Prep baseball’s unbeaten teams: Granada, Acalanes win again, both improve to 9-0
Baseball
Leading off: Granada, Acalanes stay perfect
Even at the high school level, the best baseball teams occasionally lose.
Happened this week to top-ranked Valley Christian. Happened a couple of times to previous No. 1 De La Salle.
But it hasn’t happened yet to Granada or Acalanes.
They have piled up one victory after another to open this season, both extending their winning streaks to nine on Thursday. Granada blanked California 2-0 in East Bay Athletic League play. Acalanes defeated San Leandro 6-1 in a non-league game.
For Granada, the 9-0 start is the Livermore school’s best since it opened 20-0 in 2013.
For Acalanes, its 9-0 start is the Lafayette school’s best since it began the 2019 season 12-0.
It’s unlikely that either will make it through the entire season undefeated. Even De La Salle’s great 2019 team, which included ace Kyle Harrison, now in the Giants rotation, lost one game.
But both should enjoy the wave while it lasts.
No. 2 Granada 2, California 0
Parker Warner pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts, Quinn Boyd homered and Mikey Boyd also knocked in a run as Granada won at California to improve to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the EBAL.
The Matadors also got three hits from A.J. Martinez.
California fell to 4-6, 1-3.
No. 3 Acalanes 6, San Leandro 1
Acalanes, playing on the road, scored four runs in the second and one in the third as it breezed to a nonleague victory over San Leandro.
Isaac Copen and David Gonzales each had two hits, knocked in a run and scored a run. The Dons also got two hits and an RBI from Benji O’Rourke.
San Leandro slipped to 2-9.
No. 19 Burlingame 7, No. 20 The King’s Academy 6 (8 innings)
One day after The King’s Academy scored two in bottom of the seventh to beat Burlingame 9-8 in walk-off fashion, the script flipped on Thursday.
This time, Burlingame scored five in the home half of the eighth after TKA opened the extra inning with four runs.
Eric Gee’s single to left, his third hit on the day, drove in the game-ending run as Burlingame won the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division thriller.
Burlingame improved to 7-3, 1-1. TKA is 8-4-1, 3-1.
Westmont 2, No. 11 Leigh 1
Westmont split its two-game Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division series against Leigh, bouncing back from a 2-0 home loss to the Longhorns on Tuesday to win the rematch on the road.
Matthew Rienhardt and Sean Chen drove in Westmont’s runs, both in the third inning, and Aiden Kobata held Leigh to a run and four hits while pitching a complete game.
Westmont is 8-4, 2-2. Leigh fell to 6-4, 3-1.
No. 13 Berkeley 3, St. Mary’s-Stockton 2
Trailing 2-1, Berkeley scored a run in the home half of the fifth and another run in the sixth to edge St. Mary’s in a nonleague game.
Sophomore Akanni Owodunni and freshman Quinton Hill each hit solo home runs for the Yellowjackets, who improved to 5-2.
Julian Ito started on the mound for Berkeley. He allowed two runs over five innings. Antonio Nordman pitched two scoreless innings to seal the victory.
St. Mary’s, which beat De La Salle 3-2 on March 7, fell to 6-2.
Las Lomas 6, Berean Christian 2
Las Lomas scored three in the first and put the game away with three in the seventh as the Knights handed host Berean Christian its first loss of the season.
Cruz Lopez went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Izaiah Metzger drove in two runs to lead Las Lomas in the Diablo Athletic League Valley Division game.
Luke Upshaw and Max McTighe each had a hit and scored a run for Berean Christian, which dropped to 8-1, 2-1.
Las Lomas improved to 4-4, 2-1.
Branham 2, Live Oak 1
Branham scored two runs in the first, and that was enough for sophomore pitcher Luka Knezevic to lead the visiting Bruins to a victory over Live Oak in BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division play.
Knezevic scattered nine hits, allowing just a first-inning run, while pitching a complete game. He struck out eight.
Nolan Mannina had a hit and an RBI and Ryan Nickelson-Stamer and Chris Von Barloewen scored a run for Branham, which improved to 9-2, 3-1.
Live Oak dropped to 4-6, 1-3.
Softball
No. 3 Foothill 5, No. 17 Clayton Valley Charter 4
Sophia Burdick’s single to center tied the score 4-4 and Ellie Novitske followed with a groundout to second that knocked in the winning run as visiting Foothill rallied in the seventh inning to beat Clayton Valley in a nonleague game.
Burdick finished with two hits and two RBIs and her sister, Kaycie Burdick, tripled and scored twice for Foothill (8-2).
Izabella Holt had two hits, including a double, and drove in a run for Clayton Valley (3-3).
No. 6 San Ramon Valley 4, Carondelet 3
Trailing 3-1 after 4 1/2 innings, San Ramon Valley scored a run in the home half of the fifth and two in the seventh to edge Carondelet in EBAL play.
Charlie Callison’s bunt caused an error that pushed across the tying and winning runs for San Ramon Valley, which upped its record to 6-3, 3-0.
Reese Albano had two hits, including a home run, and Kiley Abrojena had three hits and an RBI for Carondelet (4-3, 1-2).
No. 7 California 5, No. 15 College Park 2
Mydhili Krishnan’s bases-loaded walk in the home half of the sixth broke a 2-2 tie and Alina Curiel followed with a single to left to drive in two as California rallied to defeat College Park in a nonleague game.
Curiel had two hits and three RBIs and Shayla Santolucito had two hits and knocked in a run for California, which improved to 5-2.
Avery Rodriguez had a double and an RBI for College Park (3-3).
Leland 1, Santa Teresa 0
Hannah Ames’ home run in the seventh inning accounted for the only run and Courtney Cefalu pitched a three-hitter with four strikeouts as Leland edged host Santa Teresa in a BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division game.
Leland is 8-3, 3-1. Santa Teresa slid to 7-3, 3-1.
Gunn 14, Castilleja 1 (5 innings)
Aarushi Kumar had two hits, including a triple, scored twice and knocked in a run and Gunn drew 13 walks as the Titans cruised to a nonleague victory on the road over Castilleja.
The home team led 1-0 after the first inning.
It was all Gunn from there as the Titans improved to 9-1. Castilleja is 3-1.