Oakland Section baseball playoffs: Skyline holds off Tech, wins third consecutive title

Oakland Section championship: Skyline holds off tough Oakland Tech team to win third title in a row

Skyline established itself as a dynasty on Friday afternoon, claiming its third consecutive Oakland Section title with a 3-0 victory over Oakland Tech at Laney College. 

Senior pitcher Joseph Salazar was phenomenal for the Titans, throwing a complete game and striking out four while allowing just five hits, all singles. 

Salazar was just as fearsome at the plate, where he went 3 for 3 and scored two runs. Fellow senior Michael ODonal had Skyline’s other hit, a double off Tech’s Drew Kaplan.

Skyline scored one run in the first inning and two more in the bottom of the fifth.

Kaplan pitched well and kept Tech in the game, striking out two and allowing just two earned runs in six innings. Tech senior Shaun Mante also pitched an inning and struck out two. 

Mante, Kaplan, Hayden Burton, Rasheed Pittman and Brandon Hemphill each had one hit for Oakland Tech, which finished the season 13-11 and proved to be the only Oakland Section team that could play Skyline (17-4) tough.

Oakland Tech lost 2-0 in nine innings and 5-4 in eight innings to Skyline in the regular season. By comparison, the Titans demolished every other Section opponent by at least 12 runs, not including two victories by forfeit.