High school sports roundup: Baseball, softball races coming down to the wire

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).

League races are coming down to the wire in both baseball and softball with two weeks remaining. In Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League baseball, Aptos High School holds a slight edge over Soquel High School, and Santa Cruz High School is close behind. 

In the Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division, St. Francis High School is making a run for a league baseball title. The Sharks currently sit one game behind Carmel High School, a team they beat 14-9 in a roller-coaster game on Wednesday.

San Lorenzo Valley High School leads the SCCAL in softball after taking games from Scotts Valley High School and Aptos High School last week. Scotts Valley and Aptos are breathing down the Cougars’ necks as the season nears a close.

In the PCAL Mission Division, Watsonville High School has a two-game lead over King City High School. The Wildcatz are riding a seven-game winning streak. 

Baseball

St. Francis High School defeated Hollister High School 11-5 on Monday. Senior Trey Silva did it all for the Sharks. He got the win after allowing one earned run over 4⅔ innings and he had three hits, including a home run, with the bat in his hands. Junior teammate Nash Horton also hit a bomb. Senior Micah Cervantes and junior Javier DaRosa-Fonseca each had two hits. 

The Sharks won again on Wednesday over Carmel High School, 14-9. Horton picked up the win after St. Francis scored five runs in the final three innings. DaRosa-Fonseca and senior Junior Ibarra hit home runs. Horton and Cervantes combined for five hits. 

Scotts Valley High School beat Santa Cruz High School 8-6 after a four-run sixth inning on Tuesday. Junior Lukas Bloom had a career day for the Falcons as he launched two home runs. Seniors Jack Abel and Jack Sanders each came up with extra-base hits for Scotts Valley. Junior Kit DeForest picked up the victory and senior Jack Parker earned the save. 

Santa Cruz was led by junior Damos Deworken and sophomore Cameron Fusari, who each laced two hits. 

On Thursday, Scotts Valley took down San Lorenzo Valley High School 7-4. Senior Colin Melrose led the Falcons on the mound by throwing six innings and picking up the win. Senior Quinn Turowski had a huge day for Scotts Valley, picking up four hits in five at-bats. He also stole two bases. Abel, senior Blake LaRiviere and sophomore Jacob Pauka each had two hits. 

San Lorenzo Valley senior Malakhi Higbee and junior Benji Stretch each drove in a run for the Cougars. 

Aptos High School won a high-scoring battle at Soquel High School 10-7 on Tuesday. Senior Jorden Espinoza earned another win for the Mariners, allowing no earned runs over his four innings. Seniors Matt Hood and Jack Reed along with freshman Cole McGillicuddy all had multi-hit afternoons. 

Junior Enzo Goff and sophomore Jake Escalante each had two hits for the Knights. 

The teams squared off again on Thursday and Soquel won 3-2 in extra innings. Knights sophomore Dylan Hull got the win after going four innings. With the lead in the bottom of the ninth, sophomore Kane Humecky recorded the save for Soquel while throwing just 11 pitches. Jason Yager pitched eight innings for Aptos and struck out four. He left the game with a no-decision.

Monte Vista Christian School won 12-5 over Pacific Grove High School on Wednesday. Freshman Christopher Bautista pitched a gem for the Mustangs, going five innings and striking out four while allowing one earned run. Juniors Dante Darnell, Tyson Shaw, Carter Wright and Brady Cortez all drove in multiple runs. 

Softball

Monte Vista Christian School defeated Soquel High School 19-7 in nonleague action Monday. Senior Mae Martin pitched all six innings for the Mustangs and struck out four batters. She also had two hits, including a double, in the win. Junior Kayla Fullalove-Silviera came up big for Monte Vista Christian by hitting two home runs and driving in five. Sophomore Juliana Lopez and Sofia Calomeni and freshmen Ava Alvarado and Gia Johnson all had two hits for the Mustangs.

Soquel was led by sophomore Lucy Federspiel and freshman Emma Niizawa, who each had a pair of hits. 

The Knights were back to their winning ways the next day in a 17-4 win over Harbor High School. Emma Niizawa pitched all five innings and allowed one earned run while striking out eight. Federspiel, Emma Niizawa and freshman Katie Niizawa and Evelyn Eslit-McDow all had multiple hits for Soquel. Junior Malibu Dominquez had two hits for the Pirates.

The Mustangs won again on Wednesday as well, defeating Santa Catalina School 10-0 in five innings. Martin picked up the win after allowing just one hit over three innings. 

Fullalove-Silviera’s bat was on fire again as she notched three hits and two RBIs. Johnson and senior Giselle Rocha had two hits.

San Lorenzo Valley High School won a pitchers duel over Scotts Valley High School 1-0 on Tuesday. Junior Abigale Krepelka pitched six scoreless innings and earned the win for the Cougars. Scotts Valley junior Sofia Seese also pitched a gem, going seven innings and allowing one earned run while striking out nine in the loss. The lone run was scored in the third as senior Alyssa Struthers knocked in sophomore Sophia Sarmiento. 

The Cougars got another win on Thursday over Soquel, 14-5. Junior Jori Fields-Rapley tossed a complete game with six strikeouts for San Lorenzo Valley. The offense combined to record 17 hits and Fields-Rapley had four herself. Senior Fallyn Lachmund and junior Cheyenne Casey both had three hits. 

Aptos High School won 9-0 over Santa Cruz High School on Tuesday. Senior Mileena Carbajal got the win for the Mariners by going five innings and striking out seven without allowing a run. Carbajal also had two doubles and four RBIs. Junior Bailey Fulton had a hit in all four of her at-bats. 

Scotts Valley got the win over Aptos 7-1 on Thursday. The Falcons had a big five-run sixth inning as junior Gracie Delgado powered the ball over the fence. Juniors Taylor Wilson, Jazmyn Doubek and Abby Howell and sophomores Jazzy Phillips and Isabella Williams drove in runs for the Falcons. Freshman pitcher Chloe Kent was dominant in the circle all afternoon. Kent pitched a complete game and struck out 11 batters without allowing an earned run. 

Watsonville High School won at Carmel High School 3-1 on Wednesday. Sophomore Amelia Martinez dominated for the ‘Catz, pitching all seven innings with five strikeouts and one earned run. Junior Ashley Jimenez, sophomore Mia Espinoza and freshman Esperanza Sigala drove in runs for Watsonville. 

Santa Cruz topped Harbor 12-0 in five innings on Thursday. Sophomore Leah Serna struck out eight batters and pitched all five innings for the Cardinals. She also had a hit that drove in a run. Senior Neisha Parisi, junior Molly Pisciotta and freshmen Ellia Dunton and Rona Lewis all drove in runs. 

Girls beach volleyball

Harbor High School honored its seniors Gwen Grigsby, Dakotah Johnson, Anika Dawson and Sarah Melvin on senior day before topping Soquel High School 5-0. Isla Johnson, Maren O’Farrell, Sabine Kemos, Tea Stockwell, Grace Stryker, Sandy Enriquez and Zoe Kemos joined Grigsby, Dakotah Johnson and Dawson in the win column. 

Boys volleyball

Harbor High School defeated Aptos High School 3-0 on Thursday. Noah Luksich and Gryphon Butler each had 10 kills. Butler added five blocks while Josh Rejfir had seven kills and seven digs.

Alumni

Juliana Wilson has gotten hits in two straight games for Fresno State softball. The Watsonville High School alum is hitting .265 on the season and has 18 RBIs and three home runs for the Bulldogs. She hit one of those home runs on April 14 against Boise State. 

This week in history

On April 24, 1994, quarterback Trent Dilfer was selected sixth overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL draft. The Aptos High School alum is the highest NFL draft selection in Santa Cruz County history; he played collegiately at Fresno State. Dilfer played in the NFL from 1994-2007 with the Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers. He was the starting quarterback when the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV and is now the head football coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

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