Newport Beach – The Newport Harbor Baseball Team capped off its season with a 5-1 over Bakersfield Christian on Saturday at Stuart Fine Field in the CIF SoCal Regional Division 2 Finals.

“This team has played together the whole playoffs. I think everyone had each other’s backs, defense played great pitching was good,” Sailors head coach Josh Lee said.

The game didn’t start out well for the Sailors, as the Eagles struck first after Ryan Burgess’ RBI double helped Deakin Brinkley get home, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. After giving up those two doubles and run, Sailors pitcher Ryan Williams settled in, getting McCoy Silicz from third out as he was heading home and striking out Carson Greer to minimize the damage.

After Newport Harbor went down in order in the first inning, their offense came alive, as it got back-to-back singles from Henry Mann and Grant Horsley. The Sailors scored their first run after a Bakersfield Christian throwing error got past the first baseman, allowing Mann to come home.

Newport Harbor took the lead at 2-1 off an RBI sac fly from Cameron Hatfield. From there, both teams’ pitching was on-point, as Spencer Watkins held his own for the most part for the Eagles while Williams and Horsley helped keep the Sailors in the lead.

The fifth inning is where Newport Harbor brought in Sunset League Player of the Year Gavin Guy to pitch the rest of the way. During that inning, Guy, who’s committed to UC Santa Barbara for baseball, got Bakersfield Christian in order, putting his team at six outs away from adding another regional championship.

“Definitely the mindset was do my best, do everything I can to not let up a run and I succeeded in that,” Guy said.

Guy didn’t just help Newport Harbor pitching-wise, he helped them produce some offense. With Keoni Won at second base after Williams helped advance him there on a sac ground-out, Guy brought Won home with an RBI single, putting the Sailors up 3-1.

With Newport Harbor loading the bases off back-to-back singles, things began to unravel for the Eagles. On the next pitch, Watkins injured himself on a pitch, which eventually saw Zach Hall be brought in.

With Brooks Francis up to bat for Newport Harbor, he was walked in four pitches, which brought home another runner, extending the lead to 4-1. Hatfield was able to bring another runner home for the Sailors, who led 5-1 after the fifth inning.

Guy eventually shut the door on Bakersfield Christian on the mound, recording five strikeouts in the final two innings while only giving up only two walks and no hits. After Guy struck out the final batter, the celebration was on for Newport Harbor, which won its second CIF SoCal Regional Championship in program history.

The win was a meaningful one, as the Sailors suffered a tough heartbreaking loss on the road against Ganesha 2-1 in the CIF-SS Division 2 semifinals. But after finding out that Ganesha had opted out of the regional playoffs, Newport Harbor accepted the bid and didn’t take anything for granted, winning its final three games at home and etching their names in history.

“That loss was really tough, but finding out that we were able to get another chance is just super fun to get this second opportunity and we made the most of it,” Hatfield said.