North #5 Feather River Joins High Seeds In Winning Baseball Regional Finals

Three of the top four teams from the final regular season Home Run 30 Rankings-#2 Palomar, #3 Santa Ana and #4 Ohlone--along with #15 Feather River are headed to the 3C2A State Championships, securing Regional Finals series wins on Saturday and Sunday. 

All four were conference champions with the top two South seeds proving their worth in PCAC champ Palomar and Orange Empire titleist Santa Ana while Coast South champ and North #2 seed Ohlone and GVC first-place Feather River, an original No. 5 seed, are representing NorCal.

None of last year's final four advanced as a new 4-team field takes part in the 3C2A State Championships Saturday-Monday, May 23-25 at Great Park in the City of Irvine.

Here are brief recaps of the 4 tourneys:

SOUTH REGIONAL FINALS
May 15-17

Regional Final #1
1-Palomar (41-5) d. 13-Santa Barbara City (29-18), 2-1

The clock struck midnight for the No. 13 seed Vaqueros (state's #27-ranked) but not without extending the Comets to three games. Palomar punches its first ticket to the state tourney in four years. 

Game 1: Palomar 11, Santa Barbara 5: The Comets jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings as Elijah Stephens was an all-around warrior in pitching six innings (4 H, 4 R, 7 K) and going 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles as Palomar won the opener. Michael Rodda was 3-for-5 and Preston Conklin was 2-for-3 with two walks and three RBI in the team's 15-hit barrage. William Matuszak and Wylan Nelson hit back-to-back homers in the fourth as the Vaqueros lone highlight.

Game 2: Santa Barbara 14, Palomar 1: A Cinderalla story as the #13 seed, SBCC answered the call behind Nelson's brilliant complete-game, 4-hitter with 12 strikeouts while the Vaqueros made the most of their nine hits to rout the Comets. In the fourth after two bases-loaded hit batsmen gave Santa Barbara a 2-1 lead, Damos Deworken worked some magic with a 3-run double. Parker Hellekson added three RBI while Nelson helped his own cause on two runs driven in. 

Game 3: Palomar 9, Santa Barbara 0: Stephens' grand slam in the fourth was the big blow as the Comets put away SBCC on a combined, 5-hit shutout by Ryan Herrod (4 IP), Angel Barron (2 IP, Win), and Joey Halter (3 IP, save). Jacob Loving and Rainn McMillan rapped out three hits a piece. Sean Asperger was 2-for-4 for the Vaqueros.

Regional Final #2
2-Santa Ana (40-6-1) sweeps series v. 14-Fullerton (26-23), 2-0

The Dons swept their Orange Empire 3-game series v. the fifth place Hornets, then did it again by winning two straight to advance to the state tourney for the third time in the last four seasons. After an uncharacteristic three straight defeats v. Golden West that ended the OEC schedule, Santa Ana is a perfect 7-0 in the postseason.

Game 1: Santa Ana 11, Fullerton 6: In the opener, SAC led 6-0 after five and after FUL cut it to 6-4, the Dons responded with a 5-run, seventh to ice the win. Carlos Morales slugged a 3-run bomb, then Aiden Marquez and Evan Reiter hit back-to-back homers in that powerful frame. Luke Viola hit a 2-run HR and Diego Vazquez went 3-for-4 with a double and triple for Fullerton.

Game 2: Santa Ana 11, Fullerton 7: The Dons opened up an 11-0 lead, Fullerton came up with six runs in the sixth, but the damage had been done and Santa Ana completed the sweep. Morales (HR), Reiter, and Barrett Ronson each collected three hits Ken Tomitaka added three RBI and Ben Melendrez a HR to lead a 17-hit SAC attack. Johnny Morales hurled 3.2 relief innings (3 H, 1 R, 5 K) for the save. Coen Goeas totaled three ribbies.

NORTH REGIONAL FINALS

Regional Final #1
2-Ohlone (40-8) d. 11-Santa Rosa (34-15), 2-1

Two 1-run contests are part of a dramatic series victory by the host Renegades as they advance to their first state tourney in four years in downing a very tough Bear Cubs squad in three games. 

Game 1: Ohlone 11, Santa Rosa 8: The Renegades opened up a 9-4 lead after three innings and held on for the first game win. Derek Bain crushed a grand slam in the first and finished 3-for-5 with five RBI and Caden Cuccia added a solo HR. Despite allowing all eight runs, Matthew Anderson pitched the complete-game route and struck out 10 for the mound win.For the Bear Cubs, J.T. Summers was 3-for-4 with a double and HR and both Chase Sutherland and pinch hitter Clay De Mars each ripped 2-run shots that made the score close.

Game 2: Santa Rosa 5, Ohlone 4: After the Renegades scored three in the first, SRJC chipped away and won it on De Mars' dinger in the seventh to break a 4-4 tie as the Bear Cubs evened the series. Myles Standish was outstanding with eight innings of 7-hit, 1-run ball, no walks and seven Ks to pitch SRJC to the win. Cooper Wood added a solo roundtripper while Ohlone's Bain launched a 2-run HR. He has two in two games after only one in the regular season.

Game 3: Ohlone 6, Santa Rosa 5: The Renegades win it in the eighth as Paul Wagner reaches on a HBP, then does a delayed steal to second followed by Cuccia delivering the game-winning RBI on a line single to center. In the ninth, Bryce Monte stranded Summers on second following a 2-out double as Ohlone completes the series clincher.

In a 3-run, second, Teo Thompson lined a 2-run double down the left field line as Ohlone took a 4-0 lead. SRJC roared back on home runs by Brett Neidlinger and Wood that cut it to 4-3 in the fourth. Wood's sacrifice fly in the seventh gave the Bear Cubs a 5-4 advantage. Bain tied in the bottom of the frame a RBI single to center. 

Regional Final #2
5-Feather River (36-14) d. 9 West Valley (33-15-1), 2-1

The Golden Eagles pulled a rabbit out of their hat in an opening comeback win and ultimately get past the Vikings in three games, clinching their first state tourney appearance in 13 years.

Game 1: Feather River 11, West Valley 10: The Golden Eagles rallied from down 3-0 to take a 5-4 lead, then trailed again at 9-5 but scored four in the bottom of the seventh to tie it. The Vikings took a 10-9 lead in the eighth on Parker Kristall's RBI double (3-for-5), but FRC did it again taking advantage of WVC pitching wildness to score two in the ninth for the walk-off. Feather River drew four walks, including a bases-loaded, free pass to Kory Chu, then won it when the next batter Noah Carrington was plunked for the game-winning HBP. Legend Lancaster knocked in 4 RBI on two, 2-run singles and Josh Davies was 3-for-4 with a double for FRC. For WVC, Eric Altmark was 3-for-3 (triple) and two walks 

Game 2: West Valley 14, Feather River 1: Ryan Bays (two hits, a double, two walks) slugged an early 2-run HR, Jordan Montez hit a 3-run shot and Max Ghiglieri a solo bomb in a Vikings romp that evened the series. Apolo Lapiz enjoyed the offense and pitched 7.2 innings, allowing only an unearned run, walking one and striking out five. Carrington's RBI double in the fifth was the lone offense for FRC.

Game 3: Feather River 7, West Valley 2: The Golden Eagles went ahead 5-0 helped by Luke Henderson's RBI double in the first, a line run-scoring single by Lancaster in the second, and three in the third without a hit to drive them in (a walk, wild pitch and passed ball plating runners). In the fourth, WVC cut it to 5-2 on Kenji Colston's 2-RBI single, but that was the only offense generated by the Vikings as Tanner Hall tossed a complete-game, 6-hitter. FRC added two more in the fifth to put it away. 

Recaps by Robert Lewis, CCCBCA Publicist