Baseball's best set for 3C2A Championship showdown beginning Saturday
Tournament Headquarters (watch, live stats, recaps, photos)
WALNUT - After over four hard-fought months, the baseball season is now down to the four teams and those squads will battle this Memorial Day weekend for all the marbles at the 3C2A Baseball State Championship, beginning on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.
In Saturday’s opening game of the State Final Four, it will be Sierra College going up against host Mt. San Antonio, beginning at 12 p.m. In the nightcap, it will be Cypress College against West Valley College.
All games in the three-day tournament can be watched live online via BAOSN by clicking here or by visiting the Tournament Headquarters.
Here is a team-by-team breakdown of the four remaining teams, playing for the state championship this weekend.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
No. 1 North Seed - WEST VALLEY COLLEGE (38-11)
After a return trip to the State Final Four a year ago for the first time in 16 years, head coach Bobby Hill brings his Vikings back to the “Big Dance” for the second straight season.
Champions of the Coast Conference’s South Division at 17-3, the Vikings began their postseason run with a pair of wins over Diablo Valley (7-3, 15-0) before surviving the Super Regional finals with a 13-4 win over Los Medranos and a hard-fought three games over Skyline (11-10, 6-9 loss, 7-6 in 10 innings). In the clincher, Isaac Hawthrone’s game-winning single in the 10th brought home Xander Sielken with the winning run, sending the Vikings to the Sectionals, where they overcame an opening-game loss to Fresno City, 10-6, before topping the Rams 8-6 and 8-5 to reach the Final Four.
With a team batting average of .322 (9th-best in the state), WVC freshman David Estrada has been the catalyst to the Vikings’ lineup, batting .406 with a team-best 80 hits (5th-most in the state), 66 runs (5th-most in the state) and 27 doubles (second-most in the state). Slugger Colin Spear comes in with an impressive 16 home runs (fourth-most) and 69 RBI to go along with a .343 batting average. As a team, West Valley is +110 in extra base hits (212-102), including a state-best144 doubles.
WVC starting pitchers Nico Wagner, Adrian Valdez and Julian Ito have carried the bulk of the load for a Vikings’ staff that comes in with the state’s 10th-best team ERA at 4.02. Wagner is 8-2 with a 2.18 ERA, with 86 strikeouts over 86 2/3 innings. Valdez is also 8-2 with a 3.52 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 79 1/3 innings, while Ito is 7-2 with a 2.34 ERA and 44 Ks over 69 1/3 innings. Look for reliever Bryce Berry to get into the game for the Vikings, with a 4-1 record and a save in a team-best 21 appearances with a 3.73 ERA.
No. 2 North Seed SIERRA COLLEGE (33-14)
Head coach Ryan Evangelho and his 5th-seeded Wolverines had their hands full in the Big 8 Conference, staring up at state powerhouse Santa Rosa all season long. Then, come playoff time, all they had to do was beat the 43-1 Bear Cubs in a best-of-three series after being swept by them during conference play. Well … mission accomplished for the Wolverines as they dropped the opener to SRJC 7-5, only to win the final two games 15-9 and 3-1 to advance to the State Final Four for the fifth time in program history (2006, 2008, 2012, 2023) in search of their second state baseball championship (2008).
In their series-clinching win over the Bear Cubs, it was Anthony Martinez (4-1, 4.36 ERA) who proved to be the star of the game, going the distance and holding a powerhouse Santa Rosa squad to just one run on four hits over nine innings.
The Sierra offense won’t wow you with video game-type numbers, but a strong, steady offense up and down the lineup is hard to beat. Brady Ranallo has been the team’s biggest run-producer with a .343 average, 7 HR and 50 RBI, while teammate Cody Ferrante leads the club with a .362 average and 48 runs scored to go along with 20 extra base hits and 33 RBI. Adding to the pop in the lineup is Andrew Wasilchuk with a .342 average, 7 HR and 29 RBI.
The Wolverines’ pitching staff is led by the 1-2 punch Cam Staton and Matias Michel. Staton comes in with a 7-2 record and a 3.38 ERA and an impressive 105 strikeouts over 88 innings of work. Michel is 8-3 with a 3.59 ERA and 96 strikeouts over 80 1/3 innings, giving Sierra two of the top 10 strikeout pitchers in the state in the same rotation. In the back end of the game, look for reliever Sebastion Edwards, who went 1-0 with three saves and a 2.53 ERA with 36 strikeouts over 32 innings and Jake Davis who went 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA and a pair of saves, striking out 29 batters over 33 innings.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
No. 1 South Seed - MT. SAN ANTONIO (42-6)
After missing out on an opportunity to play in last year’s State Final Four which it hosted, Mt. SAC head coach John Knott and his top-seeded Mounties were NOT going to let this year’s opportunity slip by as they enter this weekend’s tournament flying high. Winners of 17 of their last 18 games heading into the Final Four and champions of the South Coast Conference, Mt. SAC rolled through the regional playoff over College of the Desert (5-0, 8-2) before pushing past a determined Chaffey ballclub in the super regionals’ elimination game, 9-8. It is the first trip to the State Final Four for the Mounties since 2017 and a state title will be the program’s first since back in 1965!
Against Glendale in the sectionals, after winning in the opener 14-2, Mt. SAC found itself down 6-0 after three innings and 8-2 after 6 before forcing extra innings and winning in 10, 9-8.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where the success lies in the Mounties. Mt. SAC has the state’s best team batting average at .373, to go along with a state-best 667 hits, a .484 on-base percentage, 488 RBI and the state’s second-best slugging percentage at .529.
Leading the hit parade for the Mounties is freshman Landon White, who is batting an eye-popping .476 with a state-best 108 hits (20 hits more than state runner-up Ryder Young of Chaffey College), a state-best 32 doubles and 72 RBI (4th-best in state). White has hit safely in 45-of-48 games played this year, including multi-hit games in 33 of those games.
But White is just one of SEVERAL Mountie hitters who should strike fear at every pitcher in this tournament, including sophomores Bryan Bradshaw (.419, 85 hits, 89 runs, 7 HR, 42 RBI) and Ty Thomas (.388, 81 hits, 64 runs and 64 RBI). In fact, six of their nine everyday hitters in the lineup have an average of .379 or higher.
Oh … the Mounties can pitch well too. They have the state’s third-best team ERA at 3.23 and they are led by a trio of starters, including Izeah Muniz, Hudson Castillo and Brenden Menchaca. Muniz went 13-1 this year with a sparkling 2.09 ERA with a state-best 116 strikeouts over 99 innings. Castillo is 10-1 with a 2.42 ERA, while Menchaca is 10-1 with a 2.66 ERA. Sam Silversmith is Mt. SAC’s late-inning guy with a 2-1 record and seven saves with a 2.70 ERA and 53 strikeouts over just 40 innings.
No. 2 South Seed - CYPRESS COLLEGE (38-10)
Head coach Anthony Hutting and his Orange Empire Conference champion Cypress College Chargers continued their year-in, year-out success in the sport of baseball at the California Community College level. Cypress started the postseason on cruise control, winning five straight games by a combined score of 75-30. But, in the sectional final against powerhouse Palomar, Cypress needed a comeback to win Game 3 to advance, using a game-tying solo home run by Zach Anderson in the ninth and a series-winning home by Evan Rolbiecki in the 10th to topple the Comets, 6-5.
Power is the name of the game for the Cypress offense as they come in with a .329 team batting average and state-best 76 home runs. Justin Tillar leads the way with a .374 average and a state-best 21 home runs to go along with 81 RBI, with Rolbiecki close behind at .371 with 18 HR and 72 RBI, giving the Chargers the best 1-2 punch in the state. Don’t count out Dustin Robinson and his .357 average, 10 HR and 52 RBI and Bradley Navarro’s .341 average, 8 HR and 36 RBI.
Standout starting pitcher Tommy McGuire has been lights out for the Chargers, going 11-0 with a 2.41 ERA, allowing just 22 earned runs over 82 innings with 77 strikeouts. Brandon Wyland is 8-2 with a 2.71 ERA and 60 strikeouts over 89 2/3 innings. If the game is close down the stretch, look for the Chargers to turn to Jayson Thomas, who went 3-1 with three saves and a 2.15 ERA, striking out 51 batters over 37 1/3 innings.
(Tony Altobelli, CCCSIA)