There was a glimmer of hope early in Tuesday’s North Coast Section Division I playoff baseball game for visiting Liberty, after the Lions jumped out to an early lead over cross-town rival Heritage. But the host Patriots wasted no time erasing that hope, scoring four runs in the bottom of the second and then putting the game away early, cruising to a 12-2, mercy-rule shortened victory.
Mason Padilla’s ground out in the top of the second with the bases loaded scored Riley Bosler to give Liberty a 1-0 lead, but Bryson Kinnick escaped further damage by inducing another ground ball out by Cameron Brossard to end the inning.
“I knew that if I continued to keep the ball down, like in my previous two starts against them, they wouldn’t be able to hit it very well, and if they did, my defense would be there to make plays,” Kinnick said. “It also felt amazing to get early run support, and the offense just had a great game today as well.”
Heritage gave Kinnick all the run support he would need in the bottom of the second inning, scoring four times to take a commanding lead. Keith Jones led off with a single, and Jeff Heinrich was hit by a pitch. Steve Kerr then laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt back towards the mound, but Liberty pitcher Brayden Spears’ throw to first resulted in an error, which allowed Jones to score and the Patriots wound up with runners on second and third with no outs.
Spears recovered to strike out Bryce Arana, but senior Aidan Quinn came through with a full count, singling through to right field, scoring both Heinrich and Kerr. Quinn advanced on Ryan Jackson’s ground out for the second out of the inning, and Chaz Myers punctuated the big inning with his double to score Quinn and make the score 4-1 after two innings.
Kinnick followed up the big offensive inning by retiring the Lions in order in the top of the third, and Heritage loaded the bases right away to start the bottom half. Spears limited the damage, however, getting a double play ball and a strikeout to end the inning with only one run scored, and the Lions regained that glimmer of hope in the top of the fourth when Padilla doubled with two outs to score Nick Poss and cut the lead to 5-2.
The Patriots responded in the bottom half, however, when Oscar Murray drilled a ball into right-center with runners on the corners, scoring Quinn for a 6-2 lead after four innings.
“I just really worked on keeping my hands inside right there, not do too much, and was able to go the other way with the pitch,” Murray said. “The momentum did a lot for us today, and we were loud in the dugout, which did a lot for us at the plate.”
After Kinnick allowed just one baserunner in the top of the fifth, keeping his pitch count to just 68 pitches, Heritage ended the game early by scoring six times in the bottom of the fifth. Quinn’s sacrifice fly scored Kerr, and the Patriots then went on an extended two-out rally, capped by consecutive run-scoring singles from Stephen Murphy and Jared Cruce, and Murphy’s ability to score the final run of the game on a passed ball.
With the win, Heritage advances to face Clayton Valley in the quarterfinals. The Ugly Eagles upset five-seed Monte Vista in the first round, scoring the final four runs of the game for a 4-2 victory.
Clayton Valley overcomes early deficit
Two runs in the bottom of the first inning for host Monte Vista and a fast start in the bottom of the second made things very promising early for the Mustangs, but an early pitching change for Clayton Valley provided a spark, and the Ugly Eagles wound up rallying for a 4-2 victory.
Tom Gavello doubled to score Andrew Howard in the bottom of the first, and Ian Pederson scored on Nick Evans’ sacrifice fly to make the score 2-0. When singles from Ryan Fleming and Sam Mink put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the second, Clayton Valley coach Casey Coakley lifted starting pitcher Mitch Hofer for reliever Ryan Course, and Course delivered a double play ground ball to end the inning.
Clayton Valley cut the lead in half during the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Cooper Gardner, after managing just one hit in the first three innings against Monte Vista starter Josh White. After Jack Murphy walked to lead off the top of the fifth, he advanced to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch, and scored the tying run on another wild pitch.
White was replaced by Fleming on the mound for the top of the seventh, and Clayton Valley immediately went to work against Fleming, as Cody Gentry doubled to start the inning. Murphy’s ground ball back to the mound resulted in an error, scoring Gentry and advancing Murphy to second base. Nick Oldham’s ground ball back to the mound then advanced Murphy to third, and a wild pitch two batters later resulted in another run for the 4-2 lead.
Course allowed just one hit and struck out five in his five and two-thirds innings of shutout relief for the Eagles. Clayton Valley will play at Heritage on Friday.
Around the NCS playoffs
Starting pitcher Connor Linchey struck out 10 batters in six and one-third innings, allowing just two hits, as nine seed San Ramon Valley took down Acalanes, 6-0, in the Division I playoffs. Clay Facteau and Bryan Spears each had two hits, with Facteau tripling and driving in two runs during the win. San Ramon Valley plays at De La Salle in the quarterfinals.
Sophomore Ben Hansen tossed four shutout innings, allowing three hits, as Foothill blanked James Logan 10-0, in a mercy-rule shortened game. Matt Sugden and Sam Novitske each homered in the win for the Falcons, who will host College Park in the Division I quarterfinals.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 3-for-3 with a double, and Connor Sullivan allowed just five hits in seven shutout innings, as College Park eliminated Granada with a 2-0 victory. The Falcons will head to Foothill in the quarterfinals.
Jack Snook allowed just one hit in a complete game, five-strikeout performance as Amador Valley scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to beat Dougherty Valley, 2-1. Max Heverly doubled and scored a run for the Dons, who will host Freedom in the quarterfinals.
Billy Duby tossed five innings of three-hit shutout ball, as Division III top seed Miramonte blanked Albany, 9-0. Duby, who struck out four, also went 3-for-3 with four RBI at the plate, while Sam Liang went 2-for-3 with five RBI. Miramonte faces San Marin in the quarterfinals.
St. Bernard’s multi-sport standout Garrison Finck needed just 69 pitches for the complete game one-hitter, as the three-seed Crusaders beat Urban, 1-0. Finck struck out six, and sophomore Hunter Davis’ sacrifice fly provided the only run of the game. St. Bernard’s faces Berean Christian in the Division V quarterfinals.
Tyler Woodman’s two-out walk-off single scored Bubba Gomez in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Fremont Christian downed Sonoma Academy, 2-1. Gomez got on base with two outs, with a single, and John Sanguinetti was then hit by a pitch. That brought Woodman, who worked a full count, and with both runners in motion on the pitch, he lined one into left field to win the game. Gomez struck out nine in the first four innings, while Ramon Barragan earned the win with three shutout innings in relief. The Warriors will face Athenian in the Division V quarterfinals.
