The bigger the game, the better he seems to pitch. Crabb came within one out of tossing his second straight playoff shutout as Coronado clipped Christian 5-1 yesterday to claim the section Division IV baseball championship at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

“Christian wanted to play us in the finals,” Crabb said. “They beat us the last game of the season and thought they could do it again. They are kind of our rival.”

Crabb, who authored a no-hitter in the second round against Horizon a week ago, held Christian hitless until Shaun Day singled with two out in the fourth.

“They were swinging at a lot of pitches up high, so I kept the ball up on them,” said Crabb, who scattered six hits and struck out nine.

Christian (22-11) put runners in scoring position in the fifth. Leading 2-0, Coronado coach Sam Ceci elected to put the potential go-ahead run on base when Eddie Young was intentionally walked with two out. Crabb responded with a strikeout – his third of the inning.

Bryan Mitchell spoiled Crabb's shutout bid with an RBI single in the seventh. Later in the inning, the Patriots brought the potential tying run to the plate. Once again, Crabb quelled the threat with a game-ending strikeout.

“He's been a guy who has risen to the occasion every time,” Ceci said.

Coronado (26-8), the Western League co-champion, capitalized on the only error of the game to load the bases in the third. Justin Parsons smacked a two-run single to break a scoreless deadlock.

Alex Rowan's three-run double made it 5-0 in the fifth.