baseball
First League
No. 1 Granada 11, No. 9 James Logan 1 (five innings)
The Matadors defeated James Logan by mercy rule within the fifth inning to advance to the NCS Division I semifinals, where they’ll face Acalanes within the semifinals.
Nathan Canilao was in Livermore and has the entire story here.
#3 College Park 3, #11 Castro Valley 2
The Falcons held off a seventh-inning comeback from Castro Valley to win their first NCS semifinal since 2017.
Hunter Pelayo's third-inning sacrifice fly that brought home Tino Vasell gave College Park its largest lead of the sport.
At the beginning of the seventh period, the Trojans made their run.
Junior outfielder Arthur Sims hit a two-run home run to left field to bring Castro Valley inside one run. But College Park relief pitcher Diego Emerling retired three of the following 4 batters to finish the sport and secure the Falcons a date with De La Salle on Tuesday.
Pelayo allowed five hits and two runs on 78 pitches. Senior Nathan Leffel was 2 for two with an RBI double.
No. 2 De La Salle 13, No. 7 Heritage 3 (five innings)
Junior Alec Blair had one among his best games of the season, delivering a monster game with three hits, six RBIs and two home runs – one among which was a grand slam – to guide De La Salle past Heritage and into the semifinals, where it is going to face College Park at home.
The two teams were tied after the primary inning, however the Spartans took a 7-2 lead after scoring five runs within the second inning.
Senior Jamie Mullin was 2 for 3 with three RBIs. De La Salle pitcher Tommy Curran struck out five and allowed two hits and one earned run in five innings.
Heritage finished its season at 20-6-1.
No. 4 Acalanes 1, No. 5 Casa Grande 0
The Dons scored only one run, but that was all they needed to beat the 2023 NCS runner-up in a detailed quarterfinal game.
Acalanes pitchers Peter Thorn and Henry Souza combined to pitch a shutout, striking out two and allowing six hits.
Gavin Bender's RBI single within the sixth inning that scored Keegan Goddard was the deciding factor as Acalanes advanced to the NCS semifinals, where they’ll play Granada on the road.
Department V
No. 2 Head-Royce 9, No. 7 St. Bernard's 3
Matthew Wong and Kento Tsuji each had two RBIs because the Jayhawks defeated St. Bernard's at home and advanced to the Division V semifinals.
Head-Royce scored five runs in the primary inning and 4 within the sixth.
Wong played an entire game, striking out 4 and allowing three runs on two hits.
Soft ball
NCS Division I
#3 College Park 5, #6 Granada 1
College Park pitcher Keira Pfeiffer cooled Granada's red-hot bat Friday night by allowing only one earned run and striking out five in an entire game.
The Falcons will host Liberty within the semifinals.
Avery Rodriguez went 2 for 3 with two RBIs for College Park, and teammate Abby Wood drove in three runs. Granada senior Saskia Raab scored three goals in the ultimate game of her highschool profession.
Granada finished the season at 13-10, while College Park will bring a 14-8 record into the sport against visiting Liberty.
No. 7 Liberty 8, No. 2 Vintage 3
The visiting Lions pulled off one among the most important upsets of the night after they traveled to Napa and defeated their No. 2 seed.
Liberty has relied on its performance all season, and Friday was no expectation. Savannah Page went 3-for-3 with a house run, and freshman Taylor Jennings also hit a house run as a part of a 2-for-4 day.
Madison Tuttle didn't hit a ball out of the park, but she went 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and pitcher Kate Skinner struck out 10 and allowed just two hits in an entire game.
Liberty improved to 20-3 and can travel to Pleasant Hill to face College Park within the semifinals.
No. 1 California 9, No. 8 San Ramon Valley 4
In a rematch of last season's NCS Division I title game, California also won the sequel. Against the small-ball enthusiasts from Danville, California beat the Wolves at their very own game.
The victorious Grizzlies hit 11 singles and stole three bases to enhance to 18-8 and advance to a matchup with fellow East Bay Athletic League opponent in Amador Valley.
Cal's Hailey King was 3 for 3 with two RBIs and Reese Stiner was 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Kayla Steel joined her teammates within the two-RBI club after going 1-for-3, and regular senior pitcher Kaitlyn Le struck out five in an entire game.
San Ramon Valley's Ava Lyons shot 3 for 4 and Addie Layous and Sophia Jin each had two goals because the Wolves finished the season 13-12.
NCS Department II
#3 Benicia 10, #6 American Canyon 0
Benicia has not yet been challenged within the postseason and have become the second consecutive opponent to defeat American Canyon in five innings.
Benicia improved to 23-1 and can face No. 2 Livermore in a matchup of Bay Area News Group's top NCS teams.
Alana Robinson was 2 for 4 with a team-high three RBIs for Benicia, and teammates Suae Beatty, Kyra Mason and Morgan Kacalek each had two hits for the Panthers.
Sinead Maas allowed only one hit and struck out seven in a brief, complete game.
#2 Livermore 8, #10 Alhambra 0
Livermore took advantage of the long ball to blow past Alhambra and advance to the semifinals. Annie Polaski, Payten Williams and Sophia Gerochi each had a house run for Livermore.
Minnesota transfer Jae Cosgriff had one of the best day of all, hitting a house run as a part of a 4-for-4 day with two RBIs. Cosgriff and Gianna Willes also stole two bases each.
Savanna Froke and Kaci Norton shared pitching duties and combined for five strikeouts as Livermore improved to 23-5.
Alhambra's Keira Sullivan scored twice because the Bulldogs finished the season 10-13.
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