List of 6 news stories.

• Roundup: Crusaders rally to edge Eldorado

  C.J. Jaramillo’s bases-loaded single to right plated Jacob Ortega with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday as Faith Lutheran’s baseball team rallied past visiting Eldorado, 12-11.  Eldorado scored 10 in the top of the first and still led 11-7 going to the bottom of the seventh, but the Crusaders bunched six hits and two walks together to storm back for the win.  Jaramillo was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Ortega was 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple and four RBIs for Faith Lutheran. Parker Sylvester was 3-for-5 for the Crusaders.

  
  Ryan Muldoon went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Aaron Rogers was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Sundevils

• Roundup: Crusaders extend lead in Mountain League race

  Michael Rice tossed a three-hitter on Wednesday as Faith Lutheran’s baseball team held extended its lead in the Mountain League with a 4-1 win at Centennial.

  Rice allowed only an unearned run and struck out nine.  Dylan Howell blasted a three-run home run with one out in the top of the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie. Howell was 2-for-2 with a double and four RBIs for the Crusaders, who lead the Mountain League by two games over Centennial, Palo Verde and Rancho with three games remaining.

  Shane Taylor was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs for Faith Lutheran.

  
  Anthony Martinez went 1-for-3 and scored a run for the Bulldogs.

• Crusaders’ Christian Dijkman, Michael Rice silence Palo Verde

  Faith Lutheran baseball coach David Anderson said his team learned its lesson last week, when it took Rancho lightly and lost.

  The Crusaders certainly didn’t take Monday’s game lightly. Christian Dijkman and Michael Rice combined on a two-hitter as host Faith Lutheran downed defending state champion Palo Verde 4-1 in a key Mountain League game. “We gotta take care of business, and the only way we do it is by one pitch at a time, and that’s what we did today” Anderson said. “Baseball happened to us against Rancho last week. We were lucky to have Thursday, Friday and Saturday to work on one pitch, one at-bat and focus on just that one moment.” Faith Lutheran (11-5) moved into a three-way tie with Rancho and Palo Verde for first place in the Mountain League. All three teams are 6-1 in league play and have six league games left. Making just his second start of the season, Dijkman used a four-pitch arsenal to silence the Panthers. The 250-pound sophomore retired 10 of the first 11 batters and picked his spots to deliver off-speed pitches that kept the Panthers (16-3) off-balance. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out three in five innings. Rice pitched two perfect innings in relief.

   

  “I knew I had confidence in myself that I could come out today and just mix my pitches, hit my spots and I’d be all right,” said Dijkman, whose slider, breaking ball and changeup complemented his fastball. “I watched some film on the kids, and I know what pitches they can swing, what pitches they don’t swing at, what pitches they chase.” Jacob Ortega gave Dijkman a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when he drilled a Peyton Cole pitch well past the right-field wall, bringing home Parker Sylvester in the process. “I was sitting outside and reacting in,” Ortega said. “He threw me a fastball first pitch, and I knew I could catch up to it. This game meant a lot to us because they’re our rivals, and we really wanted this game.”

   

  The Crusaders added runs in the third and fifth inning, and Palo Verde got its run in the fourth. Sylvester was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored, and Dylan Schafer scored twice for Faith Lutheran. Josiah Cromwick was 2-for-3 with a run for Palo Verde.

• Roundup: Jacob Ortega helps Faith Lutheran top Aggies

  Jacob Ortega was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs on Monday to help Faith Lutheran’s baseball team to a 7-4 win over visiting Arbor View.

  Sagan Gronauer was 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Shane Taylor went 1-for-2 with two RBIs for the Crusaders.

  Garrett Cutting and Dominic Clayton each went 2-for-3 for the Aggies, and teammate Nick Cornman was 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.

• Bengal: Darkness halts Crusaders’ rally against Silverado

  Faith Lutheran baseball coach Dave Anderson was proud of the way his team rallied at Silverado on Friday.

  Even if the runs didn’t actually count.  READ MORE
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  Great Day for Faith Lutheran Athletics

  Faith Lutheran High School saw 7 athletes sign or commit to their respective colleges and universities during their largest signing event to date.  The schools range from Division III to Division I and included the sports of baseball, football, soccer, volleyball and wrestling.  The following athletes that made their athletic commitments today are, Jake Ortega-UNLV (baseball), Greg Oliver-Portland State (football), Sebastian Burke-University of San Diego (football), Kyrie Lorfing-Columbia University (volleyball), Kadyn Lane-Concordia Nebraska (soccer), Carson Cook-Concordia Wisconsin (wrestling) and Gabe Rodriguez-Concordia Wisconsin (wrestling).  Faith Lutheran currently has 15 athletes that have committed to play at the collegiate level.  Congratulations to all these young men and women and their families.