High school roundup: Berkeley keeps title hopes alive with much-needed win
Berkeley was cruising along, seemingly on its way to a league championship and good seed in the North Coast Section playoffs.
Through 17 games, the Yellowjackets had lost just once and had one tie.
Then, out of nowhere, things went sideways.
Berkeley lost three of four to fall out of first place in the West Alameda County Conference’s Foothill Division.
Another loss on Thursday to Piedmont would have ended the Yellowjackets’ chances to finish first in the league’s regular-season standings.
With no margin for error, Berkeley responded with one of its best games of the season, scoring in all but one inning to rout Piedmont 12-1. The game was called after six innings because of the mercy rule.
Two days earlier, Piedmont beat Berkeley 6-3.
On Thursday, Miles Mino put the Yellowjackets’ fate on the barrel of his bat. The senior had a home run and double, drove in in five runs, scored twice and finished 3 for 4.
Ethan Walker added two doubles among his three hits, scored twice and knocked in a run.
On the mound, Enrique Sotelo pitched a complete game, striking out four without a walk. He gave up one run and five hits.
Berkeley (17-4-1, 5-3) remained two games behind first-place Bishop O’Dowd in the Foothill Division with two games to play.
The Yellowjackets visit O’Dowd on Tuesday and play host to the Dragons on Thursday.
Piedmont fell to 8-12-2, 4-4.
No. 4 Clayton Valley Charter 6, Campolindo 1: Josiah Morris and Vince Della Santina had two hits and an RBI apiece and Everet Flannagan pitched a complete game as the visiting Ugly Eagles bounced back from a loss at home to Campolindo on Tuesday.
Clayton Valley scored five runs in the third and never looked back as it improved to 17-3 overall and 5-1 in the Diablo Athletic League’s Foothill Division.
Augie Martinez had two hits for Campo (12-6, 3-3).
Sacred Heart Prep 5, San Mateo 0: Kyle Sweeney pitched a five-hitter with five strikeouts and no walks and JP Durrett drove in two runs to lead SHP to a win on the road in Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division play.
The Gators stretched their winning streak to 12 while improving to 17-4 overall and 9-1 in the division. They lead San Mateo and Terra Nova by two games in the standings with four to play.
In two games this week against San Mateo, including an 11-inning win on Tuesday, SHP allowed no runs.
The Bearcats dropped to 15-7, 7-3.
Freedom 5, Skyline 1: Anderson Allen had two hits, including a homer, and drove in two runs and Cruz Padilla had three hits and an RBI to lead Freedom to a non-league win on the road over Skyline.
Luis Sepulveda pitched six innings, allowing one run and four hits against the Oakland Athletic League leaders. Jason Pearce finished off Skyline with a scoreless seventh.
Dallas Tucker had two hits and scored the only run for the Titans, who fell to 9-11.
Gunderson 8, Del Mar 5: Jordan Avila, Brandon Salgado and Chanze Jaime each had two hits an RBI to lead Gunderson to a victory on the road over Del Mar in Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division play.
The Grizzlies scored four in the fourth to take control as they improved to 13-9, 12-1.
Mason William knocked in two runs for Del Mar (10-8, 10-3).
First-place Gunderson holds a two-game advantage in the standings over Yerba Buena and Del Mar.
SOFTBALL
No. 1 Livermore 9, Monte Vista 2: Livermore, playing at home, built a seven-run lead through three innings and rolled to a victory over Monte Vista in East Bay Athletic League play.
Eliza Gerochi had three hits and two RBIs, Samantha Robinson added two hits and two RBIs and Gianna Willes homered to lead Livermore, which improved to 21-1 overall and 11-0 in the EBAL.
Payton Rohe pitched four scoreless innings for the Cowboys.
Samantha Kaiman had two hits for Monte Vista, which fell to 3-14, 2-9.
No. 8 Liberty 12, No. 15 Carondelet 0: In a non-league matchup between two of the East Bay’s top teams, Liberty turned this one into a five-inning, mercy-rule rout as Taylor Jennings hit two home runs and finished with three hits and three RBIs to lead the way.
The Lions (17-5) also got two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs from Isabella Rice and a home run apiece from Jewel Cooper and Kylee McKinney.
In the circle, Kate Skinner struck out 10 and allowed just one hit with three walks.
Carondelet fell to 13-8.
No. 9 Los Gatos 11, No. 18 Homestead 6: Ava Norquist doubled and knocked in three runs and Cate Zeman had a hit and two RBIs to help lift first-place Los Gatos over visiting Homestead in a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division game.
Los Gatos (19-1, 7-0) scored eight runs in the fourth to erase a 4-0 deficit and added three runs in the sixth after Homestead cut the deficit to 8-6.
Cierra Hagan and Gwyn Romero drove in two runs apiece for Homestead, which dropped to 15-7, 5-3.
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 8:58 PM.