CONCORD – Not that he needed it, but Berean Christian’s offense handed Andrew Meyer the best gift a starting pitcher can get on Tuesday, with some early run support. Meyer took the gift and handled business the rest of the way, as the Eagles downed The Bay School, 5-2, to reach the North Coast Section Division V title game.
The first three batters reached base for Berean Christian in the bottom of the first, and Jack Seelye drove in the first run with his line drive to deep short, scoring Jordan Alexander. Zach Wilson’s ground ball then resulted in a double play, but also scored Cole Duey. Ian Alvarado completed the rally with a big two-out single to score Meyer for an early 3-0 lead.
The Breakers made it tense with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third inning, but Seelye drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the sixth, then Alvarado came up clutch once again, this time driving a two-out triple to deep center, scoring Seelye with an insurance run. Dom Dachauer then reached on an error, allowing Alvarado to score for a larger cushion.
“I’m really proud of Ian. He had been struggling a bit at the plate recently, but came up real clutch in his at-bats,” said Berean Christian coach Jeremy Brys. “He also threw out the tying runner at home in the bottom of the third, on a single to center. That was a big momentum changer right there.”
Meanwhile, Meyer battled around four walks on the mound early, striking out nine and allowing just two hits for the complete game effort. He retired the final 12 batters he faced. That sets up Duey to take the hill in Saturday’s title game against Fremont Christian, which will be played at Concord High.
“Andrew did what he has done all season, which is compete in the zone and give us a chance to win,” Brys said. “He has such a great ability to recognize and make adjustments mid-game. After the third inning, he realized he needed to slow down his delivery, and that led to his dominance late in the game.”
Berean Christian had reached the semifinals in each of the past two seasons, but had not broken through until this year. That fact was not lost on Brys or his team.
“I’m really happy for this team, especially the seniors who have been in two semifinal losses the last two seasons, but we know we still have work to do,” Brys added. “Fremont Christian has been a consistently good team the last few years, and like us has a group of guys who have been playing together throughout their run. They're just as hungry for a championship as we are, so it’ll be a good one on Saturday and we’ll be ready to go.”
Fremont Christian survives gauntlet to reach title game
When the seeding for the Division V bracket was announced, Fremont Christian coach Chris Gomez saw the potential gauntlet of Stuart Hall, Athenian and either Branson or St. Bernard’s standing in his team’s way, a path which he knew would not be easily navigated. But a complete game performance from senior ace Bubba Gomez on Tuesday was the final step in managing that gauntlet, as the Warriors came away with a 3-2 win over Branson to reach Saturday’s Division V title game against Berean Christian.
Fremont Christian scored three times in the first two innings, with RBIs from John Sanguinetti, Alex Wiley and freshman Emilio Martin. That appeared like it might be plenty for Gomez, the Alabama A&M commit who struck out seven and allowed just three hits. But Branson battled back in the sixth inning, scoring twice on an RBI double by Andrew Ashley and a squeeze bunt by Leo Jacoby. The Warriors got out of the inning, however, and sealed the win in the seventh.
“My heart skipped a beat in the sixth inning,” said Chris Gomez.
The seven strikeouts from Bubba Gomez gives him 565 strikeouts in his illustrious high school career.
Heritage earns title game bid as six seed
The Heritage baseball team was handed the six seed for the North Coast Section playoffs, despite winning the competitive Bay Valley Athletic League. At the end of the day, the seeding did not matter, as the Patriots ousted both the three and two seeds to make it to the Division I title game.
After defeating three-seed Acalanes in the quarterfinals last week, Heritage jumped out to an early lead over two-seed Amador Valley on Wednesday in the semifinals. The Patriots scored in each of the first three innings, starting with a one-out single from junior Ryan Jackson in the top of the first, which drove in Tom Rover, who had walked to start the game.
The first three Heritage batters reached base in the top of the second, and Bryce Arana scored on Rover's ground ball to make it 2-0. Chaz Myers then drove a fly ball to center field, deep enough to score Garrett Jensen for a three-run lead after two innings. The Patriots made it 4-0 in the top of the third, when Jensen's ground ball to shortstop resulted in an error, scoring Keith Jones, who had singled to lead off the inning.
Amador Valley scored once in the bottom of the fifth, after breaking up sophomore Cristian Machado's no-hit bid, but Jackson pushed it back to a four-run lead with his two-out single to score Rover in the top of the sixth. Reece Dexter pitched an inning of relief for the Patriots before handing the ball to Jackson, who slammed the door with a pair of scoreless innings.
Heritage now faces top seed De La Salle in the title game on Saturday, 4:30 pm at Diablo Valley College.
O’Dowd, Alhambra to meet Saturday for D3 title
Liam Rizzo’s sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning provided the game-winning run for Bishop O’Dowd on Tuesday, as the Dragons beat Las Lomas 2-1 to advance to the Division III championship game. They will face Alhambra, which scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat Campolindo, 3-2.
O’Dowd got a strong effort on the mound from Sebastian Camacho, who allowed five hits and one run in five and one-third innings. Matthias Haas earned the win by slamming the door with one and two-third innings of hitless relief. That means ace Wyatt Thompson will be available for Saturday’s championship game at Diablo Valley College.
