NCS baseball playoffs: Pittsburg, Freedom, Liberty step out of EBAL shadow – The Mercury News

De La Salle's Tanner Griffith, shown here scoring in a file photo, knocked in four runs on Tuesday as the top-seeded Spartans rolled past Castro Valley in the first round of the North Coast Section Division I playoffs. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

The Bay Valley Athletic League was overshadowed this spring by the East Bay Athletic League as teams such as Granada and Amador Valley found comfort in the upper half of the baseball rankings.

Not so Tuesday.

On the first day of the North Coast Section playoffs, the BVAL won three games in the Division I bracket, including upset victories by 12th-seeded Pittsburg and 13th-seeded Freedom.

No. 8 seed Liberty also advanced.

On the season-ending side of those results were teams from the EBAL, including fourth-seeded Granada and fifth-seeded Amador Valley.

No. 9 seed Dublin also lost, as did No. 6 seed Foothill to James Logan of the Mission Valley Athletic League.

For Pittsburg, which scored five runs in the final two innings on the road to stun Granada 8-4, it was the programs first NCS playoff victory since 1996, according to its coach, Marco Cartagena.

He called his teams small-ball performance gritty. The Pirates got three hits from Halen Guerrero and three walks from Daniel Trujillo.

Obviously, the EBALs got stacked teams, Cartagena said. They have great teams like De La Salle and San Ramon. They all play great baseball. But I felt this year in our league, we all kind of beat up on each other. Everybody pretty much had an ace. They had one or two pitchers that are really good.

We just fought and we battled. We have tested kids that have been in playoffs. We were in the playoffs last year with the same group almost that lost a tough game at San Ramon. I kind of feel like were not fazed by this moment.

They made that clear on Tuesday. Here are more details:

No. 13 Freedom 2, No. 4 Amador Valley 0 (8 innings)

Shawn McBroom pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts, retiring Amador Valley in order in the bottom of the eighth after Freedom broke a tie with two runs in the top half of the frame, as the Falcons pulled off a stunning upset in the first round of the NCS playoffs.

Matthew Foley matched McBroom zero for zero through seven innings but couldnt escape the eighth. The junior pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned).

An error on a hard-hit ball by Zach Fesinmeyer accounted for Freedoms first run. McBroom followed with a double to drive in Fesinmeyer with the second run.

Freedom (14-11) will visit BVAL rival Pittsburg in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Amador finished 18-6.

No. 12 Pittsburg 8, No. 5 Granada 4

When Quinn Boyd hit a two-run homer in the home half of the fourth inning, Granada held a 4-3 lead. Pittsburg did not panic. The Pirates scored three runs in the sixth and added two in the seventh to pad the cushion.

Theyre gritty, Cartagena said about his players. We get after it and battle and battle and battle. We wear these pitchers down and thats kind of what happened. We took a lot of pitches. Fouled off a lot of pitches. When we found our spots to put the small ball in, it worked.

Jason Krakoski started for Granada and pitched three innings. Four relievers went the rest of the way.

Six days earlier, Granada was feeling great after its senior ace, Arizona-bound Joshua Morano, shut out De La Salle 6-0 in the semifinals of the EBAL playoffs.

Friday, Granada was four outs from the EBAL championship when San Ramon Valley rallied and won 3-2 in nine innings.

Now, the Matadors season is over. They finished 20-8.

Pittsburg, which also got two hits and two RBIs from Octavio Lopez, improved to 19-9.

In early March, Granada rolled over Pittsburg 7-0 as Morano pitched a one-hitter without a walk over 6 1/3 innings.

No. 8 Liberty 4, No. 9 Dublin 0

Dublin was the only EBAL team to defeat De La Salle before the league playoffs. Now, the Gaels season is over after Libertys David Roberts scattered six walks over six hitless innings and Cole Ehrhorn finished off the no-hitter with a scoreless seventh in a game played at Pittsburg High.

Luke Hyland went 3 for 3 with an RBI and Sutter Doctolero had two hits, including a double, to lead Liberty.

The Lions (17-9) will travel to De La Salle on Friday.

Dublin finished 16-9.

No. 11 James Logan 9, No. 6 Foothill 0

James Logan, playing at home in Union City, held Foothill hitless as Daniel Hernandez pitched 5 1/3 innings and Julian Vasquez retired all four batters he faced.

The loss left the EBAL with a 2-4 record on Tuesday.

Trevian Martinez led MVAL champion Logan with three hits and two RBIs. Daniel Hernandez and Juan Pablo Manzo also knocked in two runs apiece for the Colts (19-6), who will visit Clayton Valley on Friday.

Logan scored five in the first and one in the second to quickly put away last seasons NCS Division I runner-up.

Foothill finished 15-10.

No. 10 Berkeley 6, No. 7 Heritage 0

Daniel Beadles pitched a three-hitter over 6 2/3 innings and Manny Selles went 3 for 4 with a double and five RBIs as Berkeley cruised into the quarterfinals with a victory on the road over Heritage.

The Yellowjackets (19-7) will travel to San Ramon Valley on Friday.

BVAL champ Heritage finished 19-8.

No. 2 San Ramon Valley 5, No. 15 Antioch 1

Tied 1-1 through four innings, San Ramon Valley avoided an upset by its BVAL guest as the Wolves scored two in the fifth and two more in the sixth to advance.

Colin Linteo had two hits, including a triple, and drove in two runs and Max Ellis and Joseph Coupland each had an RBI to lead SRV (19-9).

Charles Reiland allowed one run in five innings and Nate Simonton pitched two scoreless innings to help the Wolves reach the quarterfinals.

Antioch ended its season 15-10.

No. 1 De La Salle 15, No. 16 Castro Valley 4 (5 innings)

De La Salle stretched its NCS playoff winning streak to 21 games as the Concord powerhouse broke open this one with seven runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth.

The Spartans, who have won five consecutive Division I championships dating to 2016, got two hits and four RBIs from Tanner Griffith. Kai Smith added three hits, including a home run, and three RBIs as De La Salle improved to 21-5.

Michael Olsen and Anthony Mares each had two hits and an RBI for Castro Valley, which finished 10-16.

No. 3 Clayton Valley Charter 9, No. 14 College Park 2

Aiden Romero knocked in three runs and Isaiah Landry drove in two as Clayton Valley scored six in the fifth to pull away from visiting College Park.

Landry finished with two hits and Ryder Helfrick had two hits and scored three runs as Clayton Valley upped its record to 20-5.

College Park finished 11-14.

Hideki Prather hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs as third-seeded Campolindo edged No. 14 seed Kennedy-Fremont 4-3 in the Division III playoffs. Campo will be at home on Friday to face No. 6 seed Novato. Jakob Poole allowed two runs over six innings and Daniel Polasek had a hit and two RBIs to lead fourth-seeded Alhambra to a 4-2 victory over No. 12 seed Sonoma Valley in a Division III game. The Bulldogs will play host to Bishop ODowd in a quarterfinal Friday. Justin Jones pitched a two-hitter and Jonah Simkin England and Zachariah Lazzarini each knocked in a run as No. 10 seed Las Lomas ousted No. 7 seed Pinole Valley 2-0. Las Lomas will play No. 2 seed Redwood Christian on Friday at San Leandro Ballpark.

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NCS baseball playoffs: Pittsburg, Freedom, Liberty step out of EBAL shadow - The Mercury News