NCS roundup: Defending champ Granada falls to Casa Grande in D-I baseball
There will be a new North Coast Section and NorCal Division I baseball champion this season.
Defending champ Granada bowed out of the section playoffs on its home field in Livermore on Friday, falling to ninth-seeded Casa Grande 3-2 in a quarterfinal game.
Casa Grande (20-7) moves on to play at fifth-seeded College Park on Tuesday.
The season is over for top-seeded Granada (22-6).
It looked like business as usual for the Matadors in the first inning as they opened a 2-0 lead. But Casa Grande, the NCS’s Division II champion in 2023, cut the margin in half with a run in the second.
Then Granada’s defense went sideways.
The Matadors had four errors in the third inning, leading to two Casa Grande runs, and senior Danny Mercado made the slim margin stand up.
He pitched a complete game, striking out eight while scattering seven hits and two walks.
After giving up the two first-inning runs, Mercado was lights out as the 5-foot-11, 185-pound pitcher retired the final seven Granada batters.
In the bottom of the seventh, he struck out the first batter, retired the next on a ground out and then ended the game with another strikeout.
Granada wasn’t as dominant this season as it was last spring when the Livermore school captured NCS and NorCal Division I championships to finish 32-1.
But the Matadors were good enough to win the East Bay Athletic League title last week, beating De La Salle in the final, and earn the top seed in the NCS Division I bracket.
They opened the playoffs on Tuesday with a 5-2 victory over San Ramon Valley and quickly took charge Friday.
A wild pitch brought in Granada’s first run and Estevan Duarte’s single — one of the senior’s three hits — drove in Peyton Richards to make it 2-0.
But that was all the offense Granada generated.
No. 2 De La Salle 15, No. 7 Petaluma 0 (5 innings)
The host Spartans needed only 4 ½ innings to advance to the semifinals as Alec Blair and Jacob Gray each went 3 for 3 with three RBIs and Roman Bartosh allowed one hit and struck out eight while pitching a complete game to lead the way.
De La Salle scored two in the first, five in the third and eight in the fourth to bury the visitors from the North Bay.
The Spartans, who have won 29 of their past 30 NCS playoff games dating to 2016, will play host to Foothill on Tuesday in the semifinals.
No. 5 College Park 4, No. 13 Clayton Valley Charter 1
Sebastian Alvarez allowed one run in six innings and Connor Berkowitz, Trent “TJ” Lanza Dante Nishizawa each knocked in a run as College Park prevailed over Clayton Valley in a matchup between Diablo Athletic League teams.
College Park scored three in the second and added a run in the third to open a 4-0 cushion. Clayton Valley scored its run in the sixth.
The Falcons (16-10) advance to play at home Tuesday against Casa Grande. Clayton Valley finished the season 18-8.
Division III
No. 1 California 4, No. 9 Washington-Fremont 0
Ryan Giffins and Ryken Redondo combined on a three-hitter and Logan Kellogg had two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs as California beat Washington to advance to the semifinals.
The Grizzlies led 1-0 through four innings, then broke open the game with three in the fifth, which included a two-run homer by Kellogg.
California (14-11) will be at home on Tuesday to face 12th-seeded Freedom.
Washington finished 15-11.
No. 12 Freedom 2, No. 4 El Cerrito 0
Caleb Emmons pitched a four-hitter and Colton Vick and Devan Carmignani each drove in a run to lead the Falcons to an upset victory on the road over El Cerrito.
Freedom scored in the second and third innings, then let Emmons take care of the rest with his effectiveness on the mound.
The Falcons improved to 14-12. El Cerrito finished 20-8.
No. 10 Northgate 5, No. 2 Piedmont 0
Nate Luehs struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings and also doubled and knocked in a run to lead Northgate to its second consecutive upset victory this week.
Christopher Flores doubled and drove in a run as well for the Broncos (18-7), who will travel to sixth-seeded Marin Catholic for a semifinal matchup on Tuesday.
Northgate beat seventh-seeded Bishop O’Dowd in the first round.
Piedmont finished 16-10.
Division V
No. 5 Kennedy-Fremont 2, No. 4 St. Joseph Notre Dame 1
Isaiah Ebrahimi allowed one unearned run and struck out 10 and Hunter Padilla’s third-inning double drove in both of Kennedy’s runs as the Titans advanced to the semifinals with a win over St. Joseph Notre Dame at College of Alameda.
Kennedy (13-12) will play at top-seeded Pinole Valley on Tuesday.
SJND finished 14-12.
No. 3 St. Bernard’s 2, No. 6 Miramonte 1 (8 innings)
Miramonte almost had a successful trip to Eureka, but host St. Bernard’s scored a run in the fifth to tie the score and won it on a walk-off in the bottom of the eighth.
Jonah Imberg knocked in Miramonte’s only run and Casey Yung pitched four scoreless innings for the visitors.
Miramonte finished 9-17.
St. Bernard’s (19-8) will play at second-seeded Arcata in the semifinals Tuesday.
Softball
Division I
No. 1 Liberty 11, No. 9 San Marin 4
Liberty actually trailed San Marin 2-1 going into the bottom of the second inning, but the Lions (21-4) equalized in the bottom of the frame and never looked back.
Liberty took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning, then pulled away with five in the fifth and three more in the sixth.
Junior Isabella Rice drove in three runs for the Lions. Senior Isabel Mercado, sophomore Jewel Cooper and sophomore Taylor Jennings each batted in two runs for Liberty.
Jennings hit a pair of solo home runs. Mercado and Rice each homered once as well for the Lions.
Junior Kate Skinner pitched a complete game for Liberty, allowing four earned runs on as many hits with four walks and nine strikeouts.
No. 13 Foothill 3, No. 5 California 2
Foothill got the big hit in the top of the seventh inning to win this quarterfinal thriller in San Ramon.
The Falcons (15-8-1) may have waited until the final inning to swoop in and strike, but they didn’t waste any time once the seventh got started. Leadoff hitter Naima Braham roped a homer to left, giving Foothill a lead it would not relinquish.
Myra Galzie swiftly slammed the door on a potential California comeback in the bottom of the seventh, retiring the Grizzlies in order.
The freshman finished off a complete game with one earned run allowed on five hits, notching five strikeouts without a walk.
Brea Olsen drove in the other two runs for Foothill. California finishes the season with a record of 19-9.
No. 3 Casa Grande 3, No. 6 San Ramon Valley 2
San Ramon Valley and Casa Grande were deadlocked after the fifth inning and remained so until the ninth, when the host Gauchos sent everyone home.
Veronica Nunez-Miller reached on an error with one out and advanced to second on the play. She moved to third on Lauren Ketchu’s groundout.
Then with two outs, Kansas commit Lila Mae Partridge played the hero for Casa, sending the home fans into euphoria with a game-winning single to right.
Lila McLeod pitched the full game for SRV, going 8 2/3 innings with no earned runs allowed. Kaysen West and Isla Higgins drove in runs for the Wolves.
SRV finished 16-8-2. Casa Grande is 21-5-1.
Division II
No. 5 Benicia 3, No. 13 Petaluma 0
Benicia handled its business at home on Friday, shutting out Petaluma to advance to the D-II semifinals.
Freshmen Skyler Jacome and Arielle Der each had an RBI for the Panthers (16-10), while freshman Alex Richardson and senior Ava Rojas each hit a triple.
Senior Alana Robinson was dominant in the circle, pitching the full game with just three hits allowed and seven strikeouts. Benicia will travel to face top seed Cardinal Newman in the semis on Tuesday in Santa Rosa.
Division III
No. 4 Alhambra 2, No. 12 Berkeley 1
Alhambra survived a scare from Berkeley to advance to the semis at home.
The Bulldogs (15-10) scored both their runs in the third inning, as sophomore Hailey Powers had an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch.
Senior Willa Adler had a strong effort in the circle, going seven innings and conceding no earned runs with three hits and nine strikeouts while allowing just one walk.
Alhambra will next play host to No. 9 Freedom, which upset No. 1 Del Norte 7-4, on Wednesday in Martinez. Berkeley’s season ends with a record of 11-16.