Heading into the CCS Division 1 tournament, nobody would have argued that WCAL regular-season co-champs Valley Christian and Serra had to be considered the favorites to win the title. But it was another pair of WCAL teams that ascended to the final, with Archbishop Mitty emerging victorious with a 6-2 win over St. Ignatius for the title Saturday night at Excite Ballpark.
In the championship game, Mitty raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first two innings against SI ace Will Siwinski, who was charged with all six runs. Senior Tanner Kern singled in a run and scored in the first and then tripled to knock in a run in the second. Senior lefty Luka Pintar picked up the win for the Monarchs, who host Granite Bay in the NorCal Division 1 playoffs Tuesday.
Beau Schaffer pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings to keep the Wildcats in the game, but they were held to just two runs on five singles. St. Ignatius hosts San Marin in the NorCal Division 2 playoffs Tuesday.
SI reached the championship game with shutout wins over a pair of Padres. In the 2-0 win over Serra, Siwinski threw 6 shutout innings with six strikeouts and allowed just two hits. Against Carmel, senior Evann Smith went 3-for-3 with a homer and 4 RBIs and sophomore Chase Gordon tossed 5 shutout innings in the 10-0 victory.
After a 12-1 win over Burlingame in the first round, Mitty knocked off top-seeded Valley Christian 7-5 after losing both regular-season matchups with the Warriors. Valley Christian nonetheless qualified for the NorCal D1 playoffs and will travel to St. Mary’s-Stockton. Carmel will continue its season in the NorCal D2 playoffs at Redwood-Larkspur.
