As “We Are the Champions” by Queen echoed through the speakers, the words felt written for Edison baseball.
Eighty-five years of waiting. More than two decades of losing seasons. Only two years with seven or more wins in that entire stretch.
Those were the dues, the sentence and the sand kicked in their face.
But on Friday, the on and on and on and on turned into something more.
With the chorus ringing out and water splashing through the celebration, Edison baseball finally came through, defeating Franklin 10-2 on April 24 at Banner Island Ballpark to capture the first league championship in program history.
“We have rich history at Edison,” coach Brian Biedermann said. “Our banner is one of, if not the only, banners in Taggart Gym that is completely blank. Nothing has ever been on it — until now.”
Senior Izaak Navarrete added, “I’ve been through it all. I won two games as a freshman. I’m just thankful for coach Brian coming in and helping turn it around. I don’t know where the program would be if he hadn’t come.”
On the mound, senior Santiago Moreno earned his eighth win, tossing six innings with eight strikeouts while allowing just one earned run to lower his ERA to 1.38 over 55 2/3 innings.
“Never would I have thought we’d do this,” Moreno said. “I never would have thought it. But look at us now. We’re champions.”
The offense gave him plenty of support, scoring seven runs in the first three innings and finishing with 12 hits.
Senior Issac Stewart led the way, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, including driving in his younger brother, sophomore Roman Stewart, in both the first and second innings. Roman went 1-for-2 with one RBI and a walk.
Junior Mateo Ceja added a 3-for-3 performance with an RBI, senior Daniel Chacon went 2-for-2, and senior Izaak Navarrete and sophomore Charles Rose each drove in a run.
“All of us wanted this,” Roman said. “It wasn’t just one person’s vision. We all wanted to turn the program around.”
For Franklin, seniors Topher Speers and Vincente Hernandez each recorded an RBI, while senior Ian Apalakis, the team’s top hitter, was intentionally walked three times.
“Every time I bring families in, I show them the banner,” Biedermann said. “I tell them that’s what we’re working for — to put baseball on the map in South Stockton. Well, look at us now. We’re on the map.”
‘Never let it define him’
Winning is always the goal.
To call this expected would be far from the truth.
“Never in my life would I have thought we’d be a team making the playoffs or anything,” Moreno said. “I grew up watching Edison play, and it was not good.”
Navarrete added, “I never expected this by my senior year. What more could I ask for? I couldn’t leave on a better note.”
The reminder came just four days earlier.
With a chance to nearly clinch the league title against Tokay on April 20, Edison let a 3-0 lead disappear in a 5-3 loss.
Moreno, Edison’s ace for the past two seasons and a third-year varsity player, called it his worst outing of the season.
“Creating a culture of success is not hard,” Biedermann said. “Finding ways to win can be. We went into that Tokay game and were afraid to win. We tightened up because they hadn’t been in that situation before.”
Still, one positive came from the loss. Moreno stayed under 80 pitches, leaving him available to pitch.
A bullpen session on Thursday, April 23, was the final test.
“It was a short bullpen, maybe 15 pitches,” Moreno said. “It wasn’t the best, either. I talked to coach afterward, and he said if I felt good waking up, then I was starting. I guess I felt good.”
Three strikeouts came in the second. One followed in each of the third and fourth. Two more came in the fifth.
In the sixth, the final out of the inning came on a strikeout — a fitting finish to Moreno’s last regular-season game. It was his 91st strikeout of the season, the most in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
“Losing is all he’s known,” Biedermann said. “What makes him special is that he never let it define him, and the same goes for the rest of the group. He’s an absolute hard worker. He always wants to get better and improve. He’s our captain, our team leader, our everything.”
Navarrete, a four-year varsity player who has ranked among the team’s top three in batting average every season, said he also felt he did not play up to his standard against Tokay. He went 0-for-2, only the sixth time this season he was held without a hit.
He responded, too.
In the fifth inning, Navarrete drove in Ceja on a fielder’s choice to extend the lead to 9-1. It was his 20th RBI of the season and pushed his batting average to .417.
“He’s just an absolute — for lack of a better word — dog,” Biedermann said. Yet,“When we first took over last year, he asked me, ‘Coach, are we going to win?’ I told him we were going to do our very best. Looking back now, we wouldn’t be here without him, Moreno, these seniors and the players who endured the losing.”
‘They’re pioneers. They’re history makers’
Baseball has never been a draw in South Stockton.
There is no Little League to build from. Before Biedermann took over in 2025, Edison baseball only existed in the spring.
There was nothing in the summer. Nothing in the fall, either.
That was the reality Roman, Issac Stewart and several other transfers stepped into.
It did not take long for them to see things were about to change.
“When we first stepped onto the field for practice, you could instantly feel this wasn’t a losing program,” Roman said. “Everyone wanted change, and everyone wanted it just as badly as the next person.”
Roman and Issac Stewart brought a winning background with them from Venture Academy. In their first season together, they went 20-3 and won the Central California Athletic Alliance League title.
“I haven’t met two kids who are bigger gym rats,” Biedermann said. “When we’re not practicing, they’re lifting. When they’re not lifting, they’re running. They are the true embodiment of doing whatever it takes to win.”
And the numbers showed it.
Roman hit .462 with 32 RBIs, while Issac hit .439 with 21 RBIs, the top two marks on the team.
What mattered most to them, though, was never the stats.
“We don’t want to take any credit for anything at all,” Roman said. “Everyone on the team accomplished something. We wanted to do this for the ones who have been here for a while.”
Issac added, “The community and the team welcomed us with open arms. The least we could do was give it our best effort.”
In the end, it took every player, every coach and every fan to put Edison back on the map.
That, they did.
“It’s exciting to be mentioned in the same conversation as Edison football, Edison basketball or the boys volleyball team that just won a league championship,” Biedermann said. “We want Edison to be a draw. We want kids all over the county to want to come here because of what we do for them. I think it’s safe to say that can now be the case, and it starts with what these kids have done.
“They’re pioneers. They’re history makers.”
This article originally appeared on The Record: Edison baseball ends 85-year wait, captures first league title
Reporting by Dylan Ackermann, The Stockton Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
