Leigh’s Ollie Obenour (2) pitches against Westmont at Westmont High School in Campbell, Calif., on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Baseball
No. 19 Leigh 13, Branham 5
Leigh clinched the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division championship on Tuesday as Ollie Obenour had two home runs among his three hits and drove in five runs to lead the Longhorns to a victory at home over archrival Branham.
Leigh scored two in the first, five in the second and five in the third to take command as it improved to 16-8 overall and 13-4 in the league.
Carter Williams added three hits, Dylan Christian doubled and knocked in three runs and Marcus Garcia had two hits, including a double, for Leigh.
Lance Takamura was the winning pitcher.
Branham got three RBIs from Devin Gonzales and two RBIs from Chris Von Barloewen.
The Bruins dropped to 14-12, 6-11.
No. 2 Valley Christian 2, Archbishop Riordan 1
Valley Christian advanced to the semifinals of the West Catholic Athletic League tournament, edging eighth-seeded Riordan in a game that was anything but close for the top-seeded Warriors.
Rohan Kassanagotu pitched a complete game, striking out 12, and Nathan Choi and Rocco Muccilli each knocked in a run to lead host Valley Christian.
The Warriors scored both of their runs in the third inning. Riordan cut the deficit in half in the fifth.
Valley Christian advances to play host to St. Ignatius on Wednesday.
When the teams met on Friday at SI, Kole Laubach pitched a perfect game as Valley won 3-0 to clinch a share of the league championship with Serra.
The victory on Tuesday improved Valley’s record to 24-4.
Riordan finished 7-19-2.
No. 3 Serra 8, Bellarmine 0
Braden Agosta scattered four hits over five innings and Jake Downing slugged a home run among his two hits and knocked in three runs to lead second-seeded Serra to a victory at home over seventh-seeded Bellarmine in the first round of the WCAL tournament.
The Padres also got two hits, including a double, and two RBIs from Joey Damelio and an RBI apiece from Ian Josephson and Ian Armstrong as they improved to 21-5.
Bellarmine fell to 13-14.
Serra will be at home again on Wednesday to face Archbishop Mitty in the semifinals.
No. 11 San Ramon Valley 8, Livermore 4
San Ramon Valley scored five runs in the home half of the sixth to erase a one-run deficit as the Wolves advanced to the semifinals of the East Bay Athletic League tournament with a victory over Livermore.
Julian Cambra drove in three runs and Marco Jones knocked in two to lead SRV, which improved to 15-9.
The Wolves will play at De La Salle on Wednesday in the semifinals.
Tanner Lee had three hits, including a double, for Livermore, which fell to 13-12.
Monte Vista 14, Foothill 13
Monte Vista built a 14-4 advantage after five innings in this EBAL tournament first-round game, then held on tightly to hold off hard-charging Foothill.
The home team scored two runs in the sixth and seven in the seventh but was unable to complete the wild comeback.
Brad Ballard had three hits and four RBIs, Ronan French knocked in three runs and Dylan Hillman drove in two for Monte Vista, which advances to play at Granada in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Monte Vista improved to 15-10. Foothill is 13-12.
Softball
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 5, No. 6 Gilroy 0
Kyleigh Mace pitched a two-hitter with six strikeouts and Sara Pina had four hits and scored a run to lead Mitty to a non-league victory on the road between teams that are getting ready for the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The Monarchs also got two hits apiece from McKenna Woliczko, Mia Rodriguez and Megan Sutton as they improved to 19-3.
Averi Peters and Ariela Yslava accounted for Gilroy’s only hits.
The Mustangs slipped to 19-6.
No. 5 Livermore 9, San Ramon Valley 0
Livermore advanced to the EBAL tournament championship game with a victory on the road over San Ramon Valley.
Kaci Norton pitched six strong innings and Payten Williams had three hits and four RBIs to lead Livermore, which will play California in the final.
No. 8 Hillsdale 12, Sequoia 0 (6 innings)
Sophia Shelton went 3 for 4 with four RBIs and Mia DeMartini had two hits and drove in two runs to propel Hillsdale to a rout of host Sequoia in a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game.
Hillsdale improved to 23-4, 11-3. Sequoia is 2-17, 1-12.
Carlmont holds a half-game lead over Hillsdale in the standings.
The Scots can clinch the outright title with a win at home over Burlingame on Thursday. If Burlingame wins, Hillsdale and Carlmont will tie for first place.
No. 10 California 2, Amador Valley 1
California scored two runs in the home half of the fourth to overcome a one-run deficit at the Grizzlies defeated Amador Valley to advance to the EBAL tournament title game.
Jayda Crosby’s two-run homer accounted for California’s runs. Taylor Oxe drove in Amador Valley’s only run.
California will play San Ramon Valley in the final on Thursday.
Originally published at Darren Sabedra