Grossmont beats Santa Rosa for championship game berth

Tournament Central

FRESNO, Calif. - Hayden Shenefield threw a complete-game six-hit shutout on Sunday afternoon and Grossmont College pushed through a scoreless game with three runs during the sixth and seventh innings as the Griffins advanced to the championship game of the 2017 California Community College Athletic Association Baseball State Championship at John Euless Ballpark with a 3-0 win over Santa Rosa Junior College.

Grossmont (37-7-1) will now await the winner of Sunday evening's elimination game between Santa Rosa (36-10) and El Camino (40-10). The championship will be at 11 a.m. on Monday. Either Santa Rosa or El Camino will have to beat Grossmont twice if they hope to derail the Griffins' bid for their first state title.

Shenefield improved to 8-0 with the 113-pitch effort that scattered six hits and just two walks. He struck out four. Shenefield put down the Bear Cubs in order the first two innings before Ben Sanderson singled up the middle to lead off the third. Santa Rosa had runners at first and second with one out before Grossmont got an inning-ending double play.

Santa Rosa didn't get a runner into scoring position after the fourth inning and had just two hits.

Garrett Hill (7-2) was the hard-luck loser for the Bear Cubs. He set down the first 10 batters he faced and held Grossmonth scoreless until the sixth when Mitch Diffley singled and later advanced to third with just one out. He scored when Justin Burkey singled to center.

The Griffins added two more runs in their half of the seventh when Cabot Van Til singled in pinch-runner Jale Sim. Diffley scored on an infield play for the second run. 

Burkey and Diffley each had two hits for Grossmont while Sanderson had a pair for Santa Rosa. Hill gave up just six hits while striking out nine and walking only two.

Grossmont is in the state championship game for the first time in school history.