Baseball
Valley Christian nearing epic record
There hasn’t been a better team in the Bay Area this season than Valley Christian.
The Warriors are two victories — at Bellarmine on Tuesday and home against Archbishop Mitty on Friday — from an epic accomplishment.
In the MaxPreps era, which dates to the 2004-05 school year, no West Catholic Athletic League baseball team has finished the league’s regular season 14-0. Whether it happened before then is unclear. The WCAL website lists league champions dating to the league’s start in 1968, but not the records.
Valley Christian will finish 14-0 in the league standings if it wins both games this week.
The Warriors couldn’t be much hotter as they aim for the rare feat.
On Saturday, the San Jose powerhouse stretched its winning streak to 10 games with a 3-2 non-league victory on the road over Jesuit-Carmichael.
Tied 1-1 after seven innings, Valley (22-3) scored two in the top of the eighth, the first on a fielding error and the second on a sacrifice fly by Keaton Norris.
A one-out, bases-loaded walk cut the margin to 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth. But a pop-up to shortstop and a flyout to right field sent Valley home with a hard-fought victory.
Quinten Marsh pitched six innings for Valley, allowing two hits and an unearned run.
Jesuit fell to 11-13-1.
Leigh 7, Santa Cruz 3
Leigh was 5-7 not too long ago. Now, the Longhorns are 15-7 after they won their 10th in a row on Saturday with a non-league victory on the road over Santa Cruz.
Nate Miller led an offense that finished with 14 hits. The senior went 3 for 4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs. He also scored twice.
Justin Jeong also had three hits and Bryant Viskovich hit a triple and drove in two runs.
Leigh led 6-1 after three innings and 7-1 after four.
Santa Cruz dropped to 14-7.
Leigh holds a two-game lead over Live Oak, Pioneer and Branham in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division with four league games left.
The Longhorns play two this week against Branham and two next week against Live Oak.
No. 9 Foothill 11, No. 18 Liberty 0
Jackson Flora allowed one hit and struck out eight over six scoreless innings and Nate Novitske, Trevor Harmon, Brendan Comerford and Charlie Stearns each had two hits and two RBIs as Foothill stretched its win streak to six games with a non-league victory at home in Pleasanton over Liberty.
Related Articles
High schools: Legendary Menlo School tennis coach retiring after next school year
Prep roundup: Menlo-Atherton, Valley Christian, Skyline closing in on league titles
Prep roundup: Granada too much for SRV in EBAL softball showdown
Prep roundup: Cal-bound ace Oliver de la Torre leads Amador Valley over Granada
Prep roundup: St. Francis finds its mojo, routs No. 2 Mitty behind Luke DeVine’s 2 HRs
The Falcons improved to 15-6. Liberty is 14-7.
No. 14 Dublin 2, Mountain House 0
Desi Lopez allowed three hits over five innings and Brendan Moddelmog pitched two innings as Dublin edged Mountain House in a non-league game.
Dublin had just two hits. But the Gaels scored all the runs they’d need with one in the sixth and a second run in the sixth.
The Gaels improved to 15-7. Mountain House is 17-8.
Live Oak 15, No. 15 Menlo-Atherton 4
Live Oak showed that it is ready for the season’s home stretch, routing Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division leader Menlo-Atherton in a non-league game that ended after 4 1/2 innings because of the 10-run rule.
The host Acorns scored two in the first to tie the game and six in the second to erase another two-run deficit.
The Morgan Hill school put the game away with four in the third and three in the fourth.
Caleb Elam struck out five and allowed two hits in three scoreless innings and Dominic Pereira went 2 for 2 with a double and five RBIs as Live Oak improved to 13-8.
M-A, which got two RBIs apiece from Adam Chane and Will Roberts, fell to 14-7.
No. 12 Berkeley 2, St. Mary’s-Berkeley 0
Isaiah Mays and Trey Johnson knocked in runs in the top of the eighth to break a scoreless tie and Nikhil Newman pitched seven scoreless innings to lift Berkeley to a non-league win over St. Mary’s.
Berkeley upped its record to 14-6. St. Mary’s fell to 14-7-1.
Nico Laub-Sabater didn’t allow a run in five innings for St. Mary’s.
Softball
Bishop O’Dowd 5, No. 5 Pinole Valley 2
After 21 consecutive wins, Pinole Valley is no longer unbeaten.
Bishop O’Dowd scored two in the top of the sixth to break a 2-2 tie and added an insurance run in the seventh to send the Spartans to their first loss this spring.
Amaya Heard drove in two runs and Tulip Barnes and Hanalei Strub each had one RBI to lead Bishop O’Dowd (12-9) in the non-league game.
Ayla Serrano had two hits and knocked in a run for Pinole Valley (21-1).
No. 7 Sequoia 2, Hillsdale 0
Ainsley Waddell pitched a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts and one walk and Mackenzie Jackson and Claire Sarrail drove in runs as Sequoia edged Hillsdale in a PAL Bay Division game.
Sequoia improved to 15-3, 7-2.
The Ravens trail first-place Capuchino by a half-game in the standings.
Hillsdale slipped to 12-5, 6-4.
No. 8 Capuchino 4, San Marin 1
Lola Sierra went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Nohemi Livingston allowed one unearned run and struck out eight in a complete game as Capuchino won at home in non-league play.
Related Articles
High schools: Legendary Menlo School tennis coach retiring after next school year
NFL Draft: Monte Vista’s Jake Haener joins Fresno State alum Derek Carr in New Orleans
Prep roundup: Menlo-Atherton, Valley Christian, Skyline closing in on league titles
NFL Draft: De La Salle edge rusher Isaiah Foskey goes to Saints in second round
How dyslexia diagnosis changed an East Bay high school softball player’s life
Capuchino improved to 17-4. San Marun is 7-10.
No. 10 Clayton Valley 12, Castro Valley 3
The Ugly Eagles built a 12-1 lead through four innings and ended the non-league game in the fifth, prevailing by 10-run rule.
Soo-Jin Berry hit a triple and drove in three runs and Kate Hadley had two RBIs to lead Clayton Valley, which improved to 13-4.
Castro Valley is 12-7.