SANTA CLARITA — Glendora’s baseball team will get to do what few champions get to do: defend its title.
The Tartans notched their second straight spot in a CIF Southern Section championship game with a 3-2 win over Saugus on Tuesday in the Division 4 semifinals.
Glendora sophomore Sebastian Lawrence shined on the mound by pitching a complete game and at the plate with a pair of hits.
The Tartans (19-11), who won CIF-SS Division 3 in 2025, were losing, 2-0, going into the top of the sixth inning.
Senior Tanner Gable hit a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to one run before right fielder Santiago Garza smashed a go-ahead, two-run homer to left.
Saugus (17-15) had taken the lead with a two-run home run from Matt Long in the bottom of the third.
Lawrence and the Glendora defense buckled down after the third-inning home run. Lawrence allowed just one hit after the homer.
Lawrence went the distance, allowed four hits and had four strikeouts. He retired the last eight batters he faced.
“(He’s) really coming into his own,” Glendora coach Jerry Lewallen said of Lawrence. “He’s a young sophomore, just turned 16 years old. He played quarterback for us this year, so we got him late. What people don’t know about him, he’s an incredibly hard worker. He’ll get there early and taking cuts, he stays after, he works his tail off, he’s a great kid.”
Saugus played with fire after having its season revitalized Saturday after they initially lost their quarterfinal game against Rio Mesa on Thursday. But Rio Mesa self-reported to CIF-SS a pitching rule violation that it committed in the quarterfinal. Rio Mesa had to forfeit the win and Saugus took its place in the semifinals.
The Centurions were fueled Tuesday by solid defense and a strong outing from junior pitcher Chase Kline. The starter allowed just two hits through his first two trips through the Glendora order. He retired nine straight batters after he allowed a one-out single in the first.
“(Kline) pitched a phenomenal game,” Lewallen said. “He had our guys off balance, he was located nicely, he pitched really well. We just needed to be patient, keep attacking, and try to get quality at-bat after quality at-bat, and we ended up getting it.”
Centurions relief pitchers Joey Nuttall and Jacob Feldman kept the Tartans within one run, but Saugus fell just short.
Nuttall, Banning Sheff and Abraham Ramirez each added base hits for Saugus.
Saugus has won multiple playoff games in each of its first two seasons under head coach Mike Miller. With a young core and the skipper at the helm, the Centurions have a strong chance to return to the postseason in 2027.
Glendora has caught fire since its record hit 9-9 in early April. Lewallen has seen the Tartans work hard and it has paid off in the playoffs.
“We talk about the journey and that’s what it’s about. It’s about the daily work,” Lewallen said. “This team works extremely hard. We’ve had teams in the past where it’s about games. And for these guys, it’s about the daily work that they get to put into it, and then they get to go play a game, and then they get to go back to work. So that’s what I’m most proud about with these guys.”
Glendora will face Laguna Beach in the CIF-SS final. The date, time and location is expected to be announced Wednesday.
The win Tuesday also qualified Glendora for the CIF State playoffs that follow the CIF-SS finals.
“Our goal and what we talk about is buying more days together, and they earned that today,” Lewallen said. “They get more days together.”