A familiar foe stood in the way of the Mountain View baseball team and a CCS Division 4 championship. And just like they had in their two previous meetings, the Spartans came out on top, knocking off the Mustangs 10-3 Friday afternoon at Excite Ballpark.
UCSB commit Liam Barrett went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and teammate Chase Caringella had 3 RBIs as the Spartans rolled. Mountain View advances to the NorCal Division 4 playoffs and will host Sacramento-based Leroy Greene Academy Tuesday at 4 pm.
The final featured a battle of teams seeded No. 6 (Mountain View) and No. 8 (Homestead), both coming from the competitive SCVAL-De Anza Division. Mountain View had its offense humming throughout the CCS playoffs, having advanced to the final on the strength of a 10-7 win over Leland and 9-6 over Sequoia in the first two rounds. Senior Christian Wenks went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs and senior Clay White added three hits and two RBIs in the win over Leland. Caringella was the offensive star against Sequoia, hitting for the cycle and driving in four runs.
Homestead relied on superior pitching to reach the championship. Senior Nate Enders threw a complete-game two-hitter in a 5-2 win over Salinas and despite allowing 10 baserunners, senior Gavin Galvez tossed a shutout in a 3-0 win over Scotts Valley in the semifinals. Homestead finished the season 16-10-2.
