It deserves its own title, this single day of the year in the North Coast Section where numerous league titles will be decided either via regular-season ending contests, or league tournaments. There are a few others which will wrap up on Friday and Saturday, but most leagues will complete play today and crown their champions.
On the baseball side of things, the West Alameda County Conference will decide its tournament champions for the Foothill and Shoreline divisions today. In the Foothill division, Berkeley meets Arroyo, after the third-seeded Yellowjackets knocked off Bishop O'Dowd, 2-1, in Tuesday's semifinals. Regular season champ Arroyo took care of business in the semifinals, downing Alameda, 6-2.
In the Shoreline division, regular season champ San Leandro advanced to the title game with a tense 1-0 victory over Hayward, and now faces San Lorenzo, who downed Piedmont in the semifinals. The Pirates and Rebels split their regular season meetings. Josh Campuzano pitched San Leandro into the title game, with his three-hit, nine-strikeout performance against Hayward on Tuesday, leaving ace Augusto Pineda to take the hill against San Lorenzo.
Heritage takes a one-game lead into its regular season finale against Liberty, who sits in second place behind the Patriots. Heritage can claim its second straight outright BVAL title with a win, while Liberty is playing for a share of the crown. Saint Mary's bound pitcher Kevin Milam takes the mound for the Patriots, after having shutout the Lions earlier this season. Liberty senior Anthony Fugazzi takes the ball for the Lions, coming off a 14-strikeout no-hitter against Pittsburg last week.
The Tri-County Athletic League also crowns a pair of champions, from its Rock and Stone divisions. Albany and St. Joseph Notre Dame meet for the Rock tournament championship, as the top two seeds both advanced to the title game. The Cougars and Pilots split their regular season meetings, each by identical 3-0 scores. Albany got a three-run walk-off homer from Cooper Morrison in its 4-3 semifinal win over El Cerrito, while St. Joe's got past Saint Mary's, 6-4. Clayton McDonald and Chet Shemchuck both pitched minimal innings against El Cerrito, and will be available against the Pilots, while junior Hunter Hennigh will likely take the mound for the Pilots after Steven Manzo pitched six innings against the Panthers.
Fourth-seeded Hercules surprised regular season Stone division champ De Anza in the tournament semifinals, 3-2, so the Titans get to face Swett for the tournament title. Swett advanced with an 11-1 semifinal win over Salesian.
Northgate has a half-game lead over Clayton Valley in the Diablo Valley Athletic League, and can clinch the outright title with a win today over Concord. Clayton Valley's regular season is complete. The Broncos defeated Concord, 2-0, on Tuesday, and will have sophomore ace Ian Villers, a UC Berkeley commit, on the mound against the Minutemen. Northgate's last league title was the 2008 DFAL championship.
Analy faces Sonoma Valley for the Sonoma County League tournament title, after the Dragons knocked off second-seed Petaluma in the semifinals. Regular season champ Analy swept the season series from Sonoma Valley.
De La Salle has already clinched the outright East Bay Athletic League title, but goes for its first ever undefeated league slate since joining the EBAL, facing California today. Nick Sparks struck out 11 in a two-hit performance against Monte Vista yesterday.
On the softball side, Amador Valley and Foothill meet in huge East Bay Athletic League showdown. The Dons won the first meeting, but now trail Foothill by one game in the standings after a pair of losses in league play last week. Danielle Williams allowed just one hit in the first meeting between the teams.
Regular season champ Rancho Cotate meets Montgomery for the NBL tournament title, after the teams split the regular season meetings. Sophomore pitcher Anna Zoia-Buescher limited Rancho Cotate to just one run in the second meeting this season, the lowest output for the Cougars' lineup this year.
Bishop O'Dowd meets regular season champ Castro Valley for the WACC-Foothill tournament title, and the two teams split their regular season meetings. Castro Valley blew past Encinal in the semifinals, 9-0, while the Dragons needed a run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings against San Leandro, before winning 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth.
Alameda and Piedmont meet tonight to decide the WACC-Shoreline tournament title. The top-seeded Hornets went unbeaten in league play, including a sweep of Piedmont, by a combined score of 26-6.
Top seed Petaluma advanced to the title game of the Sonoma County League tournament, where it will face Sonoma Valley, who knocked off regular season co-champ Analy in the semifinals. The Dragons had been outscored 27-0 by Analy in the two regular season meetings, but shut down the Tigers' lineup in a 4-0 win yesterday, as junior Hayden Pearce allowed just three hits. Petaluma beat Healdsburg, 8-5, in the semifinals and swept the regular season series against Sonoma Valley.
Newark Memorial can wrap up its second straight unbeaten league season in the MVAL with a win over Mission San Jose, while Alhambra looks to finish the last season of the current Diablo Foothill Athletic League on a 73-game league winning streak, facing third-place Las Lomas.
Heritage and Freedom can share the BVAL title for the second straight year, if each can win its final regular season game today. The Patriots face rival Liberty, while Freedom finishes with Deer Valley.
