Telepeer

Trabuco Hills baseball shuts out Tesoro to win league title outright

April 30, 2026

MISSION VIEJO — The margin for error is so little in the South Coast League that a hit here, an error there, can be the difference between victory and defeat. Between a league championship and missing the playoffs.

Cliche, yes. But also the truth.

Trabuco Hills won the league title outright Wednesday, beating Tesoro, 1-0, for the second day in a row by one run. The Mustangs celebrated in a dogpile at the mound after their victory.

Trabuco Hills’ ninth league title, and third in a row, was decided by stellar pitching from Brady Meade and a home run by Slayder Garrido.

A pitch over the middle of the plate instead of its intended target outside is what separated Tesoro’s Aiden Nieto from potential victory in his final high school pitching performance.

But that’s the heroic difference between Trabuco (15-9, 8-3), which has won five titles in the last six years, and fifth-place Tesoro, which dropped to 8-14-1 overall, 2-8-1 in league.

Garrido – no relation to the late Cal State Fullerton coaching legend Augie Garrido – provided the power in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff batter Daniel Van De Kreeke had just been thrown out trying to steal second base after a leadoff single. Three pitches later, Garrido, a junior, hit his first high school homer over the fence in left field.

“I knew I hit it pretty well, but didn’t know it was going to go out,” said Garrido, a transfer from Santa Margarita High. “I was running the bases and I heard my dugout going crazy for me. That’s when I knew it was out. It was an electric feeling, gave me chills up and down my body. Amazing feeling, super happy I was able to do it for the boys. Getting chills thinking about it right now.”

It was a nice payoff for Garrido, who had to sit out the first half of the season because of his transfer. He called his time restricted to the dugout “a blessing in disguise, being able to show my leadership, being a great teammate in the dugout, always being loud for the boys, cheering everyone on, leading by example.”

Garrido’s homer was all the run support necessary for left-hander Meade, who left the game after hitting Chase Vlahos leading off the top of the seventh inning. While he was in there, Meade allowed only one hit – a blooper by Brandon Black that landed in front of diving right fielder Josh Fitch. Meade finished with two strikeouts and two walks before giving way to Amedeo Miller, who faced three batters to pick up his second save in two days.

“It gave me a lot more confidence being able to pitch with the lead and pitch to contact – not trying to do too much,” Meade said. “I’m not working for strikeouts, just working for ground balls to the middle infield and fly balls to the outfield.”

Losing pitcher Nieto was also outstanding. He gave up six hits and struck out four. Besides Garrido’s homer, the only time a runner reached second base was on back-to-back singles in the fifth by Ryan Dymtrowicz and Tyler Hill, who had two hits.

“Meade did a great job of keeping us off balance, but credit to our pitcher too — one bad pitch in the first inning and all zeroes after that,” said Tesoro coach Tony Nieto, who is also the pitcher’s dad. “We wanted low and away and it was down the middle.”

And then it was out of the park.

It’s the kind of play that has summed up the Tesoro season. It has been close so many times, only to be disappointed.

“I love this league because it’s so competitive,” Trabuco Hills coach Bret Lavoie said. “They (Tesoro) beat Dana Hills in the final game of the series last week. I knew they were rolling in here with momentum. I think that’s the fifth time we’ve played in the last two years and only one game has been decided by two runs or more. We know what we’re getting into when we play these guys. They’re a good ball club.”

It’s the difference between being good and not qualifying for the playoffs, and one that is the undisputed league champion. And now, that title belongs to Trabuco Hills.

Orange County Register

News Details

Trabuco Hills baseball shuts out Tesoro to win league title outright

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS