Mission League Title on the Line
The air was silent and still for a full second before a lone shout of “let’s go” cut through the air, followed by the soft thud of a ball dropping into the glove of Crespi left fielder Gavin Huff’s.
“I just saw it was hit hard,” Huff said. “I saw it was up in the air. I just knew I had to get back and just run as hard as I can, because the game was on the line. Gotta get there or we lose.”
Crespi’s Win
The Harvard-Westlake baseball team put up two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Crespi pitcher Mikey Martinez got Wolverines power hitter Miguel Villegas to fly out to Huff for the final out in the Celts’ 7-6 win.
Crespi (20-2 overall, 13-2 Mission League) won the three-game series against Harvard-Westlake 2-1 and clinched at least a share of the Mission League title with the win. The Celts last won a league championship in 2010.
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Crespi players celebrate after they defeat Harvard-Westlake to clinch the Mission League baseball title May 2, 2025. (Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
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The Game-Changing Hit
The senior San Diego State commit was 0 for 3 at the plate to start the game but came up with a game-changing hit in the sixth inning. The score was tied at 4-all before Lopez laced a three-run double to right-center field.
Troy Miller, leadoff hitter Landon Hodge and Diego Velazquez each scored runs. Harvard-Westlake (17-9, 11-4) intentionally walked Hodge and Velazquez to load the bases as Lopez came up to bat.
“I like to thrive in those situations, knowing that I’m able to do what I can do and just play calm,” Lopez said. “All the teams leading up to this (prepared us), our practices, our hard work we put in. It really paid off this week.”
Small Ball
Miller also doubled to start the inning, a cue for the dugout’s “choo choo” celebration that was designed to get the whole team’s arms pumping.
The Celts played small when it counted, too, and had only three hits in the game compared to the Wolverines’ nine. Crespi had one HBP, a stolen base and two bunts in the second inning to gain a 2-1 advantage.
“I would have never thought that we were going to win 7-6 with only three hits,” Celts head coach Mike Glendenning said.
“We had timely hitting, and sometimes you don’t have to put so many hits on the board,” he continued. “There’s been times when we put 10 hits on the board and only scored two runs. The game’s funny sometimes.”
Harvard-Westlake’s Effort
Harvard-Westlake scored in the bottom of the first inning on a Jack Laffitte single. The Michigan commit went 3 for 4 in the game with two RBIs.
“We work so hard every single day at practice,” Laffitte said. “Everything from hitting to defense to base running, it’s just from that daily grind that we spend, and we’re all the way in every day.”
Laffitte had another RBI single in the bottom of the third inning, but it was Jake Kim who really got his team going with a two-run double that scored Laffitte and James Tronstein.
“Jake hits every day,” Wolverines head coach Jared Hal
