Granada defeats EBAL foe San Ramon Valley to capture Las Vegas tournament title

Baseball

#1 Granada 9, #15 San Ramon Valley 4

When Granada signed up to compete in the Bishop Gorman tournament in Las Vegas, the Matadors hoped to see some of the best talent in the country.

But after winning three games against foreign opponents to advance to the tournament final, Granada faced a team a 15-minute drive from its campus.

In what ended up being an East Bay Athletic League showdown at Neon City, Granada’s offense proved too strong as the Matadors defeated the Wolves 9-4 to win the Bishop Gorman Invitational championship.

“One of the goals we set at the beginning of the season was to come to Vegas and win this tournament,” Granada pitching coach Jason Sekany said. “The guys stayed pretty calm even when we were down in this tournament. We were really confident that we could come back at any time, and so we just want to reinforce that going forward.

The two teams met just over three weeks ago, with Granada getting the better of SRV in a 6-1 win.

SRV started the game by scoring two runs in the top of the first, but Granada tied it up in the second inning.

The Matadors exploded in the third inning, scoring four runs to take a 6-2 lead. AJ Martinez RBI single that scored Peyton Richards closed out Granada’s four-run inning.

Joseph Coupland RBI single in the top of the fourth inning that scored Luc Boulanger cut Granada’s lead to just three points, but that’s as close as Wolves would get for the rest of the night.

Granada extended their lead to five, but a strong pitching performance from Parker Warner And Luc Palma sealed the victory for the Matadors in the final rounds.

Warner went 2 for 3 at the plate and recorded a triple and a home run. On the mound, the Stanford commit struck out 10 and allowed three earned runs on 101 pitches.

“Parker held up his end of the bargain from a leadership standpoint and his performance in the dugout and on the field,” Sekany said. “It really lived up to all our expectations.”

Junior Grenade Mike Boyd went 2 for 3 and brought in three runners.

Julien Cambra had a hit and two RBIs for SRV.

Granada extended its winning streak to 16 and remains undefeated. The Wolves fell to 9-5.

No. 4 Serra 10, St. Mary’s-Stockton 1

A long road trip to the Central Valley could have contributed to a slow start for the Padres, but Serra found his rhythm late in a dominant victory.

The Rams scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning when Tyson Reis hit on a single to center field to score Michael Queensbut St. Mary’s lead did not last long.

Serra scored seven runs in the top of the fifth inning, capped by that of Ian Armstrong A two-run homer that gave the Padres a six-run advantage. Serra scored three more runs in the seventh to eliminate the fourth-best team in the Maxpreps Sacramento Metro standings.

Armstrong finished with two hits and two RBIs to go along with his fifth home run of the inning. Joey Damelio drove in two runners and hit a double.

Serra (13-2) returns to West Catholic Athletic League play Tuesday against Valley Christian.

No 6 From Room 17, Granite Bay 1

The Spartans made it easy against the top team in the Maxpreps Sacramento Metro rankings.

De La Salle took a 4-0 lead after the second inning. The Grizzlies cut the score to 4-1 in the fourth, but that was as close as they could have gotten all game.

Concord School scored 10 runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to close out Granite Bay in dominant fashion.

Ethan Sullivan had two hits, four RBIs and a double. Tyler Spangler And Jamie Mullin each had three RBIs.

De La Salle improved to 9-3. Granite Bay fell to 13-2.

Encinal 25, Mission-San Francisco 0

Three different batters went 3-for-3 at the plate as Encinal blanked Mission and drove in 25 runs in a blowout victory.

Evan Furuichi, Angus Olaes And Eric Proctor each had three hits in three attempts in Saturday’s victory. The Jets had 18 hits and 22 RBIs as a team.

The trio of Darren Olson, Antoine Wilson And Zac Struthers combined to throw one hit and struck out seven batters.

Encinal moved a game above .500 at 7-6. The mission is now 6-8.

Mgr O’Dowd 6, Mgr Riordan 2

The Dragons took a 4-0 lead after three innings and didn’t look back.

O’Dowd junior Vander Cole went 2 for 4 at the plate and had two RBIs. Nicolas Haas had two hits, two RBIs and a double.

Colton Parenti and Nathan Zuromski scored only two points at the Crusaders.

O’Dowd (10-5-1) will face Arroyo on Wednesday. Riordan (6-8-2) will travel to Sacred Heart Cathedral on Tuesday.

Pioneer 7, No. 18 Menlo-Atherton 3

Pioneer earned a solid non-conference win behind a strong offensive outing from junior Lucas Leese.

Leese had two hits, three RBIs and a double in the Mustangs’ win over Menlo-Atherton.

Nathaniel Forbes pitched six innings, striking out five and allowing only two earned runs. Senior Nate Tichy came on in relief in the seventh and struck out three straight batters.

Pioneer improved to 9-7. Menlo-Atherton fell to 11-6.

Soft ball

No. 1 Saint-François 5, No. 4 Livermore 0

After the Livermore Stampede softball tournament was canceled due to weather, some of the Bay Area’s best teams decided to make what would be the final day of the tournament an exciting showcase.

Kate Munnerlyn and St. Francis did not disappoint.

The Texas A&M commit pitched a no-hitter, striking out 11 Livermore batters in a dominant shutout victory.

“Kate is competitive and when she shows up, we always have a chance,” St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said.

Peyton Tsao started the scoring for the Lancers, hitting Hayden Hummel on an RBI single to center field to give St. Francis a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Tsao was not finished.

The 5-foot-7 freshman crushed a pitch past the center field wall to score Hummel a second time on a two-run homer, giving the Lancers a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. It was Tsao’s third homer of the season.

St. Francis added insurance runs in the seventh when Shannon Keighran entered Jaime Oakland And Rebecca Quinn.

The Lancers (13-0) won their 13th straight game after beating Amador Valley later in the day. Munnerlyn notched her sixth victory this season.

Livermore (11-3) lost its second match Saturday after losing to Archbishop Mitty. Only helping the Cowboys moving forward will be Livermore coach Andy Paulazzo, who will be playing high-profile games against teams like St. Francis following the cancellation of the Livermore Stampede.

“The opportunity to play Kate (Munnerlyn) in a match like that was good for us,” Paulazzo said. “She’s a great pitcher and we needed to see someone like that for the rest of our season.”

Saint-François 8, n°9 Amador Valley 2

St. Francis combined for seven runs in the second and third innings to take an early 7-0 lead.

Tsao showed off his power for the second straight game, hitting two homers on two hits, while Munnerlyn showed off his power by hitting a three-run homer in the third.

Amador Valley fell to 6-5 with a loss to Mitty later in the day.