Alanys Robertson powers Castro Valley to first-round NCS win over San Marin
CASTRO VALLEY - For as soft spoken and laid back Alanys Robertson is off the field, the junior's game is anything but.
With each home run, the crack of the bat could be heard from the parking lot. Each fastball she threw hit the catcher's mitt so hard, the impact rattled the chainlink fence behind home plate. And with each momentum-swinging play she made, the rowdy home crowd cheered loud enough to shake the bleachers behind the third-base line.
The Fresno State commit had a monster game, hitting 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs to lead No. 5 Castro Valley to an 8-2 win over No. 12 San Marin in the first round of the North Coast Section Division I playoffs on Wednesday. She was excellent in the circle as well, striking out six and allowing two hits and no earned runs.
Castro Valley will travel to College Park on Friday for its quarterfinal game.
"She just does what she does and it's not a surprise," Castro Valley coach Nicole Manley said. "She’s been a little bit quiet throughout this regular season, but she always stepped to the plate when it matters most, literally. She’s an ultimate competitor. When the opportunity arises, she’s always going to come out and give her best. And today it just happened to be two home runs, producing some pretty solid pitching."
Kailey Armstrong and Jayla Morales each knocked in two runs for Castro Valley.
"We wanted to make sure we got past the first round, but I mean, our energy just stayed up and carried on from the last game that we just played," Robertson said. "We didn’t really have to switch anything on mentally, we were just in good spirits going into this game."
The Trojans made sure to put the game away early.
After going scoreless in the first inning, Castro Valley stayed patient in the second. The Trojans battled with every at-bat, but were not afraid to take strikes early in the count.
That patience paid off as Castro Valley put its first two batters on base to open the inning. With two on, Morales slapped a pitch to left field that scored Alina Rempe, Miley Snellgrove and Armstrong to give the home team an early 3-0 lead.
After Adri Anderson scored on a ground out, the exclamation point to the inning came when Robertson came up to bat.
Robertson took a fastball high in the zone and smacked it on a line drive to center field. The ball just got over the fence as she recorded a two-run homer that gave Castro Valley a six-run lead.
"The girls weren't really trying to press too hard at the plate and they just wanted to put the ball in play," Manley said of her team's second-inning burst.
In the circle, Robertson was just as dominant.
San Marin, a team that had no problem putting up double-digit runs on any given night, struggled to hit Robertson's fast ball. She finished Wednesday's game throwing 85 pitches, 65 of which were strikes. She had 1-2-3 innings in the first, second, sixth and seventh.
After giving up two unearned runs in the fourth, Robertson responded with a solo homer in the fifth that officially shut the door on San Marin.
With the win, Castro Valley will hit the road to play College Park, the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division champions.
The Trojans will be looking to win their first NCS title since 1993.
"To move forward, we just have to keep our same energy and keep our foot on the gas, and not have a game where our energy is flatter than what it has been in the past," Robertson said.
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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 8:45 PM.