Baseball
No. 1 Granada 9, No. 15 San Ramon Valley 4
When Granada signed up to be in the Bishop Gorman tournament in Las Vegas, the Matadors hoped to see some of the best talent from around the country.
But after winning three games against out-of-state opponents to get to the tournament final, Granada faced a team that is a 15-minute drive from its campus.
In what ended up being an East Bay Athletic League showdown in Neon City, Granada’s offense proved to be too much as the Matadors defeated the Wolves 9-4 to capture the Bishop Gorman Invitational championship.
“One of the goals we outlined at the beginning of the season was to come to Vegas and win this tournament,” said Granada pitching coach Jason Sekany. “The guys stayed pretty calm even when we were down in this tournament. We were really just confident we could come back at any point, and so we just want to reinforce that going forward.”
The two teams played each other just over three weeks ago with Granada getting the best of SRV in a 6-1 win.
SRV started the game putting up two runs in the top of the first, but Granada tied the game in the second inning.
The Matadors exploded in the third inning, scoring four runs to take a 6-2 lead. A.J. Martinez’s RBI single that scored Peyton Richards capped off Granada’s four-run inning.
Joseph Coupland’s RBI single in the top of the fourth inning that knocked in Luke Baker cut the Granada lead to just three runs, but that’s as close as the Wolves would get for the rest of the night.
Granada stretched its lead to as much as five, but a solid pitching performance from Parker Warner and Luke Palma sealed the win for the Matadors in the later innings.
Warner went 2 for 3 at the plate and recorded a triple and a home run. On the mound, the Stanford commit struck out 10 and allowed three earned runs on 101 pitches.
“Parker has held up his end of the bargain from a leadership standpoint and from his performance in the dugout and on the field,” Sekany said. “He really delivered on all our expectations.”
Granada junior Mikey Boyd batted 2 for 3 and brought in three runners.
Julian Cambra had a hit and two RBIs for SRV.
Granada extended its winning streak to 16 and remains undefeated. The Wolves dropped to 9-5.
Granada’s Parker Warner (4) pitches against De La Salle in the first inning of their game at Granada High School in Livermore, Calif., on Friday, March 15, 2024. Granada defeated De La Salle 5-4. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
No. 4 Serra 10, St. Mary’s-Stockton 1
A long road trip to the Central Valley might have aided in a slow start for the Padres, but Serra found its groove late in a dominant win.
The Rams put up the game’s first run in the fourth inning when Tyson Reis’ singled to center field to score Michael Quedens, but the St. Mary’s lead didn’t last long.
Serra put up a seven spot in the top of the fifth inning capped off by Ian Armstrong’s two-run homer that gave the Padres a six-run advantage. Serra scored three more runs in the seventh to blow out the fourth best team in Maxpreps Sacramento Metro rankings.
Armstrong finished with two hits and two RBIs to go along with his fifth inning home run. Joey Damelio drove in two runners and had a double.
Serra (13-2) resumes West Catholic Athletic League play on Tuesday against Valley Christian.
No. 6 De La Salle 17, Granite Bay 1
The Spartans made it look easy against the top team in the Maxpreps Sacramento Metro rankings.
De La Salle took an early 4-0 lead after the second inning. The Grizzlies cut the score to 4-1 in the fourth, but that’s as close as they would get all game.
The Concord school put up 10 runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to close out Granite Bay in dominant fashion.
Ethan Sullivan had two hits, four RBIs and a double. Tyler Spangler and Jamie Mullin each had three RBIs.
De La Salle moved to 9-3. Granite Bay dropped to 13-2.
Pittsburg’s Halen Guerrero steals second against De La Salle’s Tyler Spangler in the third inning of their North Coast Section Division I semifinals at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Encinal 25, Mission-San Francisco 0
Three different batters went 3 for 3 at the plate as Encinal shutout Mission and put up 25 runs in a blowout win.
Evan Furuichi, Angus Olaes and Eric Proctor each had three hits in three attempts in Saturday’s win. The Jets had 18 hits and 22 RBIs as a team.
The trio of Darren Olson, Anthony Wilson and Zac Struthers combined to throw a one-hitter and struck out seven batters.
Encinal moved a game above .500 at 7-6. Mission is now 6-8.
Bishop O’Dowd 6, Archbishop Riordan 2
The Dragons took a 4-0 lead after three innings and didn’t look back.
O’Dowd junior Vander Cole went 2 for 4 at the plate and had two RBIs. Nikolas Haas had two hits, two RBIs and a double.
Colton Parenti and Nathan Zuromski scored the Crusaders only two runs.
O’Dowd (10-5-1) will play Arroyo on Wednesday. Riordan (6-8-2) will go to Sacred Heart Cathedral on Tuesday.
Pioneer 7, No. 18 Menlo-Atherton 3
Pioneer picked up a solid non-conference win behind a solid offensive outing from junior Lucas Leese.
Leese had two hits, three RBIs and a double in the Mustangs’ win over Menlo-Atherton.
Nathaniel Forbes pitched six innings, striking out five and allowing just two earned runs. Senior Nate Tichy came in relief in the seventh and retired three straight batters.
Pioneer improved to 9-7. Menlo-Atherton dropped to 11-6.
Softball
No. 1 St. Francis 5, No. 4 Livermore 0
After the cancellation of the Livermore Stampede softball tournament due to weather conditions, some of the top teams in the Bay Area decided to make what would be the final day of the tourney into an exciting showcase.
Kate Munnerlyn and St. Francis did not disappoint.
The Texas A&M commit tossed a one-hitter, striking out 11 Livermore batters in a dominant shutout win.
“Kate’s competitive and when she gets out there we always have a chance,” said St. Francis coach Mike Oakland.
Peyton Tsao got the scoring started for the Lancers, knocking in Hayden Hummel on an RBI single to center field to give St. Francis a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Tsao wasn’t finished.
The 5-foot-7 freshman crushed a pitch past the center field wall to score Hummel a second time on a two-run homer, giving the Lancers a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. It was Tsao’s third home run of the season.
St. Francis added insurance runs in the seventh when Shannon Keighran drove in Jaime Oakland and Rebecca Quinn.
The Lancers (13-0) won their 13th straight after beating Amador Valley later in the day. Munnerlyn notched her sixth victory this season.
Livermore (11-3) lost its second game on Saturday after falling to Archbishop Mitty. Livermore coach Andy Paulazzo getting to play high-level games against teams like St. Francis in the wake of the Livermore Stampede getting canceled will only help the Cowboys going forward.
“The opportunity to play Kate (Munnerlyn) in a game like that was good for us,” Paulazzo said. “She’s a great pitcher and we needed to see someone like that for the rest of our season.”
St. Francis starting pitcher Kate Munnerlyn (8) throws against Willow Glen High School in the first inning for their Central Coast Section Open Division softball playoff game at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
St. Francis 8, No. 9 Amador Valley 2
St. Francis combined for seven runs in the second and third inning to 7-0 lead early.
Tsao showed off her power for the second straight game, hitting two home runs on two hits while Munnerlyn showed off her power as she hit a three-run homer in the third.
Amador Valley dropped to 6-5 with a loss to Mitty later in the day.
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No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 7, Amador Valley 2 (eight innings)
The Monarchs put up a five spot in the eighth inning to beat the Dons in extras.
After going down 2-0 in the second inning, Amador came back and scored two runs in the sixth to tie the game.
Mitty started off the top half of the eighth scoring two runs. With two on base, senior Lindsey Miller hit a three-run shot to center field, giving the Monarchs a 7-2 lead. Pitcher Kyleigh Mace retired three straight at the bottom of the inning to seal the win for Mitty.
Mitty moved to 11-1 after beating Livermore in its second game of the day.
Mitty 9, Livermore 5
Miller batted 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a double in a win over Livermore. Monarchs senior Corri Hicks scored three times, totaled two hits and had a home run.
Livermore senior Jae Cosgriff went 3 for 4 at the plate to go along with an RBI and a double.
Track and field
Ben Bouie shines at Arcadia Invitational
The Crystal Spring Uplands junior won a Men’s 3200 meter event with a time of 9:02.82 beating out Tuscola’s Josiah Hortin by 3.4 seconds.