High school sports roundup: Santa Cruz High falls in NorCal volleyball semis; Santa Cruz, Harbor, Scotts Valley still alive in CCS baseball playoffs

Welcome to Lookout’s high school sports coverage. Thomas Frey, an alum of Cabrillo College who has covered high school sports locally, leads our coverage. His column appears weekly. We welcome your tips and stories — email thomas@lookoutlocal.com and news@lookoutlocal.com (with high school sports in the subject line).

Teams from all around Santa Cruz County took the field in the Central Coast Section baseball and softball playoffs this past week, while Santa Cruz High School reached the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal boys volleyball tournament.

Volleyball playoffs

After coming up just short in the CCS Open Division championship game, Santa Cruz High won its CIF NorCal Division I opener Tuesday, beating Pleasanton’s Foothill High School 3-1. Juju Pally, Gammon Nilssen and Tim Pohlman each had more than 10 kills as the Cardinals advanced to the NorCal semifinals. Leo Sapunor had five blocks.

Santa Cruz ran into San Jose powerhouse Archbishop Mitty High School in the semifinals on Thursday and fell 3-1 in a match where the first three sets were close. Sets are first to 25, win by two, and Mitty took the marathon second set 35-33. The Cardinals won the third set in more overtime action, 26-24. But Mitty was too powerful and won the fourth set 25-18 to take the match and advance to the finals, ending the Cardinals’ season.

Baseball playoffs

In baseball, Santa Cruz High School and Harbor High School both won first-round playoff games in the Division V CCS playoffs, and the two Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League rivals will square off at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the section semifinals at Monterey’s Sollecito Park. The Cardinals are the No. 2 seed and the Pirates are seeded third.

Soquel High School is also in Division V but fell 8-1 to San Bruno’s Capuchino HighSchool on Saturday to see its season come to an end. Junior Enzo Goff had two hits while sophomores Jake Escalante, Cash Moran, Brady Downs and Sam Whelan each had a base knock. Sophomore Dylan Hull ended his season with success on the mound by pitching three scoreless frames. 

Aptos High School, the top seed in Division III, fell to Hollister High School 11-0 on Saturday. The Mariners end the season with a 12-12-1 record and a 10-4-1 record in the SCCAL.

St. Francis High School ended the season 22-5 after falling 16-4 against The King’s Academy of Sunnyvale. The game was in Division II, with many schools having much higher enrollments than St. Francis. 

Scotts Valley High School advanced to the second round of the CCS Division IV playoffs after beating Willow Glen High School 3-2. The Falcons trailed 2-1 in the fourth before junior Kaleb Wing stepped up to the plate with multiple runners on base. The .324 hitter smashed a hit that scored two runs to give Scotts Valley a lead it would not relinquish. 

Senior Blake LaRiviere twirled a gem on the mound for the Falcons, going six innings without allowing an earned run. Sophomore Jacob Pauka and senior Quinn Turowski each scored runs for Scotts Valley. The Falcons will take on Cupertino’s Homestead High School on Wednesday in the semifinals.

Softball playoffs

In softball, every county team saw its season come to an end on Saturday.

In Division I, Watsonville High School fell to Monterey High School 10-0. The Wildcatz finished the season with a 15-5 record before falling in the section’s highest classification. Senior Julia Maldonaldo, junior Jillian Lerma and sophomore Audrina Gonzalez all got hits for the ‘Catz.

Aptos High School and Scotts Valley High School both fell in Division II. The Mariners lost to Valley Christian 16-5. Senior Raegan Fulton had three hits while junior Bailey Fulton had two. Juniors Kailani Aguayo and Lilly McGee and freshman Nova Neu and Emma Burgueno all had one hit.

Scotts Valley dropped its postseason contest to Milpitas High School, 3-0. Junior Sofie Seese went six innings for the Falcons, allowing two earned runs while striking out seven. Juniors Gracie Delgado, Abby Howell and Taylor Wilson all got aboard via a base hit in the contest.

San Lorenzo Valley High School fell in Division IV to Cupertino High School 9-5. Junior Jori Fields-Rapley pitched 3⅔ innings without allowing an earned run. Senior Olivia Renouf had two hits for the Cougars. Senior Alyssa Struthers, Fields-Rapley, sophomores Raymond Alvarez and Sophia Sarmiento and freshmen Grace Purtscher and Olive Colby all had hits.

Alumni

Aptos High School alumni Gabe Gaeckle hasn’t allowed an earned run for Arkansas in 18 innings. The freshman turned down the Cincinnati Reds, who selected him in the 2023 MLB draft, to attend college. Coming out of the bullpen, Gaeckle has helped the Razorbacks defeat Alabama, Texas Tech, Florida and Mississippi State in that span.

This week in history

In 2004, both Scotts Valley High School and Santa Cruz High School reached Central Coast Section baseball finals. The Cardinals fell in Division II to Burlingame High School 8-4 while the Falcons narrowly lost in Division III to Menlo School 7-6.

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