Eyes now on big prize
Valley Christian, Los Gatos to meet for CCS Open championship
SAN JOSE >> Valley Christian baseball coach John Diatte huddled his players briefly before they departed Municipal Stadium after another impressive victory.
“We've worked all year to get to this point,” the longtime coach said.
A few hours later, Los Gatos coach Nate Anderson did the same.
It will be Valley Christian against Los Gatos on Friday night at Muni for the Open Division championship after both won semifinal games Tuesday.
Valley Christian, which spent a month atop MaxPreps' national computer rankings but is seeded only third in the section playoffs because of a head-scratching point system, is back in the final after beating No. 2 seed San Benito 8-0.
Los Gatos, seeded fourth, held off No. 8 seed Serra 2-1 in the second semifinal, scoring its only runs on a first-inning, two-run double by Thomas Moore.
Trevor Allen made those runs stand but his complete game ended with a few skipped heart beats as Brad Shimabuku ripped a line drive that seemed destined to bring in the tying run from second.
But sophomore second baseman Tommy Troy, a Stanford commit, made like superman to snare the ball before it could reach right field.
Troy then hopped up and fired to first for the final out.
“Oh my God,” Anderson said. “He had some tough at-bats. He had a couple of tough plays. For him to make that play in that moment in the end, it shows his character. Stanford got a good one.”
Valley Christian looked every bit like a national power in its win, getting strong starting pitching from Kevin Pence and clutch hits throughout its order.
“We're swinging the bats better, which is the right time to swing then if you're going to swing them,” Diatte said.
One year after winning the Open Division, Valley Christian is once again playing its best in the biggest games. The Warriors won the West Catholic Athletic League postseason tournament, beating Serra in the final to claim a share of the league crown, and have won their two CCS games by identical scores. They beat Sacred Heart Prep 8-0 in the first round.
Steven Zobac put Valley Christian on top in the first inning Tuesday, blasting a two-run triple through a gap in right-center field, and the Warriors did not look back as they made Pence's job easier.
“When we have a lead like that, there is nothing better than that, for sure,” Pence said.
Los Gatos (23-8) will be appearing in its first Open final since losing to St. Francis when its current seniors were freshmen.
The Wildcats wasted no time grabbing the lead Tuesday.
Luke Short, a pitching and hitting hero in a 3-1 win over Palo Alto in the quarterfinals, opened the bottom of the first by getting hit by a pitch. Tommy Troy walked with one out and Tyler Williams followed with a single to right to load the bases.
Up stepped Moore, who smashed a two-run double to right field to, as it turned out, give Allen all the offensive support he'd need.
“The batters in front of me had great at-bats to tire out the pitcher,” Moore said. “He gave me something I could handle after a couple of balls he'd thrown, and I was just seeing it well.”
Los Gatos and Valley Christian have met once this season, a 7-4 Valley win on Feb. 24.
Expect a charged up Los Gatos crowd Friday, just as it had for the championship game against St. Francis in 2015.
“We're paying for our whole town to show up,” Anderson said.
Anderson and one of his assistants were ejected in the 2015 final. The coach vows to keep his cool this time.
“I talked to my wife about that,” Anderson said. “I don't think she'll let me get tossed again. Hope to make it through all seven and have a packed house.”
Division I
Los Altos needed only six innings to advance to the Division I final as the 11th-seeded Eagles cruised past No. 2 seed Piedmont Hills 10-0 in a game that ended because of the 10run mercy rule. The Eagles will play top seed Bellarmine College Prep, which advanced when it scored on a play at the plate in the bottom of the seventh to beat No. 5 seed Carlmont 1-0.
“Honestly, I thought I was out at first because the ump said, ‘Let me see the ball,'” Bellarmine junior Matthew Pinelli, who scored from third on the grounder to short, told the Bay Area News Group's Vytas Mazeika. “And then the catcher didn't have the ball, so when he signaled me safe I knew it was over.”
Los Altos lost to Westmont in the Division I final last year. Bellarmine had been an Open Division regular until the field was cut from 16 teams to eight this season.
“We've been playing really good lately, and I think as a coach that's all you can ask,” Los Altos coach Gabriel Stewart told Mazeika. “You want to be able to play your best at the end of the season.”