Morro Bay baseball falls in first ever CIF title game, ending stellar season
After a thrilling run of three straight wins in their Division 3 playoff campaign, Morro Bay High School’s baseball went into the title game at Valley Strong Ballpark in Visalia feeling good.
But from the get-go, their opponent from Fresno County, Fowler (28-3), proved itself as a formidable foe. The Redcats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the first inning facing Eli Brown, one of the aces for the Pirates (26-6).
With the game being streamed live on the NFHS Network website, Morro Bay found itself down 8-0 after the third inning as Fowler kept stringing together walks, base hits and run-scoring rallies to put the pressure on the Pirates, who had come into the championship game riding a seven-game win streak.
And Fowler’s senior right-handed pitcher Jerod “Bubba” Smith mixed and matched a high-velocity fastball with nasty off-speed pitches to keep the Pirates’ hitters off balance.
“He had by far the best arm we’ve seen this year,” said Jarred Zill, Morro Bay’s head coach. “He was hitting high 80s with his fastball, a very good slider, very good changeup and he had command of all three pitches. (Smith) attacked the strike zone. He was a good competitor.”
Fowler won 10-1, ending Morro Bay’s hopes to finish off a season of school record wins with a title to its name.
“The boys were really excited to get to the stadium and they were ready to play,” Zill said. “It didn’t feel like something weird in the air or anything like that. The Fowler team got some momentum early, and they rode it hard.”
Morro Bay won 5-4 over Justin Garza in the opening round, then 10-3 over Mission Oak and 7-0 over Hoover to make it to championship, earning runner-up status against the No. 1-ranked team in the division, a program with several previous sectional titles.
Morro Bay, typically a Division 4 team, reached its first-ever school CIF sectional title game, while doing so in Division 3.
“We had a good year,” Zill said. “We played plenty of good teams throughout the year, and we beat plenty of good teams, but it was nice to kind of go out there in that first game against Garza and really prove it again. They were a really good-quality team, and every team we played in the postseason has been a quality team.”
In the title contest, Morro Bay was able to stop the bleeding in the later innings with some solid relief pitching from right-handers Colton White and Evan Davis, who tossed a scoreless frame in the sixth.
In the fourth, Morro Bay’s right-fielder Cruz Wilkinson laced a RBI triple to right-center field, scoring White, who singled to tally the Pirates’ first hit of the game. Wilkinson also had an infield single in the seventh for a two-hit game.
“The opportunity they had to go play in a championship game in a big stadium, with a big crowd, is a really cool experience that they’re going to remember the rest of their lives,” Zill said.
SLO County team finishes
Morro Bay finished its season with an exceptional record, tallying 26 wins to top the previous school record of 22 in 2020-21. And the Pirates completed a 12-0 Ocean League season for a league crown.
“They are a very coachable group, and they’re anxious to learn,” Zill said. “They work hard, and a lot of these kids when it’s an off day or off time, they’re out there on their own putting in work because they want to get better. It’s never forced. These guys will practice six hours a day if we let them.”
The Pirates were led in hitting by infielder Quentin Crotts, who entered the title contest hitting .413 with 38 hits and 18 RBIs, including 11 doubles, according to MaxPreps.com.
Other standout Morro Bay batters who helped the Pirates average about eight runs per game included Jack Deovlet, Frankie Ainley, Evan Davis, Wilkinson and White.
The Pirates made the deepest postseason run of any San Luis Obispo County team as Nipomo (9-16) lost 8-4 to Hanford West in Division 4’s first round.
In Division 2 action, Templeton (16-13) fell 3-0 to Ridgeview, Arroyo Grande (13-16-1) lost to Washington Union by a score of 5-1 in the second round after beating San Luis Obispo (13-14) 6-1 in the first round; Atascadero (13-15) lost 3-1 to Kingsburg in the first round; Paso Robles (15-12) fell to Kingsburg 4-3 in the second round after beating Mission Prep (12-12) 6-3.
Top local hitters included SLO’s Parker Wyatt (.362), Paso Robles’ Marcus Garcia (.415), Arroyo Grande’s Judah Hill (.396), Atascadero’s Uly Kaul (.429), Mission Prep’s Brayden Mott (.429) and Kyson Hickman (.426), Templeton’s Andrew Raab (.424) and Nipomo’s Logan Hobbs (.444).
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 10:03 PM.
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