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The Amador Valley girls’ softball team needed extra innings, but the Dons pushed a run across in the top of the eighth to get a 3-2 win over College Park to win the North Coast Section Division I championship.
Emmerson Giles got the Dons the early lead with a home run in the first inning. The Dons made it 2-0 with a run in the fourth and took that lead into the bottom of the seventh.
College Park tied it up with a two-run homer from Abby Wood, sending the game into extras.
In the top of the eighth inning, Lauren Tran drove in the go-ahead run for the 3-2 Amador lead. In the bottom half, Amador pitcher Kaylee Davis — who went the distance, striking out 11, closed the door to give the Dons the win.
Amador, which stood 16-11 on the season with the win, was set to open CIF NorCal play as the No. 8 seed, heading on the road to face top-seeded Saint Francis, with results pending as of press time.
Granada wins baseball title
It took two days, two different fields and 14 innings, but in the end, the Granada baseball team finally got its first North Coast Section championship.
The Matadors outlasted De La Salle for a 1-0 win in a classic title game that started Friday at Monte Vista and ended Saturday at Granada.
Two teams that established their prowess as offensive powerhouses saw their respective pitching dominate the game.
Friday the game started at 5 p.m. and by close to 8 p.m. neither team had pushed a run across the plate. Tied at 0-0, the game was called due to darkness. With Monte Vista’s field unavailable Saturday, the game was shifted to top-seeded Granada’s field for a 1 p.m. start on Saturday.
The two pitching staffs were overpowering.
For De La Salle, starting pitcher RJ Meyn went eight innings and did not allow a hit, as the Mats did not get their first hit until the ninth inning. Granada starter Jake Sekany was equally as impressive, allowing only two hits over nine innings, striking out six batters.
Jack Karst came in for De La Salle in the ninth and pitched two innings, allowing a hit in each inning. AJ Hattaway came in for Granada in the 10th and allowed one hit and struck out two.
Saturday the ball was handed to Tommy Curran and De La Salle, with Granada turning it over to ace Parker Warner, the East Bay Athletic League’s Player of the Year.
Curran allowed two hits while Warner also was touched for a pair of hits and struck out six in his four innings of work.
The 14th and final inning had the most excitement by far of any over the course of the game.
With Ethan Sullivan at first with one out, Jamie Sullivan singled to left, Sullivan moved to third — it was the first time in the game the Spartans had a runner reach third base — and Mullin ended up at second when the throw from the outfield went to third.
But Warner, who is headed to Stanford, struck out Carlo Garcia and induced Sean Stafford to fly out to left to end the threat.
With one out, Warner reached on a hard-hit ball that caromed off the De La Salle second baseman. Mikey Boyd followed with a single to center field, moving Warner to second.
After a second out, AJ Martinez singled to left, bringing Warner in with the game’s lone and winning run.
Foothill track at state
The foursome of Elias Benard, Brennan DeCoite, Shivan Karnik and Nolan Chavez finished seventh in the finals of 4×800 relay at CIF State Track and Field Championships on Saturday night.
The Falcons beat 10 other teams on the way to the medal stand at Buchanan High in Clovis.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
