the pitching staff has a 1.28 ERA. A contrast with Pleasant Grove, which has a .267 batting average and a 1.79 ERA.

Nico Toni leads the way for the Pleasant Grove offense, batting .371 with nine RBIs and three doubles. Matt Stafford is hitting .306 with nine RBIs and four doubles. Josh Adams leads the team in home runs with two.

The pitching staff relies on three underclassmen. Sophomore Matt Stafford is 5-1 with a 1.31 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched while Stafford, a junior, is 3-1 with a 2.95 ERA and 11 strikeouts. Junior Brett Elgin is 1-0 in six appearances with 16 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched.

The Boras Foundation plans to hold the event each year with different invitees each year, according to the event website. The foundation's goal is to have a championship game that crowns the winner of a "de facto" California state champion. California does not hold state championships in baseball.