The aforementioned four remaining games are against Loyola (next week) and Crespi (the final week of the season). Thus, St. Francis' first baseball league title since winning the 1981 Del Rey League crown, is still a possibility.
"I just told [the players], 'The people you need to beat are right in front of you,'" said Solar, whose team is ranked ninth in the latest CIF Southern Section Division II poll.
Friday afternoon, there was a lack of St. Francis response when it came to notching third outs and hitting balls away from the Indians (11-10, 4-6).
UC Irvine-bound hurler Christian Bergman gave up four runs ? three of them earned ? and they all came around with two outs.
"You gotta give them credit," said Solar of the Indians, who lost to the Golden Knights, 6-1, on Tuesday. "They took advantage of some pitches [Bergman] left up."
Two batters after Bergman walked the nine-hitter with two outs, Alemany's Brian Hernandez doubled home two runs. It led to a 4-1 lead going into the last inning and took the wind from St. Francis' sails.
Hernandez (2-4) sat the Golden Knights down 1-2-3 in the seventh. For the game, he mustered just three strikeouts as the Golden Knights continually blistered the ball right at the Indians.
"We just hit balls right at guys all day long. We did what we could," said Solar, whose team had its fair share of lineouts and was also victimized by a slew of diving catches via the Indians. "Our effort was plenty good."
Bergman, whose third-inning double was his team's initial hit, hit into one of the aforementioned diving catches. It came in the top of the sixth inning with runners at second and third, thanks to singles from Kyle Wong and Joe DePinto. Bergman's line drive to center field hung long enough to make a catch possible and to confuse the runners.
Evan Simonitsch, who had reached base on a fielder's choice, eventually scored on an error. Had Bergman's liner dropped, though, who knows?
One certainty is that St. Francis lost its first game since a March 21 contest against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.
"It's been a while since we lost," Solar grinned.
Another certainty is that it's been 25 years since the Golden Knights last won a league title and for that streak to end, the next four games will be of the utmost importance.
Said Solar: "These guys'll respond."
