Bradshaw Christian, Oakmont, Elk Grove win NorCal openers; Whitney, Oak Ridge softball win
It’s a little school tucked away in the southern tip of Sacramento County, close enough to Elk Grove that you could hear and smell it. and they’re running out of room in the trophy case.
Bradshaw Christian High School, with an enrollment of 910, has been a powerhouse in a lot of sports since it opened off Calvine Road 20 years ago, especially baseball.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Pride flexed more muscle. They defeated Branson of Ross of Marin County 2-1 in a CIF Northern California Division IV regional home playoff game to inch closer to the program’s second NorCal championship in three seasons.
Bradshaw Christian received RBIs from Micah Nicholson and Landon Carter, two hits from Max Wolf and a sterling pitching from two reliable arms to extend its winning streak to 14 in moving to 15-0 at home and 30-1 overall in this magical season.
Alex Crosno allowed one hit in five innings, striking out four, and Ethan Rickert in relief allowed one hit and struck out five to move the Pride into the second round of this single-elimination tournament. Bradshaw Christian will play at home Thursday against Mountain View, an 8-4 NoCal winner over Leroy Greene Academy of Sacramento.
Rickert is the son of coach Drew Rickert, who was the school’s founding coach in football and baseball. Ethan Rickert was a Bee All-Metro all-purpose player as a junior last fall for his father in helping the football program to another championship season. The younger Rickert is on his way to being a four-year varsity baseball anchor, too. Rickert the coach has been a member of 10 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship baseball teams.
In other CIF NorCal baseball openers:
Division I
De La Salle 5, Rocklin 4: Sophomore shortstop Tyler Spangler had a fifth-inning grand slam for a 5-2 lead as the fourth-seeded Spartans of Concord kept their hopes alive of three-peating as NorCal champions in holding off the No. 5 Thunder, The Bee’s top-ranked team entering the section playoffs.
De La Salle (21-7) trailed 2-1 before an error, walk and hit batsman set the table for Spangler, who has given a verbal commitment to play at Stanford. The Spartans had a 33-game playoff winning streak halted over the weekend to rival Granada, 1-0 in 14 innings in the North Coast Section D-I finals. The teams meet again in a NorCal semifinal on Thursday.
Grant Munoz, Tucker Baird, Joey Lorenzini and Nick Coleman each had RBIs for Rocklin, which finished 24-10, having won the Sierra Foothill League and reaching the D-I section finals.
Mitty 8, Granite Bay 2: The third-seeded Monarchs of San Jose scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning and five in the sixth while two-hitting the No. 6 Grizzlies. Granite Bay finished 24-10 under longtimee coach Pat Esposito after repeating as section D-II champions.
Mitty (20-12-1) will play at No. 2 St. Mary’s of Stockton in a semifinal.
Division II
Elk Grove 5, Kingsburg 0: Evan Gentil had two RBI, Chase Grove and Julian Arguello both had an RBI and two pitchers kept the No. 4-seeded Vikings of Fresno County off balance in winning the Thundering Herd’s first NorCal game.
Tristen Bartlett struck out two and allowed no walks, and Colton Lincoln struck out five for Elk Grove, which bounced back from an 11-inning loss to Granite Bay in the section D-II finals. Elk Grove (22-13) will play at top-seeded Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa on Thursday. State-ranked Newman won its 13th consecutive game with a 2-1 victory over Chico.
Division III
Oakmont 6, Gridley 4: The top-seeded Vikings rallied from an early 4-0 deficit by scoring five in the bottom of the second inning and adding a run in the sixth inning to beat the No. 8 Bulldogs.
Oakmont received RBIs from Trevor Wilson, Dom Prado, Ayden Dringenberg, Cooper Kunis and Tony Lira. Dringenberg tossed a complete-game six-hitter with six strikeouts for the two-time defending section champions.
The Vikings (28-7) on Thursday will host No. 5 Christopher of Gilroy.
Division V
Woodland Christian 10, Los Molinos 0: The Cardinals overwhelmed the Bulldogs of Tehama County as Wyatt Bickel drove in two runs, and sophomore Jayden Badhesha allowed one hit, walked none and struck out seven to move WC to 11-1 at home and 24-4 overall.
The Cardinals on Thursday play host to No. 3 Ferndale, an 8-6 winner over Etna.
Softball
Division I
Oak Ridge 4, Hollister 2: The No. 6 Trojans received RBIs from Carly Short, Sam Akeman and Jess Szeleni, and co-aces Kennedi Freeland and Ellison Schroeder allowed little to set up a rematch with Sierra Foothill League rival Whitney.
The pitchers combined to strike out eight. Oak Ridge beat Whitney 3-0 to win the section D-I championship, the program’s 12th such banner. The rematch is Thursday in El Dorado Hills.
Whitney 2, Mitty 0: Mya Flindt homered and Madilyn Novello had an RBI, and Hannah Duncan struck out 10 and walked one for the No. 7 Wildcats to beat the No. 2 Monarchs of San Jose.
Flindt has 15 home runs this season.
Division II
Capital Christian 11, Pleasant Valley 1: Freshman Abbey Falvey drove in three runs, senior Ella Magda two, and sophomore star Ayla Tuua struck out 15 in allowing three hits and one walk to power the No. 8 Cougars past the top-seeded Vikings of Chico, who came in with a 10-game winning streak.
Capital Christian (24-3-1) moved to 10-1-1 on the road. The Cougars on Thursday will play at No. 4 Salinas, an 8-7 winner over No. 5 Rocklin, the section D-II champion.
Division III
Dixon 1, San Rafael 0: Ashley Garcia scored the only run in the bottom of the fourth inning, and senior ace Felesha LePenske allowed one hit and struck out 12 to give the No. 3 Rams their first NorCal triumph in eliminating the No. 6 Bulldogs.
Dixon (21-4), which has won eight in a row, will host No. 7 Capuchino of San Bruno on Thursday.
Division IV
East Nicolaus 14, Del Norte 2: Adriana Nebuloni had two home runs and six RBI, and Kaylyn Ponce, Stevie Knight and Jordy Brogard each drove in two runs to power the No. 6 Spartans of Sutter County past the No. 3 Warriors of Crescent City.
Knight tossed a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts for East Nicolaus (24-4), which on Thursday will visit No. 2 St. Helena, a 4-1 winner over No. 7 Le Grand.
For complete scores, brackets and ticket information, visit the CIF website.
This story was originally published May 29, 2024 at 5:00 AM.