May 19, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
IRVINE-Valley Christian High, with senior pitcher Riley Jones on the bump, gave the CIF-Southern Section’s Division 4 top-ranked team all it could handle this past Friday in a first round playoff game. But the Defenders, who were hot coming into their first playoff game since 2021 with seven wins in their last eight games, needed another hit or two to possibly pull off an upset.
Instead, it was Woodbridge High’s Alex Johnson that came up with a key two-out, two strike single that was the beginning of a rally in the bottom of the fourth inning, eventually giving the Warriors a 4-1 victory at Ryan Lemmon Stadium. V.C. ends a remarkable 15-11 season which includes a second place finish in the Olympic League.
“We had goals coming into the season and the young men accomplished those goals, so much so that we started out as a Division 6 school and we end up playing in the Division 4 CIF playoffs,” said V.C. first-year head coach Eric Slater. “That’s a testament to their hard work to their perseverance, and for them to really build upon a tough start…and slowly we started building up wins.”
“I think of it as any other game,” said Jones. “I know the gravity of it, and every pitch I tried to put my best foot forward. I tried to do anything that I could to get this team to win.”
The game took on an ominous look for the Defenders as the first three batters all struck out without their bats touching the ball thrown by Vincent DeMarco. He threw 11 pitches in the inning, five of which were swings and misses, four were looking and the other two went for balls.
In the bottom of the inning, and with one out, Caden Camacho doubled down the third base line and two batters later scored the game’s first run when DeMarco was safe on a fielder’s choice. It was the first time Jones had allowed a first inning run since Feb. 20, the third game of the season and his second start. In that game, he gave up two runs in the top of the first against Esperanza High, which proved to be the difference in a 5-4 loss for the Defenders.
“I have to realize my days in high school are short and even though I gave up a run [in the first inning], I can’t let that eat at me because I’m doing the team a disservice,” said Jones. “It’s a matter of refocusing and then completing the inning, limit the damage and going back out and putting up zeros like I’m supposed to do.
“As a pitcher, you have to realize that runs will happen no matter what,” he later said. “It’s just a matter of how you take it. For me personally, I think of it as a challenge, so I go back and reset myself.”
“Riley is one of the ultimate competitors,” said Slater. “He is a coach’s best friend because you know that he’s never going to stop pushing it 100 percent as hard as he possibly can. He knows that he’s going to come out and he gets hit with some adversity, he knows that he’s going to fight through and persevere through that adversity.”
DeMarco would continue to hold V.C. at bay for the next two innings despite senior center fielder Austin Abrahams being stranded at second base after a one-out single in the second inning and three more runners getting on base in the third without further damage.
DeMarco walked junior catcher Nolan Dietz and with one out, was standing on third base after a double from junior second baseman Nico Villafana. Sophomore first baseman Quintin Ekstrom then reached on a fielder’s choice but on the same play, Dietz was caught in a rundown for the second out.
The Defenders finally got on the board with a two-out rally in the next inning as junior designated hitter R.J. Estrada tripled to the right field corner and scored on a wild pitch. DeMarco would then walk junior left fielder Max Douglas, who advanced to third before a line drive out ended a chance for the Defenders to grab the lead. After that, three of the next six runners would reach base over the next two innings, none getting past second base,
“DeMarco is a talented young man, and he’s put nothing but great numbers up,” said Slater. “We’ve been going through a lot of his stats and taking a look at some of his sequences, and we knew we had to come out swinging against this guy. You’re not going to walk against him a whole lot; he’s going to throw a lot of strikes and he’s going to be very competitive.
“We struggled early on; that’s no secret,” he continued. “But I knew, and this is something that I’ve always felt about these guys. I knew that we would start getting to him. I knew that we would start getting some baserunners. We always talk about competing every at-bat every inning, and we did. We just fell short a couple of times on a couple of big hits that we needed, and that was the difference in today’s ballgame.
Meanwhile, Jones was doing all he could to keep his team in the game. But after striking out Vaughn Tase and Dylan Mutuc to begin the bottom of the fourth, Johnson singled to right on a 1-2 count. Four pitches later, Caleb Camacho tripled to the same location as Estrada and would make it 3-1 when Nevan Namgoong singled to center.
The final run of the game came with two outs in the sixth when Jones walked Caleb Camacho, ending his time as a high school pitcher. Back to back singles from Namgoong and Caden Camacho made it 4-1.
“[We needed] one or two big hits and when you’re facing guys who can throw at that level, it’s tough,” said Slater. “It’s not an easy thing to do at this level, especially when you’re in the playoffs. These are teams who are battle-tested, and you have to tip your hat to their coaching staff and the ball players over there because they fought just as hard as we fought.”
Jones pitched into the sixth inning, allowing eight hits and striking out five while walking a pair. V.C.’s offense was stymied as it collected three hits. Only twice did the Defenders get two hits in a game-Feb. 25 against Mayfair High in a 2-0 loss and May 2 against league champion Maranatha High in a 2-0 victory. Jones, who received several offers from junior colleges and some Division 2 and Division 3 institutions, has decided to attend Long Beach City College in the fall.
“When I took him out of the ballgame, it was one of the hardest things that I had to do,” said Slater. “I just wanted to make sure that he understands that it was a special moment for me; being out there on that field to see him come out of his last game at Valley Christian. You don’t replace that; we’re not going to have another Riley Jones. We’re not replacing that at all. But I will tell you that we have a lot of youngsters who are coming up that have seen what he can do; understand his work ethic, understand his perseverance. If they can join on to work towards his goals and the same things that he’s pushing for…we have a lot of hope in the years to come at Valley Christian High School. Even though his pitching days are over at Valley, that legacy is going to continue to stick around for a long time. I know that for sure.”
Jones had pitched a pair of complete games through the team’s first 12 games and at that point, the Defenders were sitting at 5-7. But he and junior Josh Hulse combined for three straight complete games. Then came league action and after the Defenders split a pair of games with Village Christian High, Hulse and Jones went the distance in five straight games, all victories, as the team stormed back to post a 13-9 record when the calendar reached Apr. 24.
“Even at that time, I knew there was something special in these young men, and it started to come,” said Slater when the team was sitting at 4-7. “They fought through some of our injuries, our adversities and it just became a team that I would be willing to battle with at any possible time. I’m very, very proud of these young men.”
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