No. 1 St. Francis walks off SHC in epic pitchers' duel; Live Oak knocks off No. 5 Willow Glen on dropped third strike
It was a pitchers' duel to remember on Friday night in Mountain View.
St. Francis, the No. 1 team in the Bay Area News Group rankings, welcomed in unranked Sacred Heart Cathedral for a West Catholic Athletic League matchup, and neither team exactly tore the cover off the ball.
The two teams combined for three total hits as the Lancers walked off with a 1-0 win over the Irish, with Sione Tulua drawing a full-count, bases-loaded walk to drive in the game's only run in the bottom of the seventh.
Gino Cappellazzo got the inning started with a four-pitch walk, but a double play erased the Lancers' first baserunner. St. Francis (20-3, 9-1) received new life when Henry Dommer reached on an error after hitting a hard ground ball to first, then Aaron Bonini drew a full-count walk.
Bennett Simon drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases, then Tulua came through with one more good eye to send the Lancers home happy.
As can be expected, the pitchers were dominant. St. Francis' Kyle McMillan, who picked up the win, went all seven innings with two hits allowed, no walks and six strikeouts.
SHC's Jacob Vines took the hard-luck loss, going 6 ⅔ with one hit conceded and five strikeouts against five walks. McMillan was exceptionally efficient, throwing only 86 pitches, while Vines fired 106.
The Irish dropped to 8-15 and 1-9 in league play.
No. 3 St. Ignatius 4, No. 6 Serra 3
Another tight WCAL affair ended with SI (15-6, 7-3) taking home a road win to earn a split after scoring the winning run in the top of the seventh.
Atticus Gibson had the big hit for Sl, lacing a solo homer to center field to provide the margin of victory.
Serra (15-7, 5-5) led 3-0 after two innings, but the Wildcats clawed back into the game with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth.
The Padres scored on an RBI walk by Ayden Beal, an RBI groundout by Michael Ohman and a ground-ball error that scored Aaron Minton from third.
For SI, AJ Wineinger hit an RBI double, DJ Delaney had a sac fly and Ryan Rosenthal hit a solo homer to right to tie the game in the top of the fifth.
Monte Vista 6, No. 13 Dublin 4
Monte Vista (13-6, 4-0) finished off a series sweep of Dublin with a road win largely thanks to a five-run fifth inning that provided the cushion the Mustangs needed to run away from the Gaels (15-6, 3-3).
Mathew Sardelich and Tony Keeling each drove in two runs for MV, and Aaron LaRosa batted in one. Christian Acuna, Wyatt Metz and Dallas Voyce had RBIs for Dublin.
SOFTBALL
Live Oak 1, No. 5 Willow Glen 0
Live Oak (8-7, 6-4) made some history on Friday night in Morgan Hill, becoming the first Blossom Valley Athletic League team to knock off Willow Glen in two years.
The Rams (16-5, 9-1) dominated league play last season with a 14-0 record and went 27-0 before losing to St. Francis in the CCS Open Division championship game.
They've been impressive again this year, picking up key nonleague wins against Valley Christian and Castro Valley.
But it was Live Oak's turn to impress Friday, and the Acorns did it with a brilliant pitching performance from Julianna Altamirano. The junior went the distance with three hits allowed, no walks and 10 strikeouts.
Willow Glen's Alanna Clincy was just about as good, allowing one unearned run on one hit with 13 strikeouts and six walks in a six-inning complete game.
Live Oak scored the game's only run on a dropped third strike in the bottom of the fifth, as Kayla Tulowitzki scored after doubling to lead off the inning.
No. 2 St. Francis 2, No. 6 Valley Christian 1
It took every single inning to do it, but St. Francis (21-2) remained undefeated in the WCAL thanks to a late rally in San Jose.
The Lancers struggled to push runs across and didn't succeed until the sixth inning, when Malianna Liongitau hit a sac fly to left, scoring Peyton Tsao.
St. Francis was back for more in the seventh, as Maya Meltz singled to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a bunt, then scored on Emi Yumiba's single after an error in the field.
The Lancers stranded runners at second and third to end the inning, but Mercedes Coller didn't need any insurance.
Coller, who started Wednesday’s win over Archbishop Mitty and pitched a complete game, took over for Bianka Fisher in the sixth and pitched two scoreless innings, including a perfect bottom of the seventh to pick up the save.
Fisher was no slouch herself, firing five strong innings with one run allowed on three hits, a walk and two strikeouts.
Charlotte Coney drove in the lone run for VC (16-6), grounding into a fielder's choice to score Leanna Holguin in the first.
Melody Gonzalez had a solid day in the circle for the Warriors, pitching the full game with two runs allowed (one earned) on six hits with three walks and a strikeout.
No. 4 Alameda 3, Bishop O'Dowd 0
Alameda (18-3, 3-1) picked up another win to keep pace with undefeated Castro Valley in the West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division race.
The Hornets got RBIs from Julia Lambert, Mia Wong and Alissa Smitheram to knock off the Dragons (9-10, 2-3). Lambert had a strong night in the circle as well, going the distance with four hits allowed, nine strikeouts and one walk.
No. 9 Los Gatos 3, Wilcox 1
Los Gatos (20-1, 11-0) got a pair of RBIs from Danica DeSantis to lead an offense that did just enough to support starting pitcher Ava Norquist in a league win. Norquist went seven innings with one run allowed on one hit with eight strikeouts and no walks.
Wilcox dropped to 14-7, 5-4.
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This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 10:42 PM.