Final CIF Northern California baseball regional playoff bracket roundup: De La Salle, St. Ignatius, Central Catholic, Sutter and Lowell win titles
The 2023 CIF Northern California baseball regional playoff brackets have been completed.
De La Salle, the only team with a chance to repeat in any Division, did so in Division I but it took plenty of dramatics.
The Spartans (27-5) had to score six runs in the top of the seventh, capped by a grand slam from Hank Tripaldi (3 for 6, two homers, six RBI) to defeat top seed and host Valley Christian 11-8.
Tripaldi's heroics were amplified by the fact he lost his mom to breast cancer in April. It set off a very emotional celebration for Tripaldi and the Spartans. The loss ended Valley Christian's 19-game win streak. They finished 31-4.. SEE STORY
Hank Tripaldi leaps for glee rounding first base following his game-winning grand slam in the top of the seventh inning of De La Salle's 11-8 win at Valley Christian.undefinedPhoto: Noah Glosson/West Coast Preps.
St. Ignatius-San Francisco 3, Casa Grande-Petaluma 0: For the second straight game, Wildcats coach Brian Pollzzie put a freshman on the mound to start and for the second time one delivered as Archer Horn scattered three hits over five innings before giving way to sophomore Beau Schaffer.
Schaffer gave up a hit and struck out three as fourth-seeded St. Ignatius (20-12) won its first NorCal title by beating the third-seeded Gauchos (25-6), who had won six straight playoff games by a combined 39-12 score. Three runs in the first two innings keyed by RBIs from Leonard Beatie, Dominic Camarillo and Niko Gomozias was all Horn and Schaffer needed.
On Thursday, freshman Chase Gordon pitched a six-hitter in a 5-1 semifinal win over Bellarmine. St. Ignatius finished 6-8 in the vaunted West Catholic Athletic League, which was won by Valley Christian.
"Any time you play in the WCAL you're going to go through a lot of ups and downs," St. Ignatius coach Brian Pollzzie told Prep2Prep's Harold Abend. "We found a way to get hot in the end. These guys battled their (butts) off all year and came out on top."
Central Catholic-Modesto 5, Oakmont-Roseville 2: Joel Roberts hit a two-run homer in the first inning, TP Wentworth added a solo home run in the fourth and winning pitcher Adrian Garcia did most of the rest in a convincing win for the host Raiders (24-8-1), who won their first regional crown.
Roberts finished 2 for 3 with three RBI. Xavier Diep also had two hits for Central Catholic, who got six innings of work from Garcia (three hits allowed, 11 strikeouts, two walks).
Oakmont (21-14), the fifth seed which upended top seed Carmel 6-1 in the semifinals, scored twice in the seventh to make it a game. Trevor Wilso had three hits and an RBI for the Vikings.
Sutter 10, Gridley 1: The former Northern Section power which moved to the Sac-Joaquin Section in 2022-23, knocked off the Northern Section champions behind two hits and three RBI from Brady Wickum, a sophomore, and two RBI each from Rylan Giovannoni, Logan Yacavace and Matt Lorentz.
The Huskies (26-5-1) also got a dominating performance on the mound by Yacavace, a junior, who struck out six, walked none and allowed five hits while going the distance.
It was Sutter's 10th straight win to close the season. The Huskies scored two in the first, four in the third and three in the fifth to blow the game wide open. They finished with 11 hits including two each from Giovannoni, Yacavace, Matt McCall, Wickum and Andrew Hanson. Tanner Abbott, a freshman, went 2 for 2 with an RBI for Gridley (17-6).
Lowell 4, University 0: Lowell manager Daryl Semien was thrilled with winning the team's 22nd San Francisco Section title two weeks ago, but admitted it hadn't put a whole game together.
The Cardinals did so when it counted most, in the CIF Northern California Division 5 playoffs, finished off with Saturday's 4-0 championship win over University at scenic Paul Goode Field in the heart of The Presidio, a rare national park adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge.
Lowell principal Dr. Michael Jones takes selfie with his champion Cardinals after Saturday's 4-0 win over University at Paul Goode Field. Photo: Mitch Stephens
Semien, the uncle of Rangers' All-Star Marcus Semien, called Thursday's 7-6 semifinal win at top-seed Ripon Christian "1-A" in terms of perfection and Saturday "1-B."
Under nearly perfect, sunny, 65-degree weather, the Cardinals (18-10) played spotless, errorless defense behind senior starter Jeremy Tam — making his first career start — and ace Finean Hunter-Kenney, who combined to give up four hits while striking out six.
They got timely hitting Roman Fong and Brandon Liu, who combined for four hits and two RBI, as the fourth-seeded Cardinals took home the state's top prize (regional finals are as far as all teams can go). Aggressive base running — they stole five bases also keyed the win. SEE REST OF STORY
Here are the 2023 CIF Northern California brackets
