Valley Christian’s unexpected title
May is a blur in the prep sports world. So much to cover. So much has happened. Among the most notable: Baseball: Valley Christian emerged Friday as the unlikely champion of the most topsy-turvy West Catholic Athletic League baseball race in history.
Seth Moke smacked a homer, Jalen Robinson had three hits, Zach Zamborelli fired a four-hitter and the defense played errorless ball in a 4-1 home win over Riordan to finish 9-4-1 in league play (16-9-1 overall).
The Warriors finished onehalf game better than St. Francis, Sacred Heart Cathedral and Bellarmine (all 9-5).
A 7-7 tie at Mitty on March 14 proved to be decisive. Valley Christian was 8-9-1 before rattling off eight straight wins.
Bellarmine spoiled rival St. Francis’ bid for the championship with a 2-1 road win Thursday behind two sacrifice flies from Connor Mack and the pitching of Lucas Ragen and Lane Maxwell.
Mitty (15-11-1, 4-9-1) spoiled SHC’s title chances with a 5-3 home win last Tuesday before the Irish ended Serra’s slim hopes for a title with a 6-3 win Friday at San Francisco State.
Before Friday’s game, Serra’s eight-year coach Craig Gianinno resigned immediately and Dan Nolan was named interim head coach. The abrupt change came three weeks after St. Francis head coach Mike Smith took a personal leave for the remainder of the season and longtime coach Chris Bradford came out of retirement to take over the program.
Smith’s leave came a week after St. Francis forfeited a game against Serra for violations of athletic policies. The changeovers, forfeit and close race made for a very peculiar season to be sure.
A new season — the WCAL playoffs — opens at 4 p.m. Tuesday with Riordan at Valley Christian, Mitty at St. Francis, Sacred Heart Cathedral hosting St. Ignatius and Serra traveling to Bellarmine.
At UCLA on Saturday, Bellarmine lost 4-1 in the Boras Classic final against Huntington Beach (24-3), ranked third nationally by MaxPreps.com. Kyle Horn drove in Bellarmine’s run with a single.
Though Sacred Heart Cathedral (21-6) didn’t win the league, the Irish finished with the most wins overall. Junior third baseman Matt Palomino led the regulars with a .346 batting average and 17 RBIs. The team’s strength all season has been pitching, sporting a team ERA of 1.53. Marty Cole (6-1, 2.85), Eric Casillas (5-1, 1.67) and Martin Chavarria (5-2, 1.01) have led the way. Softball: In another WCAL switcheroo, St. Francis (21-6, 9-1) won the softball roundrobin title following a 9-8 home victory over perennial NorCal power Mitty (17-6, 8-2) in 10 innings Thursday. Claudia Costello belted a tworun walk-off double in the 10th inning to score fellow seniors Kelsey Johnson and Myka Hughes. All three were part of a team that went winless in WCAL play a season ago.
The difference? Former St. Francis baseball coach Mike Oakland led the softball program this season.
The Bay Area’s top two softball teams, Amador Valley and Foothill, both 19-3 and both from Pleasanton, finish EBAL play Thursday at Amador Valley. Junior pitcher Danielle Williams (17-1, 0.34 ERA, 231 strikeouts, 122 innings) fired a two-hitter with 16 strikeouts in their first meeting, a 6-0 Amador Valley win. Girls basketball: In yet more St. Francis coaching news, girls basketball coach Brian Harrigan — winner of more than 700 games — has been let go.
St. Francis athletic director Michael Pilawski confirmed with Prep2Prep writer Harold Abend last week that Harrigan will not return after six seasons. He went a combined 106-71 in that time after winning 597 games, 10 CCS and four state crowns at Sacred Heart Cathedral.
According to the Cal-Hi Sports record book, Harrigan, 59, is one of only three coaches to win at least 700 girls games. His overall record is 703-241.
Harrigan told Abend: “I’m a little different, a fiery guy, and I think they realized who they were getting. But over the last couple of years, it was insinuated that coaching styles are changing and I was asked to make adjustments . ... I felt I made some good steps, but I’m still going to bark sometimes to try to get the girls to play harder.”