De La Salle exacts some payback
Late rally helps Spartans edge St. Francis for NorCal title
The 2021-22 Metro sports season ended Saturday much like it began last fall, with an epic game and finish between St. Francis and De La SalleConcord.
In early September, St. Francis pulled off the mother of all stunners, ending the Spartans’ 30-year, 318-game unbeaten football streak against Northern California opponents with an improbable 80-yard drive in the final minute to win 31-28.
On Saturday, De La Salle’s baseball team (27-6) returned the favor, scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh capped by a one-out, two-run single from senior Ethan Dungo to win 7-6 in the inaugural Northern California Division I championship game.
It wasn’t a 30-year streak, but St. Francis (31-5), ranked 15th nationally by MaxPreps, was on quite a roll. The Lancers had won 10 straight and 26 of 28 since a 5-0 home loss to De La Salle on April 12.
A.J. Bianchina, who scored in the final rally, was the only football player on the Spartans’ baseball roster. The range of emotions between events was extreme, Bianchina said.
“I remember after the St. Francis loss, we were in the locker room,” he said. “Everything was dead. No one was talking. There were tears in people’s eyes. Then we came out and won today and it was pure joy.”
Said De La Salle coach David Jeans, a former assistant football coach on campus for 12 years: “We try to stick together as a school. There were a lot of football players here cheering us on today. To get a little revenge, it’s nice. We’re all in this together. It’s the brotherhood.”
St. Francis had excelled all season behind its pitching (1.35 team ERA) and spotless defense, but on Saturday, the Lancers committed four errors, including two to start the seventh. After Kai Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Donovan Chriss lined a single — his third of the game — to make it 6-4. Elias Rubio’s RBI groundout made it 6-5. Then Dungo — down 0-2 — delivered to ignite a wild De La Salle dogpile behind the mound.
“Rounding first base and seeing (Chriss) score the winning run was a surreal feeling,” Dungo said. “We’ve been working hard since the summer and it was a great feeling to get it done.”
A diving catch by De La Salle right-fielder Tanner Griffith in the fourth saved two runs and kept the Spartans close.
Jeans called this year’s Spartans the grittiest of the 10 he has coached since taking the job in 2012. Seven have won North Coast Section titles, including five straight.
De La Salle’s hard infield and uneven outfield led to a lot of bad hops, but St. Francis coach Matt Maguire offered no excuses. His team rallied from a 3-1 deficit behind a two-run single from Wyatt King, a two-run homer by Max Ross and a run-scoring single from Ryan Lee to go up 6-3.
“It’s not a revolutionary statement to say we made way too many mistakes right from the very beginning,” Maguire said. “It was one of those days. A bad day to have a bad day. … Everything steamrolled and it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, but I told them, what they’ve done is remarkable. They had a great, great season.”
Good news for Lancers:
Saturday wasn’t all bad for St.
Francis as its softball team completed a 31-2 season with a 6-0 win over Clovis to take home the inaugural NorCal D1 championship. Carlie Cummings had four of the Lancers’ 17 hits, Ella Milante slugged a home run and pitchers Kate Munnerlyn, Shannon Keighran and Chloe Cummings combined to scatter six hits.
Minnesota-bound shortstop Jessica Oakland, the 2021 Metro Player of the Year, finished with 21 home runs this season (44 in her career) and 67 RBIs (159 career). Washingtonbound first baseman Sydney Stewart had 15 and 53 for the season and 31 and 116 for her career.
More good WCAL news:
Mitty’s baseball team (24-10) took the Northern California D2 title with a 4-2 home win over Granite Bay, completing a 6-0 postseason that included a CCS D2 crown. Sophomore
Luka Pintar was the winning pitcher, allowing six hits and striking out five over 62⁄3 innings. Antonio Cabrera, Luka Brocilo and Jarren Advincula had two hits each and T.J. Hays drove in two runs. In the six postseason games, Mitty allowed four runs and recorded four shutouts.