Granite Bay rallies to beat St. Mary's in nine innings; Roseville advances

Granite Bay received two big, two-out hits from a pair of sophomores that drove in the game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth inning and the game-winning runs in the ninth, as the Grizzlies defeated St. Mary's, 5-4, to push the playoff series to the limit. The third and final game of the series will be Friday at St. Mary's with the winning team advancing to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship game. Trailing 3-2 in the sixth, the Grizzlies tied the game when sophomore Noah Paul ripped a double down the left-field line to drive in Derek Asnicar to tie the game. In the seventh inning, the Grizzlies had a glorious chance to win the game with runners on first and second and one out, but couldn't get the big hit. In the ninth, however, Granite Bay came up big and won the game. With one out, Connor Boese walked before Kenny DeVault grounded out for the second out of the inning. Andrew Jones, who led off the game with a home run, was intentionally walked for the third time in the game to put the game-winning run on first base. Isaac Schroeder then singled to right field to score Boese to tie the game and then the ball got under right fielder's Dawson Labarthe's glove which allowed Jones to score all the way from first base and give the Grizzlies the thrilling 5-4 win. "I was just trying to cash in for my team and not do too much," Schroeder said. "I just wanted to get on base and keep the rally going. It just takes one person at a time and I got lucky with the error by the right fielder. It was amazing and felt great, especially after the rough start. Just to come through at the end there's no better feeling, especially after having a bad game." It was the biggest hit of Schroeder's young high school career. "I haven't gotten many opportunities to do that, but I've hit a couple home runs," Schroeder said. "This hit is definitely up there." Granite Bay coach Pat Esposito was proud of his sophomores. "Our sophomores are no longer sophomores when it comes to baseball," Esposito said. "They've seen it; they've been there. This is what we call the quick education in baseball. We're facing some of the best arms in the area. You've got to have good at bats, you can't just go up there and swing. You have to see the baseball. It's got good movement. It's got good velo. Our guys did a good job. "I told them no one cares what you did in the middle of the game, but when you win the game, everybody is going to be watching on ESPN." Granite Bay scored a run in the first inning on Jones' home run. In the second, Ryan Miller singled and eventually scored on a bunt hit by Boese. Boese pitched the first four innings and after allowing St. Mary's three runs in the first two innings, kept them off the scoreboard in the next two. Cole Griffin threw the next 4 ⅓ and did a marvelous job allowing five hits and four walks, but only allowing one run, before Brenden Jones came in and got the last two outs. "You can't do it without those guys," Schroeder said. "Coming into big spots against very good hitters and they're just dealing. It's fun to watch and it's good to play defense behind them." The win gives the Grizzlies an opportunity tomorrow and that's all they can ask for. "We've got to use this momentum," Schroeder said. "They're shivering a little bit, I can tell. They will have a good guy on the mound but we're going to have to keep battling, but I know we can do it. We've done it before and we've just got to get it done again." Esposito is excited to play the game. "We're just battling for our life right now," Esposito said. "They're going to have their big boy on the mound tomorrow. It's going to be good. We're going to battle, and we're going to be competitive. We've just got to play baseball. Who knows, maybe we'll shock the world." In the Division 4 playoffs, Roseville defeated East Union, 11-1, to win the two game series, 2-0. Roseville dominated the Lancers, outhitting them, 13-3. East Union led 1-0 in the first inning before Roseville scored three runs in the third and six runs in the fourth to put the game away. Ethan Gustus pitched six innings and allowed only one run on three hits, while striking out 10. Ben Jordan had three hits to lead the Roseville offense and also scored two runs and knocked in two. Justin Fischer, Jacob Welch and Devin Johnson all had two hits, as Fischer and Welch scored twice and each drove in one run. Johnson had two hits and had four RBIs. Roseville will either play Central Catholic or Del Campo in the section championship game on Saturday, May 23. In Division 7 playoff action, Valley Christian saw its season come to an end following a 15-5 loss to Vacaville Christian in six innings. Max Abbott had two hits and two runs batted in for the Lions.