Playoff roundup: Casa Roble and Twelve Bridges win to set up another championship showdown
The Casa Roble Rams and Twelve Bridges Raging Rhinos played for a championship in football in the chill of December at Sacramento City College. Now, here they come again to compete for another title, this time in baseball.
Top-seeded in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV field, Casa Roble on Thursday afternoon eliminated Placer 6-3 in Orangevale in Game 3 of the best-of-three semifinal series. The Rams will face upstart Twelve Bridges for the championship on Wednesday at Union Stadium on the Sacramento City College campus.
Conner Campbell had Casa Roble’s only extra-base hit, a two-run double, against Placer. Carter Gustafson had two hits and three RBI. Tayven Pope and Brayden Saucedo combined to strike out nine while allowing five hits. Pope in relief allowed one hit.
Campbell earned Bee All-Metro football honors for helping quarterback Casa Roble to the D-V section football championship, a 23-22 Rams victory. Campbell had the winning touchdown pass to Ethan Horner, son of football coach Chris Horner, and ran for a score at Hughes Stadium.
In their first season with seniors as a new school, the Raging Rhinos swept Wheatland in the other semifinal, winning the clincher on Wednesday 2-0 as Matt Henry struck out 12, walking none. Jackson Whitesides drove in one run with a double and scored another. James Barnes added a double and scored a run for Twelve Bridges.
In other deciding, best-of-three games on Thursday:
Division I
Rocklin 7, Franklin 1: Ethan Brown and Ahren Verma both had two RBI, Dylan Nusz had two hits and scored two runs, and Joey Lorenzini struck out nine while allowing one hit as the Sierra Foothill League champion Thunder beat the Wildcats in Elk Grove for the second day in a row to clinch the series.
Rocklin struck out 15 times in a 2-0 opening-series loss to Franklin on Monday and then won Game 2 on Wednesday in Placer County 5-4 on a balk in the 10th inning. In Game 3, Rocklin scored five runs in the fourth and two in the sixth to eliminate the Delta League champions.
This was a showdown of two teams ranked in The Bee’s top five most of the season.
Division II
Elk Grove 7, Whitney 4: The Thundering Herd rallied from a 4-1 deficit, scoring six runs in the final three innings to eliminate the Wildcats of the SFL.
Whitney entered the season ranked No. 1 by The Bee. The Wildcats were No. 2 going into the playoffs.
Freshman Antonio Cuevas had three hits and drove in two runs for Elk Grove. Chase Groves, Ned Frutchey and Andrew Salinas each had an RBI for the storied Thundering Herd, which placed second in the Delta League behind Franklin. Colton Lincoln and Joey Madrigal combined to strike out six and walk four for Elk Grove.
For Whitney, Jax Gimenez, Luke Oyler and Brady Estes each had an RBI. Staff ace Corden Pettey struck out nine, allowing eight hits and three earned runs.
Division III
Oakmont 4, Lincoln 3: The Vikings scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to stun their Foothill Valley League rivals to return to a section final, having won it in D-IV last season.
Trevor Wilson, Ayden Dringenberg, Cooper Kunis and Tony Lira each had an RBI for Oakmont, including Lira’s game-winner. Wilson struck out eight and allowed one earned run.
Sac-Joaquin Section baseball championships
Division I
No. 1 St. Mary’s vs. No. 3 Rocklin, Sacramento City College, May 23, 6 p.m.
Division II
No. 3 Granite Bay vs. No. 4 Elk Grove, Sacramento City College, May 24, 6 p.m.
Division III
No. 1 Oakmont vs. No. 3 Central Catholic, Islander’s Park, May 23, 6 p.m.
Division IV
No. 1 Casa Roble vs. No. 3 Twelve Bridges, Sacramento City College, May 22, 6 p.m.
Division V
No. 1 Bradshaw Christian vs. No. 3 Sutter, Islander’s Park, May 22, 6 p.m.
Division VI
No. 2 Leroy Greene vs. No. 4 Ripon Christian, Islander’s Park, May 21, 6 p.m.
Division VII
No. 1 Woodland Christian vs. No. 3 Valley Christian, Sacramento City College, May 21, 6 p.m.
▪ For complete brackets, scores and ticket information, visit the Sac-Joaquin Section website.
This story was originally published May 17, 2024 at 5:00 AM.