Powerhouse St. Mary’s of Stockton defeats Franklin in CIF D-I baseball finals
The St. Mary’s Rams have enjoyed this campus and these sporting venues this academic year.
Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium was the host site for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football championships over Thanksgiving weekend, which included the Stockton school hoisting a banner. Some six months later at nearby Union Stadium, the baseball club celebrated another blue-banner achievement.
Several Rams played both sports.
Behind a stellar pitching effort by Mississippi State-bound ace Dax Hardcastle and Maddox Rabara’s two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning, top-seeded St. Mary’s topped No. 3 Franklin of Elk Grove, 2-0, on Friday night.
It’s the sixth section crown for the program and second in three seasons. St. Mary’s has been a section powerhouse since the 1980s, winning its first section in this sport in 1982, and reaching seven successive D-I finals from 2009 through 2015 with several crowning moment championship efforts.
Franklin was the defending large-school champion, in a large-school section final for the third time in four seasons under coach Bryan Kilby, a recent 300-game winner. Reaching this stage again was testament to the program’s staying power, considering a crush of injuries reduced the roster to 13, including the loss of four-year starting shortstop in Jason Harris, who is headed to Cal. He is sidelined with a knee injury.
“Great win,” Hardcastle said, praising his teammates and the program. “Great team.”
And the senior was great. He fired a complete game two-hitter, walking only leadoff man Dylan Minnatee, and he struck out 12, six of them looking.
Hardcastle moved to 9-1 on the season, and his ERA shrunk to under .060. He pitched his eight double-digit strikeout game of the season, including a 15-strikeout gem against Bay Area powerhouse Saint Francis of Mountain View. When he struck out his final batter to end it on a blustery night, Rams players bolted out dugout, spraying water from bottles, and they mobbed Hardcastle.
Minnatee, Franklin’s fantastic four-year starter headed to LSU on scholarship, did what he usually does. He impacted the game for Franklin. He opened with a walk, then stole second base and third as the Wildcats knew they had to be aggressive against the dominating Hardcastle.
Ryan Cody started for Franklin and was solid, tossing 5 2/3 innings and allowing two hits and the two earned runs. The junior struck out three, and he also collected his team’s two hits. Minnatee took over on the mound in the sixth inning, sporting a 3-0 record and an 0.78 ERA.
After two pitches just missed for a third strikeout on Rabara, the catcher pounced. His two-out double to left scored Bryant Kemp and David Haggarty, and that’s all Hardcastle needed.
Who earns NorCal No. 1 seed?
St. Mary’s and Franklin both advance to the CIF Northern California playoffs that start June 2 at home sites (Bay Area sections finish their section tournaments next week). But who earns the top seed in the competitive-equity tournament?
There’s plenty of argument for St. Mary’s, winners of 11 of 12 games and boasting a 27-6 record that includes scores of big wins, including regional powers from out of section.
St. Mary’s beat Granite Bay for the Boras Baseball Classic championship in April, a quasi-NorCal championship tournament of sorts.
Then there’s Elk Grove, the section Division II champion on Thursday night at Sac City. The Thundering Herd has a victory over St. Mary’s in nonleague play.
Elk Grove (27-6) beat out Franklin for the Delta League championship. Franklin is 22-9-1.
“I could see Elk Grove getting the No. 1 seed and St. Mary’s and Franklin also being in the Division I bracket,” said Mark Tennis, the longtime editor for CalHi Sports, which produces state rankings. “They’re all really, really good.”
