Baseball playoff roundup: Granite Bay wins their second section title in school history

For the first time since 2001, the Granite Bay High Grizzlies are the Sac-Joaquin Section baseball champions after defeating Rio Americano High 4-2 on Tuesday night at Sacramento City College. "This is gratifying beyond words because it has been a long time and we had a bunch of guys that really grinded and worked hard," coach Pat Esposito said. Esposito has been coaching the Grizzlies ever since they had a varsity team in 1998 and was the head coach when they last won the section title. "That team was loaded with talent and these guys have grown to be great players," Esposito said. "The way we started the season was rough but I purposely put together a really tough schedule and we were right in league the whole time. I'm proud of the way they played and I think people don't realize that the hardest-working team sometimes is the most fun to be a part of when you win a championship." The Grizzlies section title capped off a nine-game winning streak. They were led on Tuesday by senior pitcher Caden Hunter, who entered the game in the third inning with a 1-1 score and struck out six of the first eight batters he faced. He finished the game with five innings, seven strikeouts and only one run allowed. "I couldn't be more proud of my team defensively and offensively and throughout the season, we gained a brotherhood," Hunter said. "Honestly, I couldn't have done it tonight without my team. My fastball and curveball were on and I was just feeling it. I started getting slower but my team picked me up with defensive plays." On the scoring front, the Grizzlies were led by three runs in the fourth inning, two of which came from runs batted in by Christian Bert and Preston Fondren. Granite Bay High scored its first run in the second inning off of a double by sophomore Jacob Garcia. "Going into my at bats, all I tell myself is to do damage and on that pitch, I saw it floating in and did damage," Garcia said. "These boys are a great group of guys who always push you to your limits." This isn't the end of the road for the Grizzlies as they will compete in the NorCal Regional playoffs next week. Whitney High The Whitney High Wildcats have been the comeback kids of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs as they were down three runs in their first game and four runs in their second game but came back to win both contests. In their first round contest, the Wildcats faced Pleasant Grove and were down 5-2 entering the bottom of the fifth. They scored three runs to send the game into extra innings and Tyler Allen would get the walkoff hit sending Whitney into the next round. Their second round comeback was even more impressive as the Wildcats entered the seventh inning against St. Mary's down 4-0 but scored five runs to survive and advance to the semifinals. Whitney High defeated Oak Ridge High two out of three games in the regular season and beat them in two straight games last week to advance to the section championship. In their first game, the Wildcats didn't allow a run until the seventh inning and won 8-4. Sophomore Jax Gimenez batted in two runs in the contest. In game two on May 18, Whitney High was down 3-1 early before scoring five runs in the fourth inning. Allen had two runs batted in and pitched two scoreless innings. This is the first time that Whitney High has made it to the section championship. Valley Christian Academy The Lions lost 1-0 to Turlock Christian in the Division VII Section Championship at Islanders Field in Lathrop on Tuesday. Valley Christian Academy senior Riley Houghtby only allowed two hits and struck out 10 batters but the Lions dropped a fly ball in the first inning, which allowed Turlock Christian to score. Justin Perry's infield single in the fifth inning was the sole hit for the Lions and they were shut out by Eagles junior Gavin Farinha, who struck out 14 batters. Farinha has a 0.00 earned run average with 133 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched. This was the Lions 11th trip to the section finals since 2007 and they have won eight section championships. They defeated Ripon Christian 5-4 in their first game of the postseason before defeating Delta twice, including a 7-6 win on May 18 where junior Jackson Nichols hit a grand slam that gave the Lions the lead in the sixth inning. "Our schedule overall was a tough one this year, which helped us in the playoffs overcome adversity," coach Brad Gunter said. "Wins over teams like Laguna Creek, Center, Sutter and Kennedy, when they were undefeated early, and tough losses to other programs that were in the section playoffs above us tested our guys this year." Roseville High The Tigers won their first Division III playoff game 3-0 against Pioneer High on May 10 before losing 12-2 in the second round against Vanden High. In their first round win, Roseville High was led by the pitching of senior David Centeno, who struck out 12 batters while only giving up two hits. Junior Ethan LaBlue had a run batted in while Max Wyles hit a solo home run. In their loss, the Tigers gave up 10 runs in the first three innings to the top-seeded Vikings and lost in five innings. LaBlue and Brady Ranallo both batted in a run in the contest. Roseville finished the 2022 season with a 16-14 record and second-place in the Capital Valley Conference. They also won their first playoff game since 2015. Woodcreek High The Timberwolves entered the section playoffs as the top seed in Division II at 25-2 but lost their first round game 4-3 to Laguna Creek High. Woodcreek High scored first with two runs in the first inning but gave up four runs to the Cardinals in the second. Despite scoring another run in the bottom of the inning, the Timberwolves were never able to recover even with the solid pitching of junior Cody Cooper who struck out nine batters. Jake Harvey, Caden Thompson and Ethan Louie all batted in a run during the contest for the Timberwolves. Going into the postseason, Woodcreek High played nine games in a span of 11 days. Oakmont High The Vikings won the Foothill Valley League with a 16-2 record and were looking for their second straight section title entering the Division II playoffs as the seven-seed but lost their first round matchup 4-3 against Downey High. Oakmont High entered the bottom of the fourth inning down 2-0, but scored a run to narrow the gap. After giving up two more runs in the top of the seventh, the Vikings needed to score three runs in the bottom of the inning but only scored twice. Oakmont High will be graduating 12 seniors, including four of their top six hitters.