LONG BEACH — The Ganesha baseball program is establishing itself as one of the premier powers in the San Gabriel Valley. The Giants have the hardware to back it up too.

Ganesha capped another powerful season with a dominant performance in an 8-2 win over Dos Pueblos in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 championship Saturday at Blair Field.

It is Ganesha’s second CIF-SS title in three seasons. The Giants won the Division 7 crown two years ago.

“The kids did a great job,” said Ganesha coach Jared Sandler. “I’m really proud of them.”

Ganesha (23-3) was led by pitcher Gavin Moran. The UC Santa Barbara-bound senior finished his high school career with a complete game. He struck out eight batters and gave up only two runs off four hits.

“I felt good,” Moran said about his performance. “There was a little bit of nerves, but I have a great group of guys behind me. I just know I need to go out there and throw strikes and they would follow up everything behind me. I just threw the ball in the strike zone and it worked out.”

Moran was a part of Ganesha’s 2023 CIF championship as a sophomore so this is his second championship. He was asked which means more — the first one or the one in his senior year.

“It was amazing we won,” Moran said of the 2023 championship. “We had a great group of guys but nothing tops senior year — last high school game ever and winning.”

Teammate and fellow senior Sutton Frost joined the team last season so this is his first time celebrating a CIF title. He played a key role in the win over Dos Pueblos (22-11), going 2 for 2 with a double, two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored.

“It means everything,” Frost said of winning the title. “I came over here two years ago — didn’t expect much, had no clue what we were doing and came out with a ring two years later.”

Ganesha was the designated visiting team and seized the momentum quickly by racing out to a 4-0 lead at the end of the top half of the first inning.

Giants leadoff hitter, senior shortstop Christian Eaton, got things going against Chargers pitcher Seth Tedeschi with a base hit to right field. That was followed by another base hit by senior center fielder Thomas Giandomenico.

USC-bound senior catcher Isaiah Ibarra then walked on four pitches which loaded the bases for Frost. He then drew a walk on a full count to get an RBI that gave Ganesha a 1-0 lead.

Two batters later, junior first baseman Bryant Loo smacked a single to right field for two RBIs and a 3-0 lead.

“(Loo’s) been our best offensive hitter throughout the playoffs,” Sandler said. “He had another big hit in the first inning.”

The Giants made it 4-0 when senior right fielder Bryce McCaninch singled to drive in Frost.

McCaninch later ripped an RBI triple deep into left field in the third inning to give Ganesha a 5-1 lead. He left the game with an injury after sliding into third.

An RBI double down the left field line by Frost in the fifth inning made it 6-1 with Ibarra scoring from second following a walk and steal.

Ibarra essentially put the game out of reach in the seventh, making it 8-1 when he blasted a two-run homer over the left field wall. That capped an offensive performance that saw him go 1 for 2 with two walks, two RBIs and three runs scored.

“I didn’t expect it to go out,” Ibarra said. “But I hit it hard enough and it got over the fence. It was a really cool opportunity to hit a home run in my last high school at-bat. I’m super grateful.”

Sandler enjoyed the home run too but said Ibarra made a play in the bottom of the first that was much more important. Moran walked leadoff batter Stone Saunders for Dos Pueblos. A few pitches later, Ibarra, from behind the plate, saw Saunders take too big of a jump and fired down to Loo for the pickoff and first out.

After that, Moran got the next batter to strike out and the third batter to fly out to right to end the inning.