SOFTBALL
No. 9 Mitty 2, St. Ignatius 1
A dramatic seventh-inning comeback gave Mitty a key West Catholic Athletic League win at home on senior day.
The Monarchs trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, but it didn’t take long for them to make their mark.
Adelle Duncan led off the inning with a single to left, then with one out, Ellie Kleinheinz doubled to left, scoring Duncan.
Wasting no time, Alyssa Hahn, the next batter, roped her own double to left, scoring Kleinheinz and giving the Monarchs the win.
Kyleigh Mace held the line in the circle for Mitty to give the Monarchs a chance, allowing just one unearned run on six hits with 11 strikeouts to put Mitty in position to make its resurgence.
Cassidy Chew took a tough loss for SI, also going the distance while allowing seven hits and striking out five hitters. Chew did not concede a single walk all game, while Mace walked one hitter.
Mitty improved to 13-6-1 this season and 5-3 in the WCAL, keeping pace in third place behind St. Francis (8-0) and Valley Christian (7-1). SI dropped to 11-8 and 2-6 in the WCAL.
No. 8 Live Oak 1, Prospect 0
Live Oak eked out a close one to remain unbeaten in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division play. The Acorns got the big hit from junior Kayla Tulowitzki, who homered to left field in the top of the sixth inning. Senior Maya Medina and sophomore Julianna Altamirano combined for a strong performance in the circle, sharing the full seven innings and allowing just five hits and one walk. Live Oak improved to 20-2, 13-0, while Prospect dropped to 15-5, 11-3.
No. 20 Hillsdale 2, Aragon 1 (9 innings)
One day after a close loss to King’s Academy, Hillsdale picked up a nice bounce-back win to get back on track. The Fighting Knights had to work for it, as pitching was at a premium level in the circle from both clubs. Hillsdale finally broke through in the top of the ninth, plating runs on RBI singles by Sammie Marinec and Paige Venezia. Aragon responded by scoring its automatic runner with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the ninth, but pitcher Lola Jones held the line and induced a popup from Aliyah Adle to end the game. The Dons were certainly close to tying it up – Zoe Farrigan walked to lead off the inning and was stranded at third. Jones pitched the final eight innings to get the win for Hillsdale, conceding only the automatic runners and striking out seven. Makayla Hafoka pitched the entire game for Aragon and took a tough loss, scattering eight hits. Hillsdale improved to 15-9-1, 7-6. Aragon fell to 9-16, 5-8.
BASEBALL
No. 9 St. Ignatius 7, No. 6 St. Francis 3
SI walked off St. Francis in style on Friday night – just in the nick of time. The two teams were tied 3-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, and had been since the Lancers tied the game in the fifth, until AJ Wineinger stopped up to the plate.
With the bases loaded and one out, Wineinger ripped a drive down the left-field line and cleared the outfield fence, giving the Wildcats a series sweep with a game-ending grand slam.
SI also beat St. Francis 11-1 on Tuesday in Mountain View and is now 16-8-2 overall this season. The Cats improved to 10-4 in the WCAL, getting them into a second-place tie with Valley Christian.
Only Serra (12-2) has a better league record. St. Francis fell to fourth place and is now 19-8, 9-5.
Christopher 7, No. 11 Leigh 5 (9 innings)
It took some time, but Christopher finally beat Leigh in a major-league length game down in Gilroy. The Cougars trailed 4-0 after four innings but responded with three runs in the fifth. They responded again in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs to erase a 5-3 deficit and force extras.
In the bottom of the ninth, they were finally poised to walk it off. Aaron Mojica set the table with a one-out single, and three-sport star Jaxen Robinson took it from there.
The Northern Arizona football commit blasted a two-run homer to center field, giving Christopher a win it won’t soon forget.
The Cougars improved to 13-10 and 6-6 in league play. Leigh (19-5) dropped just its second loss of the league season and is now 10-2 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division.
TRACK
A number of athletes stood out as the West Catholic Athletic League held its championship meet on Friday at St. Francis.
Ellie McCuskey-Hay led the way for St. Ignatius on the girls side, winning four events. She topped the field in the 100-meter dash (11.75 seconds), 200-meter dash (24.61), 4×100-meter relay (47.17, school and meet record) and long jump (18-10.5, meet record).
Maya Ifo Desai won two events for Mitty, topping the shot put (40-4.5) and discus (154-11).
On the boys side, Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Jasaun Mabrey, SI’s Noah Gonzalez, St. Francis’ Kyle Velasco, SI’s Joshua Haven and SI’s Prince Babalola Buchango each had a pair of elite performances, meeting tracking company MileSplit’s US Second Team standard.
Mabrey did so in the long jump (22-10) and triple jump (45-9). Gonzalez just outstretched Mabrey in the long jump (23-1) and the triple (47-6). Velasco ran the 110 hurdles prelims in 14.68 and the 300 hurdles prelims in 39.37.
Haven was even better in the 110 hurdles, clocking a time of 14.41. He tied Mabrey in the long jump finals with a mark of 22 feet, 10 inches.
Babalola Buchango (14.61) also put up a strong performance in the 110 hurdles and topped the 200-meter prelims in 21.65.
GOLF
A strong season for Bishop O’Dowd boys golf will continue into the postseason.
The O’Dowd boys won the West Alameda County Conference on Monday for the first time since 2018. Freshman Theron Amey shot a 74 at Tilden Park Golf Course in Berkeley, including a pair of eagles.
Junior Daniel Weiland shot 78. Senior Adam Koceniak and freshman Theo Stoop both shot 79. The Dragons finished the regular season with a 19-2 record and will next play at the NCS Division I championships on May 19 at Rancho Solano Golf Course in Fairfield.
