Playoff roundup: Oakmont edges Lincoln; Franklin pitcher fans 15; Granite Bay tops Whitney
The Oakmont Vikings of Roseville are a defending CIF Sac-Joaquin Section champion, taking Division IV honors last season. They entered this postseason as the top seed in D-III with the same expectations of hoisting the coveted blue banner.
On Monday afternoon in a 4-3 victory over No. 4-seeded Lincoln in a meeting of Foothill Valley League rivals, Cooper Kunis drove in Dom Prado in the bottom of the sixth inning, Trevor Wilson had two RBI and Ayden Dringenberg pitched a complete game, striking out seven and walking two.
The victory gives Oakmont a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three semifinal series. Game 2 is at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Lincoln, located some 15 miles up the road.
Oakmont went 2-1 against Lincoln in league play to win the championship, a game ahead of the Zebras. Oakmont coach Paul Martinez said winning the opener of any series is a relief and allows for a little wiggle room, not that he’s inviting any wiggle room against a formidable rival he knows well.
“You try to get a leg up in a series, and it takes a little pressure off of us going into Wednesday,” Martinez said. “If we have a bad inning or a bad game and lose, and they play well on Wednesday, we know we’re still in it.”
Game 3, if needed, will be Thursday at Oakmont.
Dringenberg, a 6-foot-2 junior, is 8-2 on the season with a 1.24 ERA.
“He was great,” Martinez said. “He really sucked it up. It was hot, the first time it’s been really hot this year.”
In other best-of-three semifinals:
Division IV
Casa Roble 6, Placer 5: The top-seeded Rams scored the winning run in the eighth inning, and Conner Campbell, Carter Gustafson, Joseph Dexter and Ian Peatross each had an RBI to overcome three team errors.
Tyrus Vogt had three hits and Jacob Schreiber two for Casa Roble, and Chase Weldon struck out five and allowed two earned runs to earn the win. Robby Silski drove in two runs for Placer.
Twelve Bridges 7, Wheatland 6: Logan Conley had two RBI, Matthew Thomas and Logan Sanders drove in runs, and Diego Castro struck out four and allowed three earned runs for the No. 3 Rhinos of Lincoln.
These programs tied for the Pioneer Valley League championship.
Division I
Franklin 2, Rocklin 0: Dylan Wood recorded 15 strikeouts to tie a school record set by Evan Gibbons in 2018.
LJ Somera and Kyle Timmons scored in the fifth inning as the host Wildcats of Elk Grove won the opener in a battle of regional powerhouse programs ranked in The Bee’s top four over the second half of the season.
Somera had a leadoff double to start the fifth. He scored after Timmons laid down a sacrifice bunt and the throw to first got away. Another error allowed Timmons to score.
Wood is a 6-foot-2 junior who has given a verbal commitment to pitch at the University of Arizona. He was never better than he was Monday, improving to 7-3 against a strong schedule.
“Unbelievable performance,” Franklin coach Bryan Kilby said. “He is a stud.”
Division II
Whitney 3, Elk Grove 1:- Luke Oyler drove in two runs, an error led to another run in the bottom of the third inning, and Brady Estes struck out six and allowed three hits over six innings to lift the top-seeded Wildcats over the Thundering Herd in Rocklin.
Elk Grove’s Ned Frutchey pitched well in defeat, allowing three hits, striking out nine and walking just one. Ethan Groves drove in Elk Grove’s run.
Granite Bay 11, Woodcreek 10: Will Dunnigan drove in three runs, Jace Bystrowski had two RBI, and Tim Reed and Brady Roach each scored three runs as the No. 3 Grizzlies topped the No. 2 Timberwolves in a wild opener in Roseville.
Dylan Green had three RBI and Will Munoz and Austin Nye two each for Woodcreek.
Division V
Bradshaw Christian 12, Sonora 1: Gabe Viegas and Alex Crosno both drove in three runs, and ace David Wiser allowed four hits and struck out nine to improve to 10-1 on the season for the top-seeded Pride.
Micah Nicholson Wiser drove in two runs for Bradshaw Christian (27-1), which improved to 13-0 at home and has an 11-game winning streak.
Sutter 10, Hughson 2: Rylan Giovannoni, Carson Bishop and Brady Wickum each drove in two runs while Logan Yacavace had two hits and scored two runs to lead the third-seeded host Huskies, the defending champions.
Giovannoni also started on the mound. The senior struck out five, allowed one earned run and walked one.
Division VI
Leroy Greene Academy 14, Vacaville Christian 4: The Lions of Sacramento scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning, Drew Perry had two doubles and an RBI and JJ Salazar drove in two runs. Eddie Ames, John Gould, Syrus Gray and Andrew Moralez each had an RBI for Leroy Greene, the defending champion.
Division VII
Valley Christian 11, Rio Vista 1: Nathan Erickson had three hits, including a double and a triple, and three RBI to power the No. 3 Lions of Roseville over the No. 7 Rams.
Nathan Yuen drove in two runs. Sophomore Nathan Huxley had two hits with four RBI and three runs scored. Nick Befort and Will Berseth both struck out four batters for VCA.
Woodland Christian 9, Turlock Christian 2: Gabe Sanchez had three hits and three RBI, Wyatt Bickel drove in two, and sophomore Jayden Badhesha struck out six while allowing only two hits for the top-seeded Cardinals.
Sanchez quarterbacked Woodland Christian to a CIF state small-school championship and a 15-0 season, scoring 28 total touchdowns.
▪ For complete brackets, scores and ticket information, visit the Sac-Joaquin Section website.
This story was originally published May 14, 2024 at 5:00 AM.