As the 2024-2025 Season came to an end, the Aliso Niguel Wolverines were on a rampage, looking for a deep playoff run.
In late March they had a back-to-back series with Trabuco Hills which was played one game at home and two games on the road.
In a dominant three-to-zero shutout, the Wolverines topped Trabuco in the first game, with Connor Etnire and Brandon Schaff both getting crucial hits in the game. Cooper Flemming also led the Wolverines with two RBIs.
However, the following two games did not go in the favor of the Wolverines, in which they lost both of the games to the Mustangs home and away.
Following the Trabuco series, the Wolverines faced off against Schurr High School. The game went into a frenzy, as the Wolverines ran home a shocking 26 runs against the Spartans in the shutout to win the game.
After the game against Schurr, the Wolverines played another out-of-conference game, this time against the Downers Grove Mustangs, who traveled from Illinois to play. This game ended up being much closer, as the Wolverines barely snuck by this game winning seven to four.
Two days later the Wolverines played a game matched up with Ocean View High School away.
The Wolverines once again came out on top against Ocean View, winning by five runs.
From then on, the Wolverines returned to league play with a series against the Capo Valley Cougars, the Dana Hills Dolphins and the Tesoro Titans.
With the Trabuco Hills Mustangs winning the series against the Wolverines, Aliso needed to be near-perfect to win the league.
The Wolverines started off the first series against Capistrano Valley well, getting a win at Capo Valley six to three, followed by a win at home nine to one and then another win away nine to two. This saw the Wolverines sweep the Cougars and get three crucial wins for their league campaign, and CIF playoff push.
Next up the Wolverines matched up against school rivals, the Dana Hills Dolphins.
The first game against the Dolphins went smoothly, comfortably winning in a shutout five to zero. However, the second game was arguably one of the most crucial games of the season for the Wolverines.
The game saw an influx of runs in the first inning, with the Wolverines scoring three and the Dolphins scoring five to start the game. Both teams then scored the same amount of runs in the fourth inning, followed by a run scored by the Dolphins in the top of the fifth, and then another two scored by Aliso at the bottom of the fifth. Heading into the final two innings the Wolverines were trailing by one at seven to eight. The Dolphins put up a run in the last inning, which in response the Wolverines needed to put up two runs to send the game to extra innings. Despite their efforts, the Wolverines fell short, losing by one to lose the game in an eight to nine thriller.
Ultimately, the Wolverines won the last game against the Dolphins to win the series.
Lastly, the Wolverines played the Tesoro Titans to close out league play for the season. The Wolverines got the job done, sweeping the Titans three to zero, four to two and ten to two to win the series.
Unfortunately, the Wolverines’ fantastic play to end the season was not enough to win the league, as even though Trabuco achieved the same record, they won the series against the Wolverines head-to-head.
Senior Harrison Plummer commented, “Unfortunately this is the way that the league was decided, however, we will shift our efforts to winning a ring in this CIF run.”
Although the draw for CIF has not currently shaped up yet, the Wolverines will most likely be either played into Division one or Division two this season.
Senior Connor Etnire added, “I am so proud of this team for everything that we have accomplished this season and all the hard work that we put into it. I am sad to leave but happy for the memories in which I got to be a part of this program.”
As the season comes to a close, the Wolverines are looking forward to the last few games of the season with each other, hoping to make a far run into CIF playoffs.
