Santa Cruz rides Adam Fowler's 1-hitter to program's second section title | CCS baseball
SAN JOSE - Sophomore right-handed pitcher Adam Fowler delivered his second stellar postseason outing in five days on Thursday, and Santa Cruz High's youth-laden baseball team made another huge statement: The future is now.
Fueled by Fowler's complete-game one-hitter, the No. 3 seed Cardinals - who start five underclassmen - again put all the pieces together and earned a 6-0 victory over No. 5 Piedmont Hills to win the Central Coast Section Division IV championship at Excite Ballpark.
The Cardinals, playing in their second final in three years, won the program's second section title and first since 2003, when it was coached by Bob Kittle.
The Cardinals stormed Fowler on the pitcher's mound after his game-ending strikeout and formed a jumping mass of joy around the infield.
"It feels pretty good to win our second CCS in school history," Fowler said. "It feels good. I'm glad I did it with this team."
"This is crazy," said teammate Merrick Smith, one of two starting freshmen. "I can't believe it."
With its win, Santa Cruz (18-11 overall) qualified for the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs for the first time since they debuted in 2022. Division placement and seeding takes place Sunday and quarterfinal action begins Tuesday at 4 p.m. at host sites.
"I think we can win it," Smith said.
Fowler said the Cardinals, who tied for third place in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, became a confident bunch when Cardinals coach Bubba Trumbull informed his team that it made the playoffs, and did so with a high seed.
"We had a great game against Pioneer, a 7-3 victory, and we just kept going," Fowler said.
Santa Cruz upset No. 2 Los Altos 6-2 in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Fowler, who claims to be 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, issued three walks, including the first two batters he faced, beaned one, and struck out three batters against Piedmont Hills. The Cardinals' defense turned double plays in each of the first two innings, and right fielder AJ Dacosta made a diving catch to rob Diego Gilbert of a hit in the seventh inning.
"A couple of walks and I figured, just attack them, see if they can hit it. And figured out they couldn't, really," Fowler said.
Fowler called his changeup his "MVP pitch." He estimates he threw it 40 percent of the time, nearly three times what he normally throws it.
Pirates leadoff hitter Toby Torres faced an 0-2 pitch count in each of his first two plate appearances and battle back for walks. After Fowler walked Travis Linane in the first, the pitcher got ahead in the count against the next 10 batters he faced; four them faced 0-2 counts.
That said, Fowler (9-1) didn't record a strikeout until there was one out in the fifth inning, one batter after Joaquin Carlos broke up his no-hitter.
"Adam was amazing on the mound today," Trumbull said. "He mixes up his pitches well, He threw his slider and changeup for strikes all the time today and controlled the contact.
"Our defense, we had one error, but we made all the plays we needed to make around him. And that's his game. If we can play defense behind him, he's tough to beat."
The Cardinals validated a couple of old baseball adages in their win: "Get ahead in the count, and good things happen" and "Put the ball in play and good things happen."
"I'd have to look at the percentages, but I'd say he was first-pitch strike 75 to 80 percent of the time, it seemed like," Trumbull said. "He was always ahead in the count. That's just effective pitching. He reminds me of some Cardinals from the past that were a little undersized, but were dominant on the mound. Dayne Quist, Travis Talbott, guys like that."
Trumbull wasn't the only one impressed. So were the Pirates (14-13-2), the fifth-place finisher from the Blossom Valley Athletic League's Mount Hamilton Division.
"He was dealing," Pirates coach Shorty Gutierrez said. "He's definitely a workhorse and a very competitive kid. I love his nature, attack, attack, attack. You gotta love those guys like that. I want a player like that. … He pitched his (butt) off today and he earned it."
Santa Cruz's offense finished with seven hits, two walks, and had two batters beaned. The Cardinals put the ball in play and the Pirates' defense wasn't up to task. They committed five errors.
"Maybe the nerves got us a little bit," Gutierrez said. "For us to come out and make some mistakes, we can't do that in a championship game."
For that reason, Fowler made an odd putout after fielding a come-backer off Dario Negrete in the fifth inning. Rather than take a few steps toward first and toss the ball to Kruize Godsy at first base, Fowler jogged all the way to first and stepped on the base ahead of Negrete.
"When you get a hard grounder, you always just jog it over," Fowler said. "Then, I just felt, ‘Hell, I might as well touch it (the base). Don't want to risk anything. Championship game, don't risk anything.' Kruize Godsy didn't know what I was doing. He was like, ‘Dude, just toss it!' "
While it wasn't the best day for the Pirates' defense, that was no fault of sophomore catcher Jayden Arciniega. He threw out three of the four Cardinals who attempted to steal second base.
The Cardinals produced all the offense they needed in the first inning against Linane, a right-hander. Senior Matteo Caltabiano reached on a fielding error at shortstop, moved to third on a dropped ball in centerfield that allowed senior Caleb Cmaylo to reach base, and scored on senior Cameron Fusari's sacrifice fly to center.
Santa Cruz took a 2-0 lead in the second. Fowler drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on junior AJ Dacosta's single. Smith moved them both into scoring position with his sacrifice bunt, and Fowler scored on Godsy's one-out single.
The Cardinals blew the game open - at least, the way Fowler was dealing - with their four-run fourth. They had four hits, two hit batters, and took advance of two Pirates' errors. Fowler, Dacosta, Smith and Godsy - the Nos 6-9 hitters in the batting order - all scored.
In just his second time ever in the iconic stadium, home of the San Francisco Giants' Single-A affiliate, Smith had the hit of the fourth inning - and game. He roped a curve on the outside corner of the plate to the opposite field for an RBI triple into the right-field corner to drive in Dacosta.
Smith quickly squashed the playful suggestion that he should've gone for an inside-the-park home run.
"That was awesome," Smith said. "I couldn't believe it; I was so happy. I was watching the ball and I started chugging. Once I got to third my legs were dead. I couldn't feel them."
Trumbull, a Cardinals alum in his seventh season as head coach, was proud of his team's showing.
He joined a rare fraternity of coaches who have won CCS titles in two sports. He also coached the Cardinals' football team to section crowns in his first (2007) and last (2019) seasons.
"I'm lucky enough to have great players and great assistant coaches," Trumbull said. "It had nothing to do with me, I just happened to be there when it happened."
Santa Cruz's graduation takes place Friday at 10 a.m. The team's seven seniors, three of whom are starters, plan to wear their championship medals with the cap and gown.
THE SCORE
Santa Cruz 6, Piedmont Hills 0
Up next: CIF NorCal Regional quarterfinals, Santa Cruz vs. TBD
When: Tuesday, 4 p.m.
Where: TBA
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 2:27 AM.