Castro Valley stifles Amador Valley; defending champion Heritage survives

Gabriella Tavares shut down one of the hottest teams in the Bay Area as the 10th-seeded Castro Valley softball team beat No. 7 Amador Valley 2-0 in the first round of the North Coast Section Division I playoffs on Wednesday.

Tavares allowed just two hits and struck out nine as Castro Valley (17-7) advanced to play at No. 2 Granada in today's quarterfinals.

“It is the most confident I've ever seen her be on the mound,” Castro Valley coach Nicole Manley said. “It's almost as if she's been in this position before, but oddly enough due to the pandemic affecting her high school career, she hasn't.”

Ava Thomas broke a scoreless tie with a fifth-inning RBI double that scored Jaidyn Torres. Katrina Longoria added an emphatic insurance run with homer to right in the seventh.

“She has been due for a big hit like that, and the timing of it couldn't have been any better,” Manley said of Longoria.

Pitcher Kaylee Davis was otherwise superb for Amador Valley (15-12), allowing just two hits and striking out seven.

NO. 2 GRANADA 13, NO. 15 BISHOP O'DOWD 2 >> A 10-run fourth inning propelled Granada past O'Dowd in a game that was more competitive than the final score showed. The game was tied 1-1 after the top of the fourth inning, and O'Dowd scored once more in the fifth before 10 Granada runs in the bottom of the inning resulted in a run-rule finish.

Sarah Delpitch was 2 for 3 with a home run, a triple and four RBIs, and third baseman Madison Horn was 2 for 3 with four RBIs.

Shortstop Alecsis Phillips was 2 for 2 and scored three runs for the Matadors (21-5). Morgan Jackson had an RBI for O'Dowd (13-12). NO. 8 HERITAGE 7, NO. 9 JAMES LOGAN 6 >> The defending Division I champion Patriots avoided a firstround exit against James Logan and will play at No. 1 San Ramon Valley today.

Heritage (16-5) trailed 6-5 but scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Senior Jessica Im led Heritage with three hits and two runs scored, and fellow senior Mikayla Garrison had two hits and two RBIs.

Cleanup hitter Shannon Garcia hit two doubles and had two RBIs for James Logan (20-4-1), and senior Alina Perez had two hits and two RBIs.

NO. 1 SAN RAMON VALLEY 9, NO.16 SAN LEANDRO 0 >>

San Ramon Valley scored three times in the first inning and senior pitcher and Illinois State commit Paige McLeod struck out nine and allowed just four hits in a shutout.

San Ramon Valley (22-5) got three hits, three steals and two RBIs from sophomore Sophia Jin, and senior Samm Shah had a triple against San Leandro (16-11).

NO. 4 FREEDOM 5, NO. 13 MONTE VISTA 4 >> Trailing by three entering the bottom of the fifth inning, Freedom scored three times to tie the score. It added two runs in the sixth to advance to today's quarterfinals, where the Falcons will face No. 5 Clayton Valley Charter in Oakley.

Senior Alicia Del Real and freshman Yasmeen Sanchez each had two RBIs for Freedom (17-8). Monte Vista senior Emma Eichten went 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs to finish her prep career for Monte Vista (11-11).

NO. 5 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER 6, NO. 12 LIBERTY 4 >> The Ugly Eagles (17-5) scored three in the sixth to avoid an upset. Junior Annika Scheafer was 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and Lola Winningham, Soo-Jin Berry and Isabella Scolini each had two hits for CVC.

Isabela Chavez was 3 for 4 with a triple and an RBI, and Stacy Flores was 3 for 3 with an RBI for Liberty (12-15).

NO. 3 CALIFORNIA 7, NO. 14 ARROYO 1 >> California won for the ninth time in 10 games as junior Kaitlyn Le did not allow a walk and struck out four in a complete game. Leadoff hitter Alyssa Villarde belted a home run while going 2 for 4. Sophomore Amanda Dilsaver was 2 for 3 with a teamleading three RBIs.

Savina Romero had Arroyo's only RBI. The team finished 10-13.

California improved to 18-8 and will host College Park today. NO. 6 COLLEGE PARK 6, NO. 11 VINTAGE 3 >> Jessica Delatorre was 2 for 3 with a triple and three RBIs as College Park got past visiting Vintage. Senior Alexis Sealey was 2 for 2 with two RBIs and senior Emma Wood was 2 for 4.

Sealey struck out five and allowed just two earned runs while tossing a complete game. Vintage dropped to 17-10, and College Park (17-8) will play at No. 3 California in the next round.

Division III NO. 6 EUREKA 10, NO. 11 DE ANZA 0 >>

De Anza's season ended after a 273-mile trip north from Richmond to Eureka. The home team scored five runs in the fifth to run-rule the Dons, who were hitless. Riana Everetts walked and was De Anza's only baserunner. The Dons finished 14-6.

NO. 4 ALBANY 9, NO. 13 NOVATO 0 >> Albany totaled 11 hits as the Cougars easily advanced to the next round. Senior Ava Cline was 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and Genevive Hallinan and Mackenzie Marion had two RBI's apiece. Senior Ciara Morris struck out six over seven innings. The 13-7 Cougars will host No. 12 Sonoma Valley today.

Baseball Division III

St. Mary's-Berkeley is off to a strong start after being bumped up to Division III for the North Coast Section playoffs after capturing the Division IV championship last season.

The Panthers opened the playoffs Wednesday with a 6-1 victory over ninth-seeded MontgomerySanta Rosa. Max Barnett-Abrams and Caven Croom each had two hits and an RBI, and Eli Fogelman allowed one unearned run in a complete game.

St. Mary's scored two in the first and four in the second as it improved to 15-8-1. Montgomery is 14-11.

The victory sets up a quarterfinal game against another Santa Rosa school on Saturday as St. Mary's travels to play topseeded Cardinal Newman, which had an opening-round bye after going 24-1 in the regular season.

Division II NO. 7 BENICIA 12, NO. 10 AMERICAN CANYON 7 >>

Matteo Copp homered and Jacob French and Jake Matteson drove in three runs apiece to lead Benicia to a first-round victory at home over American Canyon.

The Panthers scored three in the first and seven in the third to build a 10-0 cushion.

Three outs from losing by the 10-run mercy rule, American Canyon erupted for six in the fifth but couldn't get closer as it finished 13-14.

Benicia (14-10-1) will play at second-seeded Windsor in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

NO. 2 WINDSOR 2, NO. 15 EL CERRITO 1>> Max Garcia's one-out single in the visitor's half of the sixth pulled El Cerrito even.

An inning later, Windsor ended the Gauchos' season in walk-off fashion as Brayden Colletto's single to left drove in the winning run from third with no outs.

Carson Dillon pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts for Windsor (19-7).

NO. 3 MARIN CATHOLIC 9, NO. 14 WASHINGTON-FREMONT 1 >>

Washington's bid for an upset imploded when Marin Catholic, playing at home, scored six runs in the fifth inning.

Joseph Dutra had a hit and knocked in Washington's only run as the Huskies finished 15-10.

Jake Lyall and Carl Schmidt each homered and drove in two runs for Marin Catholic (20-6), which will play host to No. 6 seed Maria Carrillo on Saturday.

Division IV NO. 2 ST. JOSEPH NOTRE DAME 10, NO. 15 FREMONT CHRISTIAN 0 (5 INNINGS) >>

Daniel Velichko pitched a five-inning one-hitter with 11 strikeouts, and Thomas Cooke and Joshua Vonnegut each finished with three RBIs as SJND — last season's Division IV runner-up — cruised past Fremont Christian in a first-round game.