Granada to protest loss to De La Salle after controversial eighth-inning call

LIVERMORE - Friday’s matchup between Granada and De La Salle felt like a playoff game. By the ninth inning, it felt like something else entirely.

De La Salle survived nine innings and a late rally to beat Granada 10-3 in a crucial league game, but the final score might not be the last word.

Sources told the Bay Area News Group that Granada has filed a protest, stemming from a controversial eighth-inning call in which the home plate umpire appeared to signal an out after Granada pitcher Jack Badger struck out De La Salle's Zach Tchejeyn - only for the umpires to reverse course, rule the pitch a dropped third strike and allow Tchejeyn to stay on first. Tchejeyn ran to the bag after striking out.

Granada’s catcher had already returned to the dugout believing the inning was over. But it wasn't. Badger had to face two more batters to end the inning, and the lineup turned over, sending De La Salle’s top of the order to the plate to lead off the ninth.

With its top pitchers already fatigued, Granada couldn’t hold off De La Salle any longer. The Spartans erupted for seven runs in the ninth to put the score out of reach.

"We've had some epic battles with De La Salle and this was another one for sure," Granada coach Corrigan Willis said. "I’m really proud of the way our guys battled today. But hey, you still gotta finish no matter what’s going on."

De La Salle led 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning and had the momentum to seal a win.

But with two outs and two on, De La Salle walked Luke Creeden to load the bases. The tying run scored in the next at-bat as Justin Levine was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring right fielder Tyler Palma.

In the eighth, Badger retired De La Salle's first two batters but an error put Jacob Gray on first and Tchejeyn up to bat.

Following the umpire's decision to leave Tchejeyn on first, Willis and his coaching staff were furious. Frustration started to seep in as the emotions of the game were high with every pitch feeling like life or death.

Granada walked the next batter to load the bases, but Badger eventually got out of the inning with a strikeout. Though the game was still tied, the attrition started to set in for the Matadors.

After Granada failed to win the game in the eighth inning, Badger was taken out for the ninth inning after throwing 44 pitches across two innings. The senior started the game off as a shortstop and moved to pitcher to relieve starter Braden Makley after the junior threw 86 pitches across six innings.

As the top of De La Salle's lineup came through in the ninth, the Spartans were determined to go home with a series sweep. A double from Emmett Freeman got the rally going and it didn't stop.

Sam Lakey's bunt RBI single scored Freeman to break the scoreless tie, a maneuver that caught Granada off guard.

"I noticed they were playing pretty far back," Lakey said. "If it was going to be there, I was going to take it."

From there, a flood of errors and base hits kept the runs coming for the Spartans.

Brandon Manivong scored De La Salle's final run of the inning as the Spartans built an insurmountable 10-3 lead.

De La Salle has now won back-to-back games against Granada this week after dropping their last five to the Matadors dating back to 2024. The two East Bay powerhouses have had epic battles in recent years, including the 2024 North Coast Section championship that lasted 14 innings and had to be played across two days and two sites.

"They're a well-coached team," De La Salle coach David Jeans said. "They play hard, and they do the little things right, and we kind of do some of the same things."

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This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 10:02 PM.