Junior catcher Nathan Chew doubled home Nate Bateman with the only run of the game Wednesday, earning fifth-seeded Bellarmine a 1-0 win over top-seeded Serra and a spot in the West Catholic Athletic League tournament championship game.
The Bells (16-13) will visit No. 2 Valley Christian on Thursday at 4 p.m. The Warriors (23-5-1) edged No. 3 seed St. Ignatius 3-1.
Preston Pera and Emmet Arnott combined on the shutout against Serra (23-6), ranked third this week in the Bay Area News Group top 20. Bellarmine is unranked.
Pera, a sophomore, worked the first 5⅔ innings for the win and freshman Emmet Arnott recorded the final four outs for the save.
Bellarmine scored its run when Bateman led off the sixth with a single to center and advanced to second on a sacrifice by DJ Dunne. Chew followed with his double to left.
Serra starter Davis Minton also worked 5⅔ innings, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out two.
No. 2 Valley Christian 3, No. 7 St. Ignatius 1
The Warriors scored twice in the first inning, and that was enough thanks to the masterful pitching of Brock Ketelsen and Christopher Buck.
Ketelsen went 5⅔ innings, allowing three hits, walking four and striking out 10. He improved his season’s record to 5-0. Buck gave up a hit and struck out two while earning his first save.
Valley Christian (23-5-1) scored the only runs it would need after there were two out in the first. Jordan Ortiz doubled home Christian Navarez, who was on with a walk, to make it 1-0, then Ortiz eventually came home on an error for the second run of the inning.
Chase Gordon doubled home the St. Ignatius run in the fourth. The Wildcats are 17-9-2 for the season.
No. 20 Los Altos 6, Homestead 0
Eagles left-hander Sly Cash threw a no-hitter and improved his record to 7-1 with an overpowering performance. The senior struck out 11 and walked only one while lowering his ERA to 2.33. The complete game was his third of the season.
The game was close until Los Altos (19-7, 8-5 SCVAL De Anza) broke it open with a three-run sixth that made it 5-0.
Los Altos had 11 hits, three by Darrion Wesley. Other hitting stars included Quinn Chiochios, who doubled, singled and drove in two runs, and Emmett Heath, who also doubled and singled to go along with one RBI.
Homestead is 11-15 overall and 4-9 in league play.
No. 5 Los Gatos 7, Wilcox 5
The Wildcats scored all seven runs in the first inning, sending 13 batters to the plate.
Will Temple, Rowen Smith and Beau Musser all had RBI singles as Los Gatos improved to 13-0 in the SCVAL De Anza and 22-3 overall. The Wildcats have already clinched the league title.
Wilcox (18-8, 9-4) didn’t go quietly. The Chargers scored two in the fourth, one in the fifth and twice in the sixth before Matt Ludeman, the fourth Los Gatos pitcher, retired the side in order in the seventh. The save was Ludeman’s first of the season.
Matthew Tiendas hit a two-run homer in the sixth for Wilcox.
No. 11 Leigh 4, Branham 3
The Longhorns clinched the BVAL Mt. Hamilton pennant with the hard-fought win. Leigh is 11-2 in league play, two games ahead of Pioneer and Willow Glen, both at 9-4 with one game to play.
Senior Marcus Glanville went the distance for Leigh for the third time this season. The 6-foot-3 lefty allowed three hits, walked three and struck out seven. All three Branham runs were unearned. Glanville improved his record to 8-0.
Leigh, 20-5 overall, broke a 2-2 tie in the home half of the fourth when Lance Takamura drew a bases-loaded walk. The Longhorns made it 4-2 in the fifth Aiden Phillips doubled home Dylan Christian, who was on with a single.
Luka Knezevic’s single in the sixth made it a one-run game, but Glanville prevented further damage by retiring the last five Branham batters to face him. Branham is 12-10, 7-6.
Newark Memorial 6, Irvington 0
Connor Murphy ran his record to 9-1 with a dominant performance in the Cougars’ victory. The junior right-hander yielded four hits, walked two and struck out 11 as Newark Memorial remained in a first-place tie with James Logan in the Mission Valley Athletic League. Both teams are 11-2 with one game left to play.
Murphy, who stands 6-2 and averages over a strikeout per inning, has a 1.43 ERA. He was first-team all-MVAL last season. When not pitching, he plays first base and the outfield.
The game was never in doubt. The Cougars (17-5 overall) scored two runs in each of the first two innings. Malosi Gaoteote drove in three runs and had two hits. Noah Hanohano doubled twice, scored three runs and had an RBI.
James Logan 3, American 0
The MVAL co-leading Colts won on the strength of their pitching. Junior Wesley Vega threw a one-hitter at American. His ERA is under 2.00 for the season.
The visitors scored the only run they needed in their first at-bat. Evan Yau hit a one-out double and Ivan Perez singled him home.
Yau had a big game at the plate with a double and triple.
James Logan improved its overall record to 14-9.
Oakland Tech 6, Skyline 0
Elijah Rucker and Elias Thompson combined on a one-hitter to lead the Bulldogs past Skyline for the Oakland Section baseball title.
Rucker allowed just one hit over five innings. He issued five walks but struck out seven. Thompson worked the final two innings, walking one and striking out four.
Oakland Tech, designated as the home team in the game played at San Leandro Ballpark, grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first. Rucker and Gyasi Rapier had singles to spark the rally. The Bulldogs added single runs in the third and fourth innings, and two more in the sixth.
Oakland Tech is 16-9 for the season. Skyline is 11-13.
Softball
San Jose 23, Gunderson 16
Until coach Albert Valdivia arrived two seasons ago, the Bulldogs hadn’t had a winning softball record in the MaxPreps era, which dates back to 2004. Now San Jose can capture the BVAL West Valley title if it beats Independence on Friday.
The Bulldogs (15-5, 13-2) gave a bulldog-like effort Wednesday, storming back from a 6-1 deficit after three innings to beat Gunderson and take a one-game lead over the Grizzlies (13-5, 12-3) in the league standings.
An 11-run sixth inning was the key for San Jose. The Bulldogs had already come back to take a 10-9 lead, and the 11-run explosion allowed the visitors to stretch their advantage to an even dozen.
Genesis Davila led San Jose’s 24-hit attack, going 6-for-6 with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs. Mariah Sandoval had four hits (three doubles), homered, scored four runs and drove in three. Kimberly Gomez and Juliana Castellanos-Patricio also had four hits. San Jose had 14 extra-base hits.
Gunderson’s bats weren’t quiet. Dezirae Regalado drove in five runs, Talia Abuhamid crossed the plate five times and Chiemi Wong was 3-for-3 with four runs and two RBIs.
No. 5 Castro Valley 15, Encinal 5
The Trojans, seeded first in the four-team WACC Foothill playoffs, had little trouble in the first round, scoring four runs in the second and fourth innings to build an 8-2 lead. A six-run fifth turned the game into a blowout.
Giselle De Casas and Alanys Robertson provided all the offense Castro Valley would need. Both players homered and drove in four runs.
Castro Valley (17-3) next plays Friday against Alameda for the WACC Foothill title. The game will be at 4 p.m. at Bishop O’Dowd.
No. 13 Alameda 4, No. 20 Bishop O’Dowd 1
The Hornets scored three times in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie and move on to the WACC Foothill championship game Friday against Castro Valley at Bishop O’Dowd.
Winning pitcher Julia Lambert went the distance for Alameda. She only had one strikeout, but she allowed just three hits and walked two.
The Hornets scored all three runs in the sixth after two were out. Mia Wong began the rally with a double before the second out, but Abbye Haines delivered a run-scoring single with two out. Haines advanced to second on a walk, then Alissa Smitheram singled, driving in Haines to make it a 3-1 game. Later in the inning, Desiree Shoblo drew a bases-loaded walk for Alameda’s final run.
No. 8 Live Oak 4, Piedmont Hills 2
The Acorns put a wrap on a BVAL Santa Teresa championship by pushing their league record to 15-0.
Piedmont Hills led 2-1 when Live Oak broke through for three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Quinn Hulberg-Dana’s two-run single was the big hit, breaking a 2-2 tie.
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Julianna Altamirano was the winning pitcher for Live Oak with three innings of hitless relief.
Piedmont Hills is 12-3 in league play and 17-6 overall.
No. 1 St. Francis 7, No. 9 Archbishop Mitty 2
The top-ranked Lancers (24-2, 9-0 WCAL) bolted to a 6-0 lead after two innings, setting up a showdown with Valley Christian on Friday in San Jose. If Valley Christian can somehow beat St. Francis, the two teams would be deadlocked in the WCAL. Earlier this season, the Lancers beat the Warriors 9-2.
Hayden Hummel drove in two runs and Maya Yumiba scored twice against Mitty. Winning pitcher Ava Bulanti worked the first four innings.
Mitty’s two runs came off the bat of Ellie Kleinheinz on a single in the fourth.
No. 6 Valley Christian 9, St. Ignatius 2
The Warriors blew it open with a five-run fourth. Until then it was a close 2-1 game.
Valley Christian had 11 hits, with six going for extra bases. Makena Blauman homered and Sia Marsh had a pair of doubles and two RBI.
Valley Christian will host No. 1 St. Francis on Friday. If the Warriors can beat their guests, that would tie them for identical 9-1 records in the WCAL. St. Francis, however, has won the last 14 meetings between the teams.
