Bay Area softball teams battle at Livermore Stampede. Jasir Rencher flips commitment after coaching change. Serra, St. Francis, Leigh, Menlo-Atherton, De La Salle, Bellarmine, St. Ignatius baseball in action.
Bay Area softball teams battle at Livermore Stampede. Jasir Rencher flips commitment after coaching change. Serra, St. Francis, Leigh, Menlo-Atherton, De La Salle, Bellarmine, St. Ignatius baseball in action.
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The Archbishop Riordan to Washington Purple Reign pipeline isn’t just for football anymore.
Jasir Rencher, Riordan’s standout small forward, signed with Texas A&M in November. But the Aggies’ coach, Buzz Williams, was poached by Maryland last week when the Terrapins’ coach, Kevin Willard, opted to join Villanova as its head coach.
Now, Rencher has found a new college landing spot closer to home. He announced on X on Friday that he has committed to Washington, saying in his post, “West Coast the Best Coast. #GoHuskies #Committed”
Rencher joins a group of 10 new players heading to Washington next season under coach Danny Sprinkle, who is in his second year in charge of the Huskies. He went 13-18 during Washington’s first season in the Big Ten.
Rencher is a first-team all-Bay Area News Group honoree and the West Catholic Athletic League Player of the Year.
Baseball
No. 1 Serra 14, Mitty 3
Serra continued its strong start to the season with a big win over Mitty. The Padres (15-2, 7-2) used a nine-run fifth inning to pull away from the Monarchs in San Jose. Noah Greenspan and Will Walbridge each had three RBIs to lead Serra’s prolific offense. Mitty dropped to 8-8 (3-6 WCAL).
No. 3 St. Francis 9, Sacred Heart Cathedral 0
St. Francis (13-4, 7-2) had no trouble with SHC (8-9, 2-6) on Friday in the City. The Lancers scored seven runs in the third inning and two more in the seventh to seal the deal. Henry Dommer and Tanner Wall each had three RBIs for SF.
No. 4 De La Salle 7, Jesuit-Carmichael 0
DLS (9-2) had a clean nonleague game against visiting Jesuit (12-6) from the Sacramento area. Alec Blair and Zach Tchejeyan each batted in two runners for the Spartans, and Graham Schlicht pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits with 11 strikeouts and no walks.
Bellarmine 2, No. 7 St. Ignatius 0
In a game dominated by pitching and defense, Bellarmine made one fewer mistake and came out on top. Christian Babcock was in San Jose and has the details here.
Soquel 7, No. 13 Leigh 6
The San Jose high school suffered a close loss to visiting Soquel on Friday. The teams were tied entering the seventh inning, but Soquel (14-1) pushed a run across in the final frame to get the win. Michael Mogannam drew a walk in the bottom of the seventh, putting the tying run on base, but did not advance past first. Leigh (11-2) scored all six of its runs in the third inning. Noah Miller and Marcus Glanville each had two RBIs for the Longhorns.
No. 19 Menlo-Atherton 7, Pioneer 3
Menlo-Atherton, a recent entrant to the BANG rankings, picked up a nice win on Friday at home. Trailing 3-1 in the third, the Bears (12-4) scored thrice in the bottom of the frame and never looked back. Jack Molise had three RBIs for M-A, with JT Anderson and Merrick Lee adding two each. Pioneer dropped to 5-7.
Softball
Livermore Stampede
A busy day of softball on the second day of the Livermore Stampede ended with several notable results involving ranked teams from the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area.
Top-ranked St. Francis went 2-0, beating a pair of East Bay schools, while No. 3 Mitty split a pair of games against East Bay adversaries.
Liberty had a strong day representing the East Bay, not only shutting out Mitty but also taking down Sheldon of Sacramento. Host Livermore dropped a matchup with Whitney of Rocklin.
Granada picked up a win over Carondelet to salvage a split for the day. No. 11 Alameda went 0-1-1, dropping a tight game with Whitney and tying Freedom in a six-inning contest.
The three-day tournament concludes on Saturday in Livermore. The Bay Area News Group will be on site to provide coverage of the championship round.
Friday’s scores:
No. 1 St. Francis 8, Benicia 1
No. 1 St. Francis 1, Granada 0
Granada 3, Carondelet 1
No. 3 Archbishop Mitty 1, No. 14 California 0
Liberty 9, No. 3 Archbishop Mitty 0
Liberty 7, Sheldon-Sacramento 3
Whitney-Rocklin 1, No. 11 Alameda 0
No. 11 Alameda 1, Freedom-Oakley 1
Whitney-Rocklin 5, No. 15 Livermore 2
Elsewhere
Capuchino 11, No. 5 Mills 7
Capuchino picked up a big win over Mills to solidify its standing as one of the top teams in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division. The Mustangs (7-4) received big offensive nights from Avery Motroni (three hits, two RBIs); Lola Sierra (four hits, three RBIs), Setaita Mau (two-run single) and Star Gutierrez (triple, three runs) in the win.
Mills (10-3-1) received two RBIs from freshman Gina Hillman and two more from sophomore Jazzy Maske, who raked a two-run triple.
No. 9 Valley Christian 5, No. 8 St. Ignatius 0
Valley won in WCAL play thanks to strong pitching performances from sophomore Hannah Paquiz (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R) and freshman Melody Gonzales (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R). The Warriors (14-3, 4-0 WCAL) got runs batted in from Sia Marsh (one), Makena Blauman (one), Madelyn Hu (one) and Charlotte Coney (two). Junior Gianna Galarza had both hits for SI (9-5, 0-4 WCAL).