Baseball
Valley Christian wins in its final at-bat
Nobody had to remind Valley Christian about the stakes Friday.
If the Warriors had lost, their chances of chasing down St. Francis for the West Catholic Athletic League regular-season championship would have sunk to life support.
But with its back pinned against the wall at home in San Jose against Sacred Heart Cathedral, Valley Christian did what it so often has done under longtime coach John Diatte.
The Warriors found a way to celebrate.
Jacob Hudson’s bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh drove in the tying and winning runs as Valley Christian rallied for a 4-3 victory.
The Warriors remained tied with Bellarmine for second in the WCAL, each improving to 8-2-1 in league play with three games left.
St. Francis is 10-1.
Valley Christian, ranked third by the Bay Area News Group, plays host to No. 2 St. Francis today.
If Valley beats the Lancers and Bellarmine and Serra next week to close out the league schedule, St. Francis will have to win its final two games to capture the title. The Lancers visit St. Ignatius on Tuesday and will play host to Archbishop Mitty on Thursday.
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Valley trailed all game against No. 12 SHC. The visitors scored two in the first and added another run in the seventh to take a 3-1 lead into the home half of the final frame.
A walk, hit by pitch, sacrifice and hit by pitch loaded the bases. Easton Kreshel’s single pulled Valley to within 3-2. After a strikeout, Hudson followed with the winner.
Kreshel had two hits for Valley, which improved to 19-4-1 overall.
Justin Tapia went 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs for SHC (13-9-1, 5-6).
No. 1 De La Salle 14, Monte Vista 0
Cade Cushing doubled twice and drove in three runs, Anthony Martinez homered and Cal Randal pitched five scoreless innings with six strikeouts to lift De La Salle, playing at home in Concord, to a rout of Monte Vista in East Bay Athletic League play.
The Spartans (18-3, 10-1) maintained a one-game lead over Foothill and two-game California with two games to play.
Monte Vista fell to 8-14, 3-8.
No. 2 St. Francis 13, Archbishop Riordan 3
St. Francis, playing at home in Mountain View, scored two in the first and seven in the second on its way to a one-sided triumph over Riordan in a WCAL game.
The Lancers improved to 21-3, 10-1.
Riordan, which got three hits from Drew Parenti and two from Dylan Russell, slipped to 11-13, 1-10.
No. 4 Foothill 6, Dublin 2
Jack Basseer homered and knocked in two runs and Tyler Tarpley tripled and drove in two runs to lead Foothill to a victory on the road over Dublin in an EBAL game.
Basseer, Tarpley and Nick Walsh each had two hits for Foothill, which ran its record to 19-3, 9-2.
Dublin is 13-8-1, 5-6.
No. 5 Palo Alto 6, Los Gatos 1
Palo Alto stayed two games ahead of Wilcox in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division standings with two games left, winning on the road over Los Gatos to complete a two-game sweep.
Dominic De Feo went 3 for 4 with a homer and a double, Zachary Thom and Russ Filter each had two hits and Danny Peters pitched a complete game to lead Palo Alto (20-5, 11-1).
Los Gatos fell to 11-14, 6-6.
No. 6 Clayton Valley 12, Vacaville 5
Isaiah Landry went 3 for 5 with two doubles and five RBIs and Ryder Helfrick went 4 for 5 with two doubles and an RBI as Clayton Valley won on the road in non-league play.
Clayton Valley improved to 16-4. Vacaville is 12-13.
No. 7 Bellarmine 9, Serra 3
Bellarmine built an 8-0 lead through four innings at home in San Jose and cruised past Serra in a WCAL game.
Brody Pearson and Caden Sta Maria had two RBIs apiece and Andy Higgins pitched five scoreless innings for the Bells, who improved to 17-5-1, 8-2-1.
Ben Cleary finished with two hits and three RBIs for Serra (12-11, 3-8).
No. 9 California 6, Dougherty Valley 3
Aidan Camberg had two hits, including a homer, drove in two runs and scored two runs and Dom Tuyor and Cade Hannula each tripled to lead California to a victory on the road over Dougherty Valley in EBAL play.
California is 19-4, 9-3. Dougherty fell to 13-10, 2-10.
Granada 1, No. 10 San Ramon Valley 0
Joshua Morano pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts and Colin Johnston had the only RBI as Granada eliminated San Ramon Valley from EBAL title contention with a victory on the road in Danville.
Jason Krakoski had two hits and scored the game’s only run as Granada improved to 13-9, 6-5.
San Ramon Valley head coach Tony Battilega resigned this week for reasons that have not been made public. Assistants Corey Linteo and Paul Gambs are coaching the team for the rest of the season.
The loss Friday was the Wolves’ fourth in their past six games.
No. 15 Berkeley 4, No. 14 Bishop O’Dowd 2
Berkeley completed a two-game sweep of Bishop O’Dowd with a victory at home that moved the Yellowjackets to the brink of capturing the West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division title.
Berkeley holds a two-game lead over O’Dowd and Alameda. The Yellowjackets close out the league schedule next week with a two-game series against Alameda.
Friday, Manny Selles and Leo Asfar homered as Berkeley improved to 16-5, 8-0.
O’Dowd, which got two hits from Tyler Barsi, dropped to 14-8, 6-2.
Softball
No. 1 Granada 19, Dublin 0
Granada needed only four innings to score all of its runs and rolled to a victory at home over Dublin in an EBAL game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
Delaney Aumua homered twice and knocked in four runs and Alecsis Phillips went 3 for 3 with a double and a triple, drove in five runs and scored three runs to lead the Matadors (21-1, 11-0).
Mariah Ayala also had notable contributions. She went 4 for 4 with two RBIs and scored four runs.
Makayla Winchell and Sarah Deplitch homered.
Dublin is 7-15, 2-9.
No. 3 Archbishop Mitty 12, Sacred Heart Cathedral 1
Jamie Hicks had four hits and two RBIs and Taryn Kern and Corri Hicks homered to lead Mitty to a rout on the road over Sacred Heart Cathedral in WCAL play.
Mitty is 20-2, 4-1. SHC fell to 8-8, 1-5.
Source: www.mercurynews.com