"We weren't ready to play," said St. Francis Coach Mike Solar, who piloted the Golden Knights to the CIF Southern Section Division II final last year.
En route to a second-place league finish last season, the Golden Knights swept the Eagles in the teams' two-game season series by a combined 21-8 score.
With Chaminade (6-4, 1-2 in league) coming in after having lost two straight to Crespi, St. Francis, ranked third in Division III, was definitely the favorite. But the Eagles' record might have been a bit deceiving.
"We've been playing a very tough schedule," said Chaminade Coach Sid Lopez, whose team defeated nationally ranked Chatsworth, 5-1, on March 10.
The Eagles came out quickly, while the Golden Knights (9-2, 2-1), who had won their previous nine games, did anything but.
Leadoff man Nick Halloran singled to start the game and a four-for-four day that saw him personally equal St. Francis' hit total.
Halloran came around to score and put the Eagles up, 1-0, at the end of the first.
A two-run third and three-run fourth opened the game wide open for Chaminade and chased Golden Knights starter Luke Collis (2-1), who allowed 10 hits and six runs in 3 1/3 innings.
Conversely, Collis was the biggest offensive highlight, drawing two walks, tallying a single and scoring his team's only run on an Evan Simonitsch sac-fly in the bottom of the fifth.
The run made it 6-1, but Chaminade added two runs in the sixth on Jose Jauregui's second double of the game.
While starter Kyran O'Green (2-1) and reliever Andrew Katzer certainly kept St. Francis batters at bay, the Golden Knights did have their share of scoring chances.
A one-out Ramiro Carreon double and a two-out Collis walk led up to Sean Burns reaching base on an error and loading the bases in the bottom of the second. Down 1-0, the Golden Knights couldn't score.
