NCS playoffs: College Park holds off Castro Valley’s comeback bid, Liberty softball upsets Vintage
Bay Area prep roundup: Alec Blair comes up big for De La Salle. Acalanes defeats Casa Grande in thriller. Benicia softball blanks American Canyon.
Baseball
Division I
No. 1 Granada 11, No. 9 James Logan 1 (five innings)
The Matadors beat James Logan by mercy rule in the fifth inning to advance to the NCS Division I semifinals where they will play Acalanes in the semifinals.
Nathan Canilao was in Livermore and has the full story here.
No. 3 College Park 3, No. 11 Castro Valley 2
The Falcons staved off a Castro Valley comeback in the seventh inning to win their first NCS semi finals since 2017.
Hunter Pelayo’s sacrifice fly in the third inning that brought home Tino Vasell gave College Park its biggest lead of the game.
In the top of the seventh, the Trojans made their run.
Junior outfielder Arthur Sims hit a two-run homer to left field to bring Castro Valley to within a run. But College Park relief pitcher Diego Emerling retired three of the next four batters to end the game and seal a date with De La Salle on Tuesday for the Falcons.
Pelayo allowed five hits and two runs on 78 pitches. Senior Nathan Leffel was 2 for 2 with an RBI double.
No. 2 De La Salle 13, No. 7 Heritage 3 (five innings)
Junior Alec Blair had one of his best games of the season, having a monster game with three hits, six RBIs and two home runs — one of which was a grand slam — to lead De La Salle past Heritage and into the semifinals where it will face College Park at home.
The two teams were tied at two after the first inning, but the Spartans took a commanding 7-2 lead after scoring five runs in the second.
Senior Jamie Mullin was 2 for 3 with three RBIs. De La Salle pitcher Tommy Curran struck out five and allowed two hits and one earned run in five innings.
Heritage ended its season 20-6-1.
No. 4 Acalanes 1, No. 5 Casa Grande 0
The Dons only scored one run, but it was all they needed to beat the 2023 NCS runner-ups in a close quarterfinal game.
Acalanes pitchers Peter Thorn and Henry Souza combined to pitch a shutout, striking out two and allowing six hits.
Gavin Bender’s RBI single in the sixth that scored Keegan Goddard was the deciding factor as Acalanes moved on to the NCS semifinals where it will play Granada on the road.
Division V
No. 2 Head-Royce 9, No. 7 St. Bernard’s 3
Matthew Wong and Kento Tsuji each had two RBIs as the Jayhawks defeat St. Bernard’s at home to advance to the Division V semifinals.
Head-Royce scored five runs in the first inning and four in the sixth.
Wong pitched a complete game, striking out four and allowing three runs on two hits.
Softball
NCS Division I
No. 3 College Park 5, No. 6 Granada 1
College Park pitcher Keira Pfeiffer cooled Granada’s scorching-hot bats on Friday night, allowing just one earned run and striking out five in a complete game.
The Falcons will play host to Liberty in the semifinal.
Avery Rodriguez went 2 for 3 with two RBIs for College Park, and teammate Abby Wood drove in three runs. Granada’ senior Saskia Raab had three hits in the last game of her high school career.
Granada ended the season 13-10, while College Park will take a 14-8 record into its game against visiting Liberty.
No. 7 Liberty 8, No. 2 Vintage 3
The visiting Lions pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the night when they traveled to Napa and took down the No. 2 seed.
Liberty has relied on its power all season, and Friday was no expectation. Savannah Page went 3 for 3 with a home run, and freshman Taylor Jennings also hit a homer as part of a 2 for 4 day.
Madison Tuttle didn’t hit a ball out of the park, but she did go 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and pitcher Kate Skinner struck out 10 and allowed just two hits in a complete game.
Liberty improved to 20-3 and will travel to Pleasant Hill for a matchup with College Park in the semifinal.
No. 1 California 9, No. 8 San Ramon Valley 4
In a rematch of last season’s NCS Division I title game, California won the sequel too. Facing the small-ball enthusiasts from Danville, California beat the Wolves at their own game.
The victorious Grizzlies hit 11 singles and stole three bases to improve to 18-8 and move on to a matchup with another East Bay Athletic League opponent in Amador Valley.
Cal’s Hailey King was 3 for 3 with two RBIs, and Reese Stiner was 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Kayla Steel joined her teammates in the two-RBI club after going 1 for 3, and steady senior pitcher Kaitlyn Le struck out five in a complete game.
San Ramon Valley’s Ava Lyons went 3 for 4, and Addie Layous and Sophia Jin each had two hits as the Wolves finished the season 13-12.
NCS Division II
No. 3 Benicia 10, No. 6 American Canyon 0
Benicia has yet to be challenged in the postseason, run-ruling a second straight opponent when it crushed American Canyon in five innings.
Benicia improved to 23-1 and will travel to No. 2 Livermore in a matchup of the Bay Area News Group’s top NCS teams.
Alana Robinson was 2 for 4 with a team-high three RBIs for Benicia, and teammates Suae Beatty, Kyra Mason and Morgan Kacalek each had two hits apiece for the Panthers.
Sinead Maas allowed just one hit and struck out seven in a short complete game.
No. 2 Livermore 8, No. 10 Alhambra 0
Livermore used the long ball to blow past Alhambra and advance to the semifinal. Annie Polaski, Payten Williams and Sophia Gerochi each had a home run for Livermore.
Minnesota-bound Jae Cosgriff had the biggest day of all at the plate, hitting a homer as part of a 4 for 4 day with two RBIs. Cosgriff and Gianna Willes each stole two bases too.
Savanna Froke and Kaci Norton split pitching duties, combining to strike out five as Livermore improved to 23-5.
Alhambra’s Keira Sullivan had two hits as the Bulldogs finished the season 10-13.