NCS baseball roundup: Pittsburg, Freedom, Liberty step out of EBAL shadow
Bay Valley Athletic League underdogs Pittsburg and Freedom prevail. James Logan holds Foothill without a hit. Top seeds De La Salle, San Ramon Valley advance.
The Bay Valley Athletic League was overshadowed this spring by the East Bay Athletic League as teams such as Granada and Amador Valley found comfort in the upper half of the rankings.
Not so Tuesday.
On the first day of the North Coast Section playoffs, the BVAL won four games in the Division I bracket, including upset victories by 12th-seeded Pittsburg and 13th-seeded Freedom.
No. 8 seed Liberty also advanced.
On the season-ending side of those results were teams from the EBAL, including fourth-seeded Granada and fifth-seeded Amador Valley.
No. 9 seed Dublin and No. 6 seed Foothill also lost.
For Pittsburg, which scored five runs in the final two innings on the road to stun Granada 8-4, it was the program’s first NCS playoff victory since 1996, according to its coach, Marco Cartagena.
He called his team’s small-ball performance “gritty.” The Pirates got three hits from Halen Guerrero and three walks from Daniel Trujillo.
“Obviously, the EBAL’s got stacked teams,” Cartagena said. “They have great teams like De La Salle and San Ramon. They all play great baseball. But I felt this year in our league, we all kind of beat up on each other. Everybody pretty much had an ace. They had one or two pitchers that are really good.
“We just fought and we battled. We have tested kids that have been in playoffs. We were in the playoffs last year with the same group almost that lost a tough game at San Ramon. I kind of feel like we’re not fazed by this moment.”
They made that clear on Tuesday. Here are more details:
Division I
No. 13 Freedom 2, No. 4 Amador Valley 0 (8 innings)
Shawn McBroom pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts, retiring Amador Valley in order in the bottom of the eighth after Freedom broke a tie with two runs in the top half of the frame, as the Falcons pulled off a stunning upset in the first round of the NCS playoffs.
Matthew Foley matched McBroom zero for zero through seven innings but couldn’t escape the eighth. The junior pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned).
An error on a hard-hit ball by Zach Fesinmeyer accounted for Freedom’s first run. McBroom followed with a double to drive in Fesinmeyer with the second run.
Freedom (14-11) will visit BVAL rival Pittsburg in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Amador finished 18-6.
No. 12 Pittsburg 8, No. 5 Granada 4
When Quinn Boyd hit a two-run homer in the home half of the fourth inning, Granada held a 4-3 lead. Pittsburg did not panic. The Pirates scored three runs in the sixth and added two in the seventh to pad the cushion.
“They’re gritty,” Cartagena said about his players. “We get after it and battle and battle and battle. We wear these pitchers down and that’s kind of what happened. We took a lot of pitches. Fouled off a lot of pitches. When we found out spots to put the small ball in, it worked.”
Jason Krakoski started for Granada and went three innings. Four relievers went the rest of the way.
Six days earlier, Granada was feeling great after its senior ace, Arizona-bound Joshua Morano, shut out De La Salle 6-0 in the semifinals of the EBAL playoffs.
Friday, Granada was four outs from the EBAL championship when San Ramon Valley rallied and won 3-2 in eight innings.
Now, the Matadors’ season is over. They finished 20-8.
Pittsburg, which also got two hits and two RBIs from Octavio Lopez, improved to 19-9.
In early March, Granada rolled over Pittsburg 7-0 as Morano pitched a one-hitter without a walk over 6 1/3 innings.
No. 8 Liberty 4, No. 9 Dublin 0
Dublin was the only EBAL team to defeat De La Salle before the league playoffs. Now, the Gaels’ season is over after Liberty’s David Roberts scattered six walks over six hitless innings and Cole Ehrhorn finished off the no-hitter with a scoreless seventh in a game played at Pittsburg High.
Luke Hyland went 3 for 3 with an RBI and Sutter Doctolero had two hits, including a double, to lead Liberty.
The Lions (17-9) will travel to De La Salle on Friday.
Dublin finished 16-9.
No. 11 James Logan 9, No. 6 Foothill 0
James Logan, playing at home in Union City, held Foothill hitless as Daniel Hernandez pitched 5 1/3 innings and Julian Vasquez retired all four batters he faced.
The loss left the EBAL with a 2-4 record on Tuesday.
Trevian Martinez led Mission Valley Athletic League champion Logan with three hits and two RBIs. Daniel
Hernandez and Juan Pablo Manzo also knocked in two runs apiece for the Colts (19-6), who will visit Clayton Valley on Friday.
Logan scored five in the first and one in the second to quickly put away last season’s NCS Division I runner-up.
Foothill finished 15-10.
No. 10 Berkeley 6, No. 7 Heritage 0
Daniel Beadles pitched a three-hitter over 6 2/3 innings and Manny Selles went 3 for 4 with a double and five RBIs as Berkeley cruised into the quarterfinals with a victory on the road over Heritage.
The Yellowjackets (19-7) will travel to San Ramon Valley on Friday.
BVAL champ Heritage finished 19-8.
No. 2 San Ramon Valley 5, No. 15 Antioch 1
Tied 1-1 through four innings, San Ramon Valley avoided the upset by its BVAL guest as the Wolves scored two in the fifth and two more in the sixth to advance.
Colin Linteo had two hits, including a triple, and drove in two runs and Max Ellis and Joseph Coupland each had an RBI to lead the Wolves (19-9).
Charles Reiland allowed one run in five innings and Nate Simonton pitched two scoreless innings for SRV.
Antioch ended its season 15-10.
No. 1 De La Salle 15, No. 16 Castro Valley 4 (5 innings)
De La Salle stretched its NCS playoff winning streak to 21 games as the Concord powerhouse broke open this one with seven runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth.
The Spartans, who have won five consecutive Division I championships dating to 2016, got two hits and four RBIs from Tanner Griffith. Kai Smith added three hits, including a home run, and three RBIs as De La Salle improved to 21-5.
Michael Olsen and Anthony Mares each had two hits and an RBI for Castro Valley, which finished 10-16.
No. 3 Clayton Valley Charter 9, No. 14 College Park 2
Aiden Romero knocked in three runs and Isaiah Landry drove in two as Clayton Valley scored six in the fifth to pull away from visiting College Park.
Landry finished with two hits and Ryder Helfrick had two hits and scored three runs as Clayton Valley upped its record to 20-5.
College Park finished 11-14.
Elsewhere
Hideki Prather hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs as third-seeded Campolindo edged No. 14 seed Kennedy-Fremont 4-3 in the Division III playoffs. Campo will be at home on Friday to face No. 6 seed Novato. … Jakob Poole allowed two runs over six innings and Daniel Polasek had a hit and two RBIs to lead fourth-seeded Alhambra to a 4-2 victory over No. 12 seed Sonoma Valley in a Division III game. The Bulldogs will play host to Bishop O’Dowd in a quarterfinal Friday. … Justin Jones pitched a two-hitter and Jonah Simkin England and Zachariah Lazzarini each knocked in a run as No. 10 seed Las Lomas ousted No. 7 seed Pinole Valley 2-0. Las Lomas will play No. 2 seed Redwood Christian on Friday at San Leandro Ballpark.