Baseball: Casa Grande, Windsor to face off in playoffs; Santa Rosa snaps 30-year postseason drought
Casa Grande High School's baseball team got outstanding pitching, timely hitting and strong defensive play as the third-seeded Gauchos took care of No. 14 Miramonte 6-0 in Wednesday's North Coast Section Division 2 playoff opener.
Adam Mercado and Miles Nicholas combined to hold Miramonte (16-9) to just five hits while striking out four and walking three in the shutout. Mercado earned the win and Nicholas went the final three innings to seal the victory.
Casa Grande (19-7) plated three runs in the first inning - two on an error on a hit by Tyler Pelissetti - and three more in the fifth. Gavin King scored on an error and Mercado then brought home another run on a sacrifice bunt before Franco Bernardini made it 6-0 with an RBI double.
Miramonte had threatened to make it a game in the top of the fifth but came up empty despite having runners on second and third with no outs. Jack Mountanos threw out a runner at home and Mercado then threw out a runner from center field trying to tag from second to third.
The Gauchos will host No. 6 seed Windsor in the second round at 1 p.m. Saturday. Casa Grande beat the Jaguars 6-4 earlier this season.
No. 6 Windsor 1, No. 11 San Leandro 0 (10 innings): For the second game in a row, the Jaguars came away victorious on a walk-off hit to end an extra-innings marathon.
Scoreless after nine, Windsor (16-11) loaded the bases in Wednesday's Division 2 road contest with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning before Everett Billigmeier hit a ball to shortstop that was mishandled, allowing Dylan McFerren to score from third and end the game.
The Jaguars had three of their five hits in the game in the deciding inning.
AJ Rakoski kept Windsor alive with a herculean effort on the mound as he fired nine innings with six strikeouts, two walks and four hits allowed in a no-decision. Liam Walz worked the final inning to pick up the win.
No. 7 Washington 1, No. 10 Cardinal Newman 0: The Cardinals' bats could not get going as they fell to the Huskies in their Division 2 playoff opener on the road Wednesday.
Cardinal Newman, which ends the year at 13-13, managed just three hits on the day against Washington (19-6) starter Ehkam Braich, who struck out three and walked just two over six shutout innings. Hugo Marks then struck out the side in the seventh to seal the win.
Division 3
No. 7 San Marin 8, No. 10 Analy 7 (11 innings): The Mustangs emerged victorious on a walk-off bunt in the bottom of the 11th inning Wednesday in the continuation of their playoff opener against the Tigers that was stopped due to darkness the night prior.
San Marin (15-12) had loaded the bases on two walks and a single before Will Brady ended the contest with a squeeze bunt.
Analy (18-9) got two runners on base in the top of the 10th, but the inning ended with an out at third.
Division 4
No. 3 Justin-Siena 8, No. 14 Hayward 0: The Braves scored five runs in the fourth inning to roll past the Farmers in their playoff opener Wednesday.
Griffin Messenger tossed five shutout innings with six strikeouts, no walks and three hits allowed to pick up the win and Peter Trovitch struck out five over the final two innings to close things out.
On offense, Max DeLuca had two hits, including a double, with three RBIs, OJ Mata doubled twice with two RBIs, Alex Winske had two hits, including a double, with two RBIs and Messenger tripled in a two-hit day with an RBI.
Justin-Siena (15-10) will host 11 seed Livermore in the second round Saturday.
No. 13 Santa Rosa 6, No. 4 John Swett 1: The Panthers snapped a nearly 30-year drought in the playoffs with their first postseason win since 1997 on Wednesday.
Santa Rosa (12-14) led 1-0 late and broke the game open with five runs over the final two innings. Daniel Mills was stellar on the mound for the Panthers, striking out 10 with two walks, four hits and one run allowed in 6 2/3 innings.
Owen Nojima had a key two-run double in the late rally, Mateo Fitzgerald had two hits with an RBI and Mason Rizo went 3-for-3 on the day. Will Phillip and Cal Faircloth also both had a hit and RBIs.
Santa Rosa will next play at 5 seed Newark Memorial on Saturday afternoon.
Division 6
No. 4 Rio Lindo Adventist 4, No. 13 San Francisco Waldorf 3: The Spartans rallied and then held on late Wednesday to win their playoff opener over the Wolverines.
Trailing 3-0, Rio Lindo (10-2) fought back to tie the game 3-3 after four and then took the lead for the first time in the game in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out RBI single from Ethan Harper.
SF Waldorf (8-8) nearly responded in the top of the sixth as it got runners on the corners with one out, but the Spartans threw out a runner trying to steal second and then got an inning-ending groundout.
Vincent Barcenas went six innings to earn the win, striking out eight with six walks and one hit allowed, and Noah Malin worked the final inning for the save.
The Spartans will face 5 seed College Prep on Friday at Healdsburg High School in the second round.
No. 7 St. Vincent 4, No. 10 Ygnacio Valley 1: The Mustangs won their playoff opener Wednesday at home in Petaluma behind a complete-game gem from Will Hankins.
The senior allowed just one hit, a double in the first, while striking out six and walking four in a stellar day on the mound. St. Vincent (9-15), which trailed 1-0 after that double, tied the game in the bottom of the first and then tacked on two more runs in the third and another in the fifth.
Nate Troy had two hits and three RBIs on the day, while Harrison Barley had two hits with two runs scored.
NCS baseball playoff schedule
Friday, May 22
Division 1
No. 13 Petaluma at No. 5 Redwood, 4:30 p.m.
Division 3
No. 4 Ukiah vs. No. 5 James Logan, 7 p.m.
Division 5
No. 1 Montgomery vs. No. 8 Branson, 4:30 p.m.
No. 2 Healdsburg at No. 7 Sonoma Valley, 7 p.m.
No. 12 St. Helena vs. No. 13 St. Patrick-St. Vincent, 7 p.m.
Division 6
No. 4 Rio Lindo Adventist vs. No. 5 College Prep, Healdsburg HS, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 23
Division 2
No. 3 Casa Grande vs. No. 6 Windsor, 1 p.m.
Division 4
No. 3 Justin-Siena vs. No. 11 Livermore, 1 p.m.
No. 13 Santa Rosa at No. 5 Newark Memorial, 1 p.m.
Division 6
No. 1 Grace Christian Academy vs. Point Arena, Healdsburg HS, 1 p.m.
No. 7 St. Vincent vs. No. 2 Urban, Graham Field, SF, 1 p.m.
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