NCS roundup: Las Lomas’ pitching dominates again as Knights reach baseball semis
When the North Coast Section announced its divisions for the 2025 baseball season, Las Lomas was placed in Division II. Maybe the Knights should have stayed there.
Instead, they were seeded No.13 in Division IV, and thus far it’s been good night for the hitters having to face Las Lomas pitchers.
Noah Sison and Tyler Van Deusen combined on a one-hitter Saturday as visiting Las Lomas beat No. 5 seed Moreau Catholic 7-1 in the quarterfinals. Three days earlier, in the first round, the Knights blanked fourth-seeded Ft. Bragg 1-0. Alessandro Martinez-Cabrera threw a no-hitter.
In two NCS playoff games, both on the road, Las Lomas pitchers have worked 14 innings, allowed one hit, one run, walked six and have 16 strikeouts.
Sison pitched the first six innings against Moreau Catholic (16-10) and was ahead 7-1 when he departed. He walked four and struck out six. Van Deusen pitched a spotless seventh.
Las Lomas, which had a ho-hum 12-11-1 record when the section playoffs began, led 3-0 before the Mariners scored in the third. The Knights broke the game open with two runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Sison tripled and had two RBIs for Las Lomas. Jack Pardella had two hits, scored a run and had an RBI.
Benji Fuentes singled for Moreau, the only hit so far against Las Lomas pitching. The Knights will visit Healdsburg on Wednesday in the semifinals.
No. 8 Healdsburg 6, No. 1 Arroyo 0
The Dons could muster only four hits off Healdsburg’s Alex Mauro-Manos. The Greyhounds (19-7) scored the only run they needed in the second, then added three more in the fourth and two in the seventh.
Michael Loller had two hits for Arroyo (16-10).
No. 7 American Canyon 6, No. 2 Head-Royce 2
American Canyon (13-14) broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the seventh inning. The visitors scored the final six runs after falling behind 2-0 in the second.
A hit batter and wild pitch plated accounted for American Canyon’s first two runs in the seventh, then Cole Gholar singled home two more to make it 6-2. Gholar was the hitting star for the Wolves with three RBIs.
Head-Royce (15-7) jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second when Mikael Akpala led off the inning with a home run. Caleb Roth singled and Davis Lynch doubled for the Jayhawks’ second run. Lynch had three of the eight hits by Head-Royce.
American Canyon will visit Clear Lake in Wednesday’s semifinals.
No. 6 Clear Lake 5, No. 3 Berean Christian 1
The Eagles stranded 10 baserunners in the upset loss at Diablo Valley College.
Berean Christian (17-9) took a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Max McTighe walked and eventually came around on an error. McTighe also had two of the Eagles’ seven hits.
The lead didn’t last for long as Clear Lake (18-5) scored four runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh. A triple by Johnny Gonzales tied the score, then Adam Bruch doubled to right for the run that put Clear Lake ahead to stay.
Division II
No. 1 Cardinal Newman 1, No. 8 Amador Valley 0
Cardinal Newman scored the game’s only run in the home half of the first in what was a great pitching duel between left-handers Elliot de la Torre of Amador Valley and Jack Pezzolo of Cardinal Newman.
Pezzolo, a UC-Davis commit, allowed just two hits, walked four and struck out 10. He scored the only run when he singled and eventually came around on a sacrifice fly by Matai Fa’agata.
De la Torre nearly matched Pezzolo pitch for pitch. The 6-4 junior yielded five hits, walked one and struck out five.
Cardinal Newman (18-10) hosts Acalanes in the semifinals on Wednesday. Amador Valley is 14-12.
No. 5 Acalanes 10, No. 4 Campolindo 0
The Dons scored six runs in the first inning, three in the second, and the game was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule.
Acalanes was up 4-0 before an out was recorded in the top of the first. The first six Dons’ batters reached base, three on hits, three on walks. Acalanes only had four hits, but took advantage of eight walks and three Campolindo errors.
Keegan Goddard had two hits, scored twice and drove in two runs for the Dons (15-10-1). Tyler Winkles had a double and two RBIs. Three pitchers combined on a two-hitter.
Campolindo finished 15-11.
No. 15 Rancho Cotate 12, No. 7 Livermore 10
The host Cowboys (15-11) took a 10-9 lead into the seventh, allowed three runs in the top of the inning and couldn’t score in their last at-bat.
A one-out triple by Camden Henington tied the score and a two-out double by Caden Bolin Percy put the visitors ahead 11-10. Henington was the winning pitcher. He also scored four runs and had three hits. Rancho Cotate (15-12) had 17 hits.
Livermore (15-11) walked 10 times against four Cotate pitchers. Hayden Maas was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs for the Cowboys.
Division VI
No. 1 Swett 7, No. 8 Point Arena 0
Michael Golden and Adan Miranda combined on a no-hitter for the Warriors, who will host Athenian in the semifinals on Wednesday. The duo struck out 11.
Swett (13-6-2) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. It stayed that way until the home team added two more in the fifth and three in the sixth.
Golden, who went five innings, struck out eight and walked six. He had a big day at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. Miranda, who struck out three in his two innings, had two hits and two RBIs. Jayden Barker also had a pair of hits and two runs batted in.