Henry awarded outright Eastern championship

DEL CERRO —- Here is a forfeit story that turned out positive for Coronado High School.

After the Islanders were stripped of their CIF Southern California regional Division 4-A boys basketball championship  — 60-57 over Orange Glen — by state officials on June 30 following the tortilla-throwing incident,  the Islanders baseball collected a forfeit victory in baseball — and it greatly changed the historical records for Patrick Henry.

With both Patrick Henry and Clairemont needing to sweep their season-ending, 3-game Eastern League series, both posted clean slates to share the league crown.

While the Patriots took three straight from Serra (in the Tierrasanta-based school’s final contests before changing its name to Canyon Hills for the 2020-21 school year), Clairemont took all three from Coronado.

However, the final contest on June 3 saw Clairemont’s 2-1 win in 8 innings over the Island Boys overturned due to an irregularity, giving Patrick Henry the crown outright.

No official word was given for the violation(s) which caused the reversal, but social media claims there was an ineligible athlete. None of the Chieftains’ two CIF playoffs victories were affected.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this story was posted, t was learned a pitcher exceeded the pitch-count limits, thus, he was eligible to play, just not to pitch.

Clairemont now finishes with an 18-14 overall record (11-4 Eastern play), one game behind the champion Patriots (20-10, 12-3). Coronado placed third outright at 12-17 (9-6 league), snapping its deadlock with University City (13-15, 8-7).

For Patrick Henry, it’s the school’s second consecutive league title — they won the 2019 City League crown; the 2020 season was canceled. The two championships are the school’s first since sharing the 2005 Eastern League pennant with St. Augustine.