NCS roundup: Northgate routs Berean Christian to win D-IV softball title
Berean Christian earned a rematch against Northgate, with much higher stakes, but the result wasn’t much different from the teams’ game in late March.
It was all Northgate. Again.
The top-seeded Broncos captured the North Coast Section Division IV softball championship on Friday, beating second-seeded Berean Christian 10-0 in a run-rule rout at Diablo Valley College.
The game ended when Addison Baxter ripped a fifth-inning double to right that brought in Taelyn Jriyasetapong and Sophie Hanko, which clinched Northgate’s first section softball championship.
Two months after the Broncos rolled over Berean Christian 11-2, they were even more impressive this time.
Northgate scored five runs in the first, two in the second and three in the fifth to wrap it up, completing a playoff run that included wins over Acalanes in the quarterfinals and Pinole Valley in the semifinals.
Baxter led the offensive explosion with two hits and four RBIs. Stella Hanko added two hits and two RBIs and Ashley Herman had a hit and knocked in two runs.
Sophie Hanko had two hits and scored three runs and Lucky Franco and Jriyasetapong each had two hits.
In the circle, Herman pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks.
Berean Christian reached the final with narrow wins over El Cerrito in the quarterfinals and Salesian in the semifinals.
There would no nail-biting in the final.
Alissa Jones and Ella Allardyce accounted for Berean Christian’s two hits.
Northgate (13-11) qualified for next week’s NorCal regionals by winning Friday.
Berean Christian finished 18-4.
Baseball
Division V
No. 2 Arcata 1, No. 5 Kennedy-Fremont 0: Kennedy traveled 310 miles to play for the NCS Division V championship. The Titans returned home from the near-tip of Northern California with the second-place trophy after Ben Lukens and Anthony Ebert combined on a no-hitter for Arcata.
Lukens pitched 6 1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking six. Ebert got the final two outs to clinch Arcata’s fourth NCS baseball championship, all since 2016.
Isaiah Ebrahimi was impressive on the mound for Kennedy, allowing just a fifth-inning run. He struck out seven, gave up two hits and walked five.
The victory qualified Arcata (17-11) for the NorCal regionals.
Kennedy, which was seeking its first NCS title in baseball, finished 14-13.