NEW: PREP SPORTS MAILBAG
The Bay Area News Group is introducing a high school sports mailbag in May. Get your questions in as soon as possible. Our debut edition is an open forum. Got questions about spring sports playoffs, coaching changes, an early peek at football season, etc.? Send questions to highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com. Please include “mailbag” in the subject line.
Baseball
Aeryk Hernandez is in his sixth season as the baseball coach at James Logan, and his last three teams are a combined 34-23, including a 2-0 victory over Mission San Jose on Wednesday.
What has eluded Hernandez is an outright Mission Valley Athletic League title. The Colts finished in a first-place tie in each of the last two years.
There is no way the veteran coach wants that to happen again. So he’s making sure his players know they have to win at least one more game for an outright MVAL championship.
At 11-0 in league play and 14-6 overall, the odds would overwhelmingly favor the Colts, ranked No. 19 in the Bay Area News Group Top 20, to get their outright title.
They have a 3½-game lead over Washington, which would have to win its four remaining league contests and Logan would have to lose its final three to force a first-place tie.
Micah Billings drove in both Logan runs against MSJ with a sacrifice fly in the third and a single in the fifth. Pitchers Jackson Garcia and Julian Vasquez did the rest. Garcia went the first six innings for the win and Vasquez completed the shutout for the save.
If the Colts do win out, it would be the first time since 2007 they have gone through a season undefeated in league play.
Irvington 10, Washington-Fremont 1
After the Vikings tied the game at 1-1, Ryan Nagamine singled home two runs. Then seven more came pouring across. Sophomore Brayden Jaksa delivered two hits and scored twice in the wild inning.
Washington remains in second place in the MVAL standings at 7-3. The Huskies are 12-8 overall. Irvington is 8-12, 5-6.
No. 7 Granada 10, Livermore 4
The Matadors (17-6, 8-4) broke a three-way tie in the East Bay Athletic League’s Valley Division with the win. Amador Valley and Foothill (both 7-4) fell a half-game back after being rained out Wednesday. They will play at 5 p.m. Thursday at Amador Valley.
Granada had little trouble with Livermore (10-13, 2-10), rolling to a 9-1 lead after three innings. Riley Winchell led the Granada hitters with a homer and four RBI. Quinn Boyd had two hits and also homered.
Gilroy 1, Evergreen Valley 0, 9 innings
In what might have been the best game on a day when there were many postponements because of wet weather, Evergreen Valley’s Gregory Strite pitched a gem but lost.
The senior right-hander worked eight innings, allowed two hits, walked one and struck out 13. But the Cougars couldn’t break through against Gilroy’s Eric Hernandez (6 innings) and Carter Martinez (3 innings).
Evergreen Valley certainly had its chances. The Cougars outhit Gilroy 8-4. Dylan Chan had four hits by himself. Evergreen Valley left 10 runners on base. Gilroy’s run was unearned.
The standings remain tight in the Santa Teresa League. Gilroy (14-6-1, 10-1) has a one-game edge over Prospect (13-9, 9-2). Evergreen Valley is in third place at 12-8, 8-2.
Marcus Horta scored the run for Gilroy.
Prospect 11, Gunderson 0
Sophomore Kyle Pollace packed in nine innings worth of production in a game that last only five innings. He had a triple, four RBI and stole two bases.
Kaiden Hoapili had four hits and scored three runs for Prospect. Matt Castillo had three hits. Alex Martinez and Ethan Roth each hit a triple.
Elsewhere
Skyline improved to 9-0 in the Oakland Athletic League by routing Oakland 16-3. Liam Johnson led a 14-hit attack with a double and two singles. The Titans led 14-0 after three in a game that was halted in the fifth. Skyline is 14-4 overall. Oakland is 3-7-1. … Stanford commit Rashad Hayes homered and drove in five runs as Bishop O’Dowd hammered Castro Valley 11-3. O’Dowd’s victory broke a four-way tie for first in the West Alameda County Conference Foothill standings. Bishop O’Dowd is 6-3, 12-11. Castro Valley is 5-4, 9-13. Berkeley and Alameda, both 5-3, play Thursday. … Jack Harper was brilliant, pitching a nine-inning complete game in Willow Glen’s 1-0 win over Live Oak. The senior gave up three hits, walked no one and struck out four. Vinny Mollo knocked in Dylan Dallas with the game’s only run. Willow Glen is 13-9 overall and 8-7 in the Mount Hamilton League. Live Oak is 14-9, 9-6. Both teams have a ways to go to catch first-place Leigh (16-7, 12-3). … There were several rainouts. No. 2 De La Salle was supposed to host California. They will try again today. Ditto No. 8 Foothill at No. 6 Amador Valley. The game has been rescheduled for today at 5 p.m. at Amador Valley. … Tenth-ranked San Ramon Valley will host Monte Vista today at 4 p.m. … Half Moon Bay will visit Burlingame on Monday at 4. … St. Francis will bus back to San Francisco for a 2:30 p.m. match today with Sacred Heart Cathedral. … Menlo-Atherton and The King’s Academy were awaiting word to see if they could play Saturday, May 13. M-A is supposed to host.
Softball
No. 13 Valley Christian 6, No. 19 St. Ignatius 2
While the rain on Wednesday halted a lot of softball activity, it didn’t put much of a damper on the West Catholic Athletic League. All three scheduled games were played, with the best pitting two Bay Area News Group Top 20 teams.
Charileen Pauneto pounded two home runs and Talia Haskins added a third as the Warriors (13-7, 4-3) broke a third-place tie with S.I. (9-6, 3-4). The game was knotted at 2-2 when Valley Christian turned on the power, scoring two in the third and two more in the fifth.
Pauneto, a catcher, is hitting .419 this season. Haskins has a .350 average. Both players have homered four times.
No. 1 Mitty 13, Sacred Heart Cathedral 1
The Monarchs scored three runs in the first inning and eight in the third. The game was halted after four and a half innings.
Oklahoma commit Corri Hicks, Lindsey Miller and freshman McKenna Woliczko homered for Mitty, which stretched its record to 18-2 overall and 7-0 in league play.
Sacred Heart Cathedral is 11-8 overall but just 2-7 in league play.
No. 2 St. Francis 19, Presentation 1
The Lancers totaled 20 hits, within eight members of the lineup each getting two.
Kate Munnerlyn and Shannon Keighran had four RBI apiece for the Lancers, who improved to 21-2 overall and 6-1 in the WCAL. Munnerlyn and Rebecca Quinn homered.
Presentation, which is struggling this season, fell to 4-12 and 1-6.
Leigh 17, Piedmont Hills 2
The Longhorns started the season 1-4, but they’re rolling now. Leigh won for the 14th time in 16 games Wednesday, beating a Piedmont Hills team that trailed the Longhorns by only one game in the Santa Teresa West standings.
Leigh (15-6, 7-0) led 15-2 after two innings in a game that was called in the fifth. The Longhorns had seven extra-base hits.
Freshman Elliana Snyder doubled, homered and drove in three runs. Kiersten Law doubled twice and had three RBI. Elise Haneta scored three runs and has three hits, including a pair of triples.
Fremont-Sunnyvale 20, Santa Clara 4
The Firebirds won their eighth straight and remain undefeated in El Camino League play. An 11-run fifth broke open a relatively tight 7-4 contest.
Rory Yau had three hits and five RBI for Fremont. Teammate Katie Grant doubled, singled and drove in four runs.
Fremont (11-4, 8-0) has a two-game lead over Gunn (6-2) in league play.
Elsewhere
Alameda took a 5-3 lead with a run in the top of the seventh, then sweated out a Bishop O’Dowd rally in the bottom of the inning to hold on for a 5-4 triumph. The Hornets are 9-0 in the West Alameda County Conference Foothill and have wrapped up the division. Jasmine Whorley drove in two runs and Katy Lambert had two hits for Alameda. … Live Oak beat Silver Creek 11-0 behind the potent bat of freshman Ava Chapman, who homered twice, doubled, went 3-for-3 at the plate and knocked in four runs. … The rain Wednesday didn’t cause as much havoc in softball because there were fewer games scheduled than in baseball. An EBAL contest between No. 16 California and Foothill has been moved to Friday at 4 p.m. California will host.
Source: www.mercurynews.com