The baseball team at Grace Brethren High School, Simi Valley, Calif., is headed to the CIF-Southern Section Division finals, 15 years after their last appearance in the championship match. A story in the Ventura County Star provides the details. A portion of that story appears below. Click here for the complete article. (Grace Brethren High School is a ministry of Grace Brethren Church, Simi Valley (Jordan Bakker, pastor).
Grace Brethren takes long road to Division 4 baseball final
After three consecutive road trips in postseason — the latest a 2 1/2-hour venture out to Victorville — the Grace Brethren High baseball team savored its happiest bus ride yet Tuesday afternoon.
“The bus is rocking right now,” said Lancers coach Barry Tolli, with his team homeward-bound to Simi Valley. “They’re excited. They’re happy. They know what they’ve accomplished. They know they’ve got one more to go, but they’re definitely enjoying this one.”
Grace Brethren’s 7-1 victory over host Victor Valley in the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 semifinals on Tuesday not only was the Lancers’ latest long-distance business trip, it literally spanned the years.
Fifteen years after the program’s last appearance in a Southern Section championship game, Grace Brethren lands another berth in the CIF-SS finals.
The No. 3-seeded Lancers (24-4) will take on top-seeded Tahquitz (23-5), which defeated Nogales in its semifinal, 5-3. The Division 4 title contest will be held either Friday or Saturday, possibly at UC Riverside.
The date, time and site will be announced by the CIF on Wednesday.
Safe to say, the Lancers will be there and on time. The last Grace Brethren spot in a title match came in 2002, at the end of four championships in five years.
Click here for the complete article.