High school baseball: Montgomery shocks Casa Grande 8-6

In the biggest upset of the Redwood Empire baseball season so far, Montgomery shocked Casa Grande 8-6 on Friday in Petaluma.

The Vikings came into the game with a 4-7 record while Casa Grande was 7-2 and expected to vie for the North Bay League title.

The turning point Friday was the top of the fifth, when Montgomery scored six runs to take an 8-1 lead. It was a combination of timely hitting and walks that did in the home team.

The Vikings received four free passes in the inning and cashed those in on RBI hits by Austin and Blake McDonald and Dan Herring.

Nick Smith, despite a rocky sixth inning in which he allowed four runs, pitched a complete game and got the win.

“Smith threw strikes and the defense played error-free ball behind him,” coach Zac Ward said.

“This was a big win for us. Right now, we're just trying to play hard and play heads-up ball. The key to this game was that the kids were more aggressive at the plate.”

Montgomery had been averaging four runs per game.

The McDonald brothers led the Vikings' offense with two hits apiece.

For Casa Grande, Chris Joaquim and Quentin Gago each had a pair of hits.

In other games Friday:

CARDINAL NEWMAN 15, BOULDER CREEK 9

At Anthem, Ariz., the Cardinals banged out 18 hits to win their opening-round game in the Coach Bob Invitational.

Newman fell behind 6-0 before starting the comeback in the third. The score was 9-9 after five innings and the Cardinals scored four in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Vinny Tosti and Colin Imm combined to knock in nine runs, with the former getting five RBI.

The Cardinals had been averaging just over three runs and six hits per game.

“We were attacking the ball more,” coach TJ McMahon said. “That was the same message we've been telling the guys all season.”

Leading the offense with three hits each were Tosti, Jake Hernandez and Jack Murray.

Newman (4-6) wraps up its Arizona stay Saturday with games against Desert Mountain (Scottsdale) and Mullen (Denver).

ANALY 10, HEALDSBURG 0

At Sebastopol, the Tigers ended the game by scoring six runs in the fifth inning.

Jordan Parks had the key hit, a double to the left-field wall that knocked in two runs.

Taylor Cullen had three of Analy's 11 hits with Devin Ogston and David Codoni accounting for two apiece.

Winning pitcher Ryan Calderon allowed only singles to Zac Vallery and Jake Raffaini.

Analy is 2-0 in SCL play and 9-4 overall. Healdsburg's record is 8-4 and 1-1.

PETALUMA 12, PINER 2

At Petaluma, the Trojans scored five in the fourth and four in the fifth before the game was halted.

Finishing with three hits each for the home team were Nick Andrakin, Kempton Brandis and Tyler Williams. Danny Marzo and Harrison Royall both wound up with two hits.

The Trojans (6-4) will put their four-game winning streak on the line Saturday at Dublin.