High school baseball, softball roundup: Casa Grande continues playoff march

Top-seeded Casa Grande moved one step closer to a possible NCS Division 2 baseball title on Saturday as the Gauchos ran into little resistance in their second-round game against No. 8 Marin Catholic of Kentfield. The host Gauchos won 7-2 and will play at home on Wednesday in a semifinal game against No. 5 Ukiah.

The Gauchos (23-4) and Wildcats split their two regular-season games in the North Bay League (4-2 Ukiah on April 3 and 5-2 Casa Grande on May 3), so the rubber match is much anticipated. Casa Grande won the NBL regular season while Ukiah tied with Maria Carrillo for second.

“Ukiah has two really good pitchers,” Casa Grande assistant coach Gordy Wirtz said. “It should be an excellent game.”

Against Marin Catholic (15-12), the Gauchos were leading 2-0 and then added five runs in the fifth inning on an assortment of hits to take a 7-0 lead.

“We played small ball. Just put the ball in play and find a hole; that is our philosophy,” Wirtz said. “Let the other team throw the ball away, and they did today three times.”

Casa Grande starter Chris Joaquin earned the victory (5 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts) while Marin Catholic starter Dillon Joyce took the loss (3 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs).

“Chris threw a gem,” Wirtz said. “He had them off-balance.”

Offensively, the Gauchos were paced by Max Cerini (2-3, double, 3 runs, RBI) and John Green (2-3, run, RBI).

Ukiah 6, Petaluma 2

In a Division 2 second-round game, the visiting No. 5 Wildcats (17-9-1) upset No. 4 Petaluma (18-10) after trailing 2-0 after three innings. Ukiah rallied for five runs combined in the fourth and fifth innings to pull away. The Wildcats play Casa Grande next in the semifinal round.

Petaluma hurt itself with some less-than-stellar defensive moments that were a factor in the game.

“The margin of error in the playoffs is very small and you can't make mistakes, and we made a couple of mistakes today,” Petaluma coach Jim Selvitella said. “But we accomplished a lot this season and it was successful. We are a young team and are excited about next season.”

Ukiah starter Karter Koch (5 innings, 6 hits, 2 earned runs) earned the win while Petaluma starter Danny Marzo (4.1 innings, 7 hits, 3 earned runs) was saddled with the loss.

Aiden Vannucci led Ukiah from the plate, going 2-3 with 2 RBIs.

Analy 6, San Marin 1

The No. 2 Tigers (24-4) benefitted from a strong outing by starting pitcher Jack Newman (6 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 8 strikeouts) to lock up the win in a Division 3 second-round matchup.

Visiting No. 10 San Marin (15-13) of Novato led 1-0 after the first inning, but Analy rallied for three runs in the second inning and added another two runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding 5-1 lead.

Jordan Parks (2-3, double, RBI) and Luke Tollini (2-3, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs) led the Analy offensive uprising.

“We had timely hitting; we had all six runs with two outs,” Analy coach Jeff Ogston said. “Newman didn't have his curve ball today or his normal command, but he still pitched well.”

Analy will host No. 3 Drake (San Anselmo) at 5 p.m. on Wednesday in the semifinal round.

Kelseyville 5, Del Norte 4

The host No. 2 Knights (24-1-1) rebounded from an early 3-0 deficit to defeat the No. 7 Warriors (14-12) in a Division 4 second-round game.

“Kyle Ellis brought us back in the game with a 2-RBI single in the third inning when we were trailing 3-0,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said. “We make an error every two weeks and today we made three errors in the first inning and I don't know why.”

Kelseyville starter Logan Barrick remains undefeated (13-0) for the season and earned the win by going 6? innings, giving up 1 earned run and striking out nine.

“Logan is a wiggler. He can pitch himself out of some jams,” Poloni said.

Kelseyville will host their semifinal game Tuesday at 5 p.m. against No. 3 St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda).

“We are on short rest, but we are looking forward to a home game,” Poloni said.

Softball:

Marin Catholic 6, Analy 1

The visiting No. 5 Tigers (16-11-1) succumbed to the No. 4 Wildcats (18-6) of Kentfield in a second-round Division 3 game.

Analy never got on track offensively and only had three hits, compared to 10 hits for Marin Catholic.

The Tigers kept the game close, trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning when the Wildcats struck for four runs, effectively ending the season for the Tigers.

St. Vincent 12, St. Bernard's 1

The No. 2 Mustangs (14-5) broke open a tight game with 10 runs combined in the fifth and sixth innings to seal the win in a Division 5 second-round game against No. 7 St. Bernard's (11-13) of Eureka.

Sully Henry (6 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 10 strikeouts) got the win for host St. Vincent and belted a 2-run homer in the fifth inning.

“Henry was lights out. She was a little nervous in the first inning but she settled down,” St. Vincent coach Don Jensen said. “It was a tight game until the fifth inning and then our batters settled in and it was hit after hit.”

St. Vincent, which defeated Cloverdale 7-3 earlier in the year, will host the Eagles in a semifinal at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Cloverdale 11, Clear Lake 10

In a wild Division 5 second-round game, the host No. 3 Eagles blew a 7-0 lead to the No. 6 Cardinals and trailed 10-9 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, before rallying for two runs in their final at-bat for the 11-10 victory.

“This was a typical Clear Lake-Cloverdale game. We have had a huge rivalry with Clear Lake for 15 years,” Cloverdale assistant coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “Our girls learned a valuable lesson today. After we went up 7-0 we relaxed, and you can't let a team back in the game.”

Cloverdale's Hannah Bireschi (2-3, 2 RBIs) drove in Lane Hughes (2-3, double, run, 3 RBIs) from second base with a single to right field for the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

After getting blanked for their first three at-bats, Clear Lake responded by putting up 10 runs in the next four innings to temporarily take the lead.

“Clear Lake started hitting the ball. They made some adjustments at the plate and our defense let us down a little bit. Clear Lake got a little momentum,” Fitzgerald said. “(Starting pitcher) Tehya Bird has been a little sick this past week and she got a little tired today, more than normal.”

Bird (7 innings, 5 earned runs, 7 strikeouts) earned the win and Clear Lake's Kelsey Reynolds (5 innings, 8 runs) took the defeat.

After the rousing finish for Cloverdale, they now travel to St. Vincent for a semifinal game.

“Our girls showed they have a little bit of character today,” Fitzgerald said of Cloverdale's bounce-back win.