NCS baseball tournament roundup: Kelseyville beats Healdsburg 9-4 to reach semifinals

Kelseyville's baseball team combined several excellent defensive plays with timely hitting in Friday's 9-4 North Coast Section Division 4 win against Healdsburg at Santa Rosa JC.

In the semifinal round, Kelseyville will play the winner of Saturday's contest between Lick-Wilmerding and Arcata.

“Our third baseman, Zack Villalobos, made three great plays in the fourth inning and the outfield made good plays the entire game,” coach Lou Poloni said.

After spotting Healdsburg a run in the first, Kelseyville came back with five in the fourth and three in the fifth.

Nick Pfann knocked in two with a single in the fourth and Kyle Ellis, Sambavah Baird and Noah Lyndall also had RBIs in the inning.

Lyndall pitched a complete game to get the victory. The senior scattered six hits.

Levi Yeley had a productive game for the Greyhounds (13-13). He had two hits and two RBIs while Bryant Herrguth, Jared Marshall, Cody Koch and Jacob Pruitt also had singles.

For Kelseyville, Ellis and Lyndall picked up two hits each.

The Knights, champions of the NCL I league, will take a 19-2 record into the semifinals.

“This team is a pleasure to coach,” Poloni said. “They're such a selfless group, they invigorate the coaches.”

In other NCS baseball games:

NORTHGATE 5, CASA GRANDE 1

In the biggest upset during the first week of the NCS tournament, No. 9 Northgate eliminated Division 2 top-seed Casa Grande 5-1.

The loss snapped the Gauchos' nine-game winning streak and they ended the season with a 21-6 record.

Casa coach Paul Maytorena missed the game because of a medical situation. Gordie Wirtz, one of his assistants, said the pitching of Northgate's Ian Villers gave the home team plenty of problems.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore scattered seven hits but also induced three double plays.

“We hit a lot of ground balls and weren't able to get the timely hits,” Wirtz said. “We got two runners on in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings but couldn't put together a big inning.”

The Gauchos' only run came in the seventh on an RBI single by Eddie Bermudez.

Northgate scored one in the first, one in the fifth and three in the sixth.

“Those three runs in the sixth really hurt because they got four hits after we got the first two outs,” Wirtz said.

Northgate, winner of the Diablo Valley League, will bring an 18-7 record into the semifinals.

The Broncos haven't lost an away game and defeated Ukiah 7-1 in the opening round.

MONTGOMERY 3, MARIN CATHOLIC 1

The Vikings scored twice in the eighth inning on an error by the Wildcats' shortstop to win the game played in Kentfield.

Montgomery came within a strike of winning the game in regulation, but Brandon Buckley's single to center scored the tying run.

In the top of the eighth, Jack Stelzner walked and moved to third on Blake McDonald's double. Both runners came home when Forest Hunt's hard ground ball went between the shortstop's legs and into left field.

In the bottom of the inning, winning pitcher Nick Smith induced three ground balls to third baseman Austin McDonald.

Colin Prince pitched the first five innings before coach Zac Ward brought in Smith.

“I can't say enough good things about Prince and Smith. Both showed a lot of composure and gave us a chance to win,” Ward said.

Blake McDonald accounted for two of the Vikings' five hits. Prince, Stelzner and Travis Schefer collected the others.

Montgomery, the No. 11 seed, will take a 13-14 record to Livermore on Tuesday. The Vikings have played 15 one-run games.

No. 3 Marin Catholic goes to the sidelines with a 23-5 mark.

STUART HALL 7, ST. VINCENT 0

The Mustangs were held to two hits in the Division 5 game played in San Francisco.

Stuart Hall led 6-0 after three innings and Willie Reader pitched a complete game.

Bradley Leach and Dominic Pedersen accounted for the St. Vincent hits.