The California high school baseball postseason made headlines for another controversial call over the weekend, one that might have some fans thinking Angel Hernandez was on the umpire crew.
A walk-off balk?
It happened during the CIF Southern California Div. III regional championship game on Sunday between Bakersfield Christian (Calif.) and St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).
The puzzling moment occurred in the seventh inning when the Braves scored the winning run of the game on a bases-loaded balk call. Although it capped off an impressive five-run comeback over the final three innings, the controversial moment overshadowed much of the rally that led to the Braves’ first CIF Southern California Regional title.
A video of the call was posted by Darren Carr, who is the head football coach at Bakersfield.
Our Baseball team just lost their State Regional Finals game vs St. John Bosco on a walk-off balk… here’s the “balk……” @CIFState @CifCentral @CIFSS @umpjob pic.twitter.com/WsPlKFrfYP
— Darren Carr (@DCarr75) June 2, 2024
While the response has been overwhelmingly aghast, Bakersfield’s head coach Mark Ratekin would not let the game take away from a strong season.
“The way the game ended doesn’t define our season, our program,” Ratekin told John W. Davis of the Long Beach Press-Telegram.”
“They worked hard all year to get here, just cherish the moments that they had and remember the bitter taste in the mouth that they had losing that way. But we’re going to be at this fall with the goal to get back to this game.”
Bakersfield finished the season 28-6.
