WCAL champs: Valley Christian clinches regular-season title, one win from perfection
Valley Christian a victory from undefeated WCAL record after defeating Bellarmine. "They’re a good example of how the game should be played"
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SAN JOSE — Valley Christian is no stranger to West Catholic Athletic League baseball success.
The Warriors have filled their trophy case with numerous league and section championship hardware under longtime coach John Diatte.
But this year’s edition, ranked No. 1 team by the Bay Area News Group, is on the verge of doing something that even the program’s teams that won three consecutive WCAL crowns from 2017-19 didn’t do: Go 14-0 in league play.
Valley Christian clinched the WCAL title on Tuesday, winning on the road over Bellarmine 7-2. The Warriors are 23-3 overall and 13-0 in the league.
They can complete an unbeaten league season Friday at home against Archbishop Mitty, the runner-up in the standings.
“I think we’ve had some good fortune, and in baseball, you have to have some luck on your side, but they’ve worked really hard,” said Diatte, who recently celebrated his 1,000th victory. “This is something they’ve worked really hard for.”
When asked to compare the current team to the program’s previous champions, Diatte said his players have been laser-focused on excelling at small details regardless of the stakes or opponent, which is something his other great teams have done.
Senior star Michael Castaneda underscored how focused the team is on the details.
He said some players aren’t even aware that the team is on the brink of becoming the first in at least the MaxPreps era (2004-present) to go unbeaten in the WCAL, widely considered one of the region’s strongest.
“We wanted to end the league race today, and then win on Friday, and then go on from there,” said Castaneda, who went 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
Bellarmine (14-9-1) had come within a few outs of ending Valley Christian’s unbeaten run in mid-April. The Warriors rallied in the sixth inning and won 5-2.
In the rematch, Valley Christian jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first off a Castaneda single that scored Tatum Marsh and PJ Mountzouridis.
Bellarmine responded in the bottom of the inning with a Caden Sta Maria RBI single to right, and a Nolan Randol solo homer to lead off the second inning that tied the score 2-2.
Valley Christian did not allow a run after that, with starter Alec Belardes pitching four innings and striking out five. Jacob Hudson closed it out with three scoreless innings.
Jordan Ortiz, Carmelo Rivera, Tatum Marsh and Hunter Fujimoto each drove in a run to widen Valley Christian’s lead. When the Warriors got the final out, the Valley Christian players mobbed one another in the middle of the field and celebrated.
“What we saw with Valley … they’re a good example of how the game should be played,” said Bellarmine coach Nate Sutton.
The league title is the first step of what Valley hopes will be a few more.
“Winning the league is nice, and that’s one of the goals we set this year,” Castaneda said. “Now we’ve got to take care of business next week and keep things moving forward.”
Next week is the WCAL tournament. Then comes the Central Coast Section playoffs and, if all goes as Valley hopes, the NorCal regional championships.
Last season, Valley fell short of winning a fifth consecutive CCS title and then lost to St. Francis, the CCS Division I champion, in the regionals.
“We’re super-motivated to get back on top where we’re supposed to be,” Castaneda said.