Valley Christian will play host to De La Salle on Saturday for the NorCal Division I title. In Division II, St. Ignatius travels to Casa Grande for the championship.
The high school baseball matchup that has been anticipated for years is finally a reality. De La Salle vs. Valley Christian. The North Coast Section’s top program vs. the Central Coast Section’s top program.
De La Salle, winner of 29 consecutive postseason games dating to 2016, against Valley Christian, winner of five of the past six championships in the CCS’s top division.
The stakes couldn’t be higher.
When the teams meet Saturday at Valley Christian, they will play for the Northern California Division I regional title.
De La Salle is the defending champion, having rallied at home in Concord for four runs in the final inning last June to beat St. Francis 7-6.
St. Francis had defeated Valley Christian in the semifinals.
Thursday, both De La Salle and Valley Christian were pushed to the brink but survived to set up Saturday’s season-ending dream matchup.
Top-seeded Valley Christian, playing at home in San Jose, held off Cardinal Newman 2-1 behind pitchers Michael Castaneda and Alec Belardes and strong defense as the Warriors improved to 31-3.
In Concord, Tanner Griffith’s run-scoring single in the ninth inning ended an epic semifinal as De La Salle outlasted Franklin-Elk Grove 6-5.
Both finalists are led by veteran coaches, John Diatte at Valley and David Jeans at De La Salle. Diatte is in his 34th season, Jeans is in his 12th.
“David does a great job with his club,” Diatte said. “Obviously, over the last couple of years, they’ve been the team in Northern California. We’re just happy to be able to play on Saturday. That’s the main thing. That’s a quality team. They’re going to be ready to play, and we’re going to have to bring our best game.”
De La Salle’s RJ Meyn and Castaneda, aces this season for their respective teams, won’t be available to pitch in the final, per pitch count rules. Castaneda threw 66 pitches on Thursday, meaning he’d need two days of rest before being allowed to pitch again. Meyn threw 112 pitches on Thursday, according to stats reported to MaxPreps.
Quinten Marsh, who started and pitched four innings in Valley’s quarterfinal win over Clayton Valley Charter on Tuesday, is available for 18 outs. Belardes, who has had two two-inning relief appearances this week, is also available for 18 outs. Valley could also turn to Jacob Hudson, who pitched the final inning against Clayton Valley.
De La Salle (26-5) is in a similar situation.
Jack Hershey, who pitched six innings in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, can pitch up to 12 outs in the final. Jack Karst, who worked one inning in the quarters, and Cal Randall, who pitched 2 ⅔ innings on Thursday, are available for numerous innings if needed.
The game Saturday will be the first between De La Salle and Valley Christian in 13 years. Valley is 4-2 against DLS in the MaxPreps era, which began in the 2004-05 school year.
The NorCal regionals were supposed to start in 2021 but were delayed a season because of the pandemic.
The good news for St. Ignatius is the San Francisco school used just two pitchers to advance through two regional rounds this week to reach the Division II championship game on Saturday at Casa Grande of Petaluma.
Staff ace Jackson Short pitched a complete game in a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Granite Bay on Tuesday. Freshman Chase Gordon followed with a complete game on Thursday as fourth-seeded SI defeated No. 8 seed Bellarmine 5-1 in the semifinals.
Per pitch count rules, Gordon is unavailable for the final. Short, a senior, could give the Wildcats up to nine outs before hitting the 30 outs per week maximum.
The rest of SI’s staff should be well-rested. Among those pitchers, freshman Archer Horn (36 1/3), senior Niko Gomozias (34) and sophomore Beau Schaffer (24) have pitched the most innings.
Third-seeded Casa Grande advanced to the title game with a 6-0 victory over Live Oak in the quarterfinals and a 9-6 triumph at second-seeded Pleasant Valley-Chico in the semifinals.
SI (19-12) has won six of seven, its only loss in that stretch coming against Valley Christian, 4-0, in the semifinals of the CCS Division I playoffs.
Casa Grande (25-5) has won six in a row, including a 9-2 win over Maria Carrillo in last week’s NCS Division II final.
