Baseball
Benicia 8, No. 1 Acalanes 1
Benicia did everything right while everything seemed to go wrong for Acalanes on Tuesday as the visiting Panthers won the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division game in dominating fashion.
The top four hitters in the Benicia lineup – Peyton Rowles, Stevie Todd, Myles Cooper and Wyatt Miyamoto – combined for seven RBIs, with No. 9 hitter Abdi Maas driving in the other.
Pitcher Dominic Louro got the win after he allowed one earned run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings for Benicia (12-6, 4-1).
Acalanes (17-2, 3-2) committed five errors.
Since winning their first 17 games, the Dons are now on a two-game skid against league opponents. College Park beat Acalanes 5-1 last week.
St. Francis 6, No. 3 Serra 4
St. Francis was on a four-game losing streak and had just lost to the powerhouse Padres 22-7 in a West Catholic Athletic League game on Friday. Every sign pointed to another big Serra win on Tuesday.
As the saying goes, that’s why they play the games.
Tysen Ellis doubled, tripled and drove in a team-high three RBIs for St. Francis in one of the surprises of the day. Fellow senior Luke DeVine went 2 for 3 and had two RBIs, and sophomore Gino Cappellazzo scored twice.
Chris Han pitched five solid innings, giving up one run and striking out three while allowing two hits. Serra was able to put up three runs in a furious rally in the top of the seventh but couldn’t complete the rally.
St. Francis improved to 9-12-1, 3-6-1. Serra dropped to 17-4, 8-2.
No. 4 Valley Christian 4, No. 13 Archbishop Mitty 0
At least one Top 3 team was unscathed on Tuesday. Stanford commit Quinten Marsh pitched another gem for the reigning Central Coast Section Division I champions, allowing one hit and striking out four in six innings to lead Valley Christian to a victory over Mitty in WCAL play.
The bottom half of Valley’s lineup gave him all the run support he needed to cruise to the victory. Rocco Muccilli, Kole Laubach and Brock Ketelsen each had an RBI for the Warriors, which improved to 20-3 and 7-2 in WCAL play.
Andrew Sauceda had the only hit of the day for Archbishop Mitty (13-9-1, 5-3-1).
Westmont 1, Pioneer 0
Westmont’s winning ways in Tony Pianto’s first year back as head coach continued on Tuesday thanks to a great outing from senior Mason Pound.
Pound, who started at quarterback for the football team last fall, threw a two-hit complete game, striking out five and walking none. His Pioneer counterpart Ryan Webber went six innings and struck out four.
Bryce Corbett drove in the winning run in the sixth inning when his single got Lakin Anderson across the plate. Westmont improved to 16-6 and 9-4 in Blossom Valley Athletic League play. Pioneer dropped to 10-11, 6-7.
Softball
Lincoln-San Jose 10, Piedmont Hills 4
Lincoln senior Gianna Crouch had five RBIs as the Lions scored five runs in the sixth inning to separate from Piedmont Hills in a matchup of top teams in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Santa Teresa Division.
Freshmen Jocelynn Perez and Serenity Hernandez combined for five hits and five runs scored for Lincoln (13-3, 8-0). Michelle Torres went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for Piedmont HIlls, which dropped to 11-5, 4-3.
No. 3 Livermore 2, Foothill 1
The host Cowboys scored two runs in the second inning and then held on in a tight East Bay Athletic League showdown with Foothill.
Livermore’s Sophia Gerochi had an RBI, and freshman teammate Payten Williams was 2 for 3 with the team’s other RBI. Kaci Norton went the distance for the hosts, striking out six, walking none and allowing a single unearned run.
Livermore improved to 17-4, 9-1 while Foothill dropped to 11-7, 4-6.
No. 8 Hillsdale 9, San Mateo 0
Ace pitcher Alexis Kuka threw a two-hitter as Hillsdale rolled to a victory over crosstown opponent San Mateo in a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game. Kuka also helped her own cause at the plate and drove in two runs.
Liana Mack had two hits for Hillsdale, and senior Claire Shelton went 1 for 4 with an RBI as the Knights improved to 19-3, 7-2. Senior Nia Mapa had a double for San Mateo, which dropped to 7-8, 5-4.
