At 8:47 p.m. last Friday, when he struck out the final Bonita Vista batter of the game, left-handed pitcher Matthew Garrison flung his glove high into the air as his teammates rushed the field to create a shouting, squirming dogpile of bodies near the mound at UC San Diego’s Triton Ballpark.

The celebration was for Point Loma’s CIF Div. II championship for sure, but players, coaches, and hundreds of Pointer fans in attendance knew this was Garrison’s night.

All the 6-foot tall junior did was carry a no-hitter into the seventh and final inning in the title game before a ball hit down the left field line was ruled fair, the double spoiling the no-hitter. Garrison then walked a batter, putting the tying runs on base. But after pitching coach Alan Strong visited the mound, Garrison calmly disposed of the last two batters to seal the win.

Garrison’s line for the night: seven innings pitched, 107 pitches thrown, one hit given up, two batters walked and 13 of the opponents’ 21 outs recorded by strikeout.

As he rested in the dugout during the fifth inning with a sweatshirt over his throwing arm, Garrison first realized he had a no-hitter going but the Barons’ Ismael Castanon ended it later.

“In my opinion, I thought it was foul,” Garrison said with a grin. “But he barreled it.”

Garrison gave credit to new Pointer head coach Rigo Ledezma for much of his – and the team’s – current success.

“He sent me little videos (about the mental part of the game) that helped. (He’s taught us to) be a team player, be accountable to your teammates, be positive towards one another, play for the team and not as an individual,” Garrison said.

The Pointers scored all the runs they would need during the second inning when two Bonita Vista throwing errors allowed both Kai Dickinson and Brayden Taylor to score. Taylor and Will Sanford had the only two Pointer hits on a night when that turned out to be enough.

Sanford also had fans holding their breath when he smacked a pitch high and deep to center field that drove the Baron center fielder to the wall before making the catch.

The Pointers fielded several hard-hit balls throughout the game without error, second baseman Adrian Gomez notably making two tough grounders look easy in preserving Garrison’s pitching gem.

The championship was the first for the Pointers since 1982 at USD when a guy named David Wells was the star pitcher before going on to a lengthy and successful major league career. Their only other title came in 1973, led by a group of players including Jim Harvey. Harvey now organizes each year’s season-opening Old Timer’s Game against the current varsity while his son, Kyle, is a veteran Pointer coach.

Last season, Ledezma was the head coach at Santana High (and a math teacher) when they eliminated the Pointers in a CIF semi-final game. His Sultans went on to become champions. A year later, as the Pointers’ head coach he won another title (while still teaching math at Santana).

“I’ve lived in this (Point Loma) community for the last 10 years,” Ledezma said as the celebrations continued. “Our kids are amazing. They are hungry to get better every day. It started back in September in the weight room and nobody works harder.”

Garrison also praised his teammates and community.

“I didn’t grow up in Point Loma,” he said, “So to bring a title to the people of Point Loma after 42 years just feels great. I’ve been accepted by everyone. It’s a tight-knit community and I love it.”

EXTRA INNINGS

The Pointers have moved on to the Southern California CIF playoffs. They were placed in Div. III for the tournament that began May 28 when they hosted St. Francis High of La Cañada, CA at David Wells Field. St. Francis (19-15) was defeated 2-1 in a CIF Southern Section D-IV game by Camarillo, the state’s 10th-ranked team. If the Pointers advance they could travel as far as Bakersfield.

Parents. students and other fans celebrated at the UCSD field talking, congratulating players, and taking photos with the championship trophy until patient security members asked them to leave.