D4: Scots suffer gut-punch loss

One more out. That's all Carlmont needed on Saturday to secure a victory.

Instead, a booted infield grounder and dropped fly ball led to three unearned runs as Santa Clara rallied from a 4-1 deficit to force extra innings. The Bruins then won it on a Greg Salgado home run in the top of the ninth.

"I've never seen anything like that," said a stunned Carlmont coach Ryan Hamilton.

The 5-4 victory was a gut punch for the top-seeded Scots. Several minutes after the contest, most of the Carlmont squad remained in the first base dugout staring quietly onto an empty field, the bleachers empty. Only the echos of their season-ending loss remained.

Carlmont seemed to take control of the game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Zach Luzzo came off the bench to lead off the inning with a pinch-hit double. He scored when Ryan Weiss lined a singled off third base and into left field to give the Scots a 2-1 lead.

Jason Tofigh and Grant Goetz had singles, but Weiss was thrown out at the plate on Goetz' bloop single to right. One out later, Luke Tofigh singled in two runs to make it 4-1.

Jason Tofigh got the first two outs of the seventh inning, but a slow one-hopper bounded off second baseman Aidan O'Driscoll's glove. Dominick Chavarria singled and Zach Gallegos lofted a ball to centerfield.

Tyler Webster stumbled as he moved back on it and it ticked off his glove allowing one run to score and make it 4-2 with runners on second and third. Jaxton Chao legged out an infield hit on a slow grounder to make it 4-3 and Connor Houle singled home a run to tie the game, 4-4.

After Salgago's home run in the ninth, Nate Werbinski launched one to right-center field that appeared to be going out of the yard, but it was knocked down by the wind and caught on near the fence for the second out.

W: Kepner. L: Werbinski. 2 hits- Chao (SC), Houle (SC). 2 RBI- L.Tofigh (C). HR- Salgado (SC). 2B- Luzzo (C), Werbinski (C).

St. Francis SCP 3, Hillsdale 2

Nash Horton led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run and then pitched a complete game with 13 strikeouts to end Hillsdale's CCS hopes.

Jake Belloni pitched five innings for the Knights (12-14), scarring seven hits and allowing three runs. He struck out six.

W: Horton L: Belloni. 2 hits- Horton (SF), Doninguez (SF). 2 RBI- Horton. HR- Horton.

DIVISION III

Willow Glen 7, The King's Academy 2

The Knights saw their season – and the high school careers of Toby Trotter and Ethan Johnson – come to an end.

Trotter, who will pitch next year at the College of San Mateo, allowed 10 hits and six runs in five innings of work. He struck out three.

Johnson came up short in his bid to grab a share of the single-season home run record at King's. He finished with six home runs this year after going hitless in his final high school game. He'll play at the University of Missouri in the fall.

W: Pini. L: Trotter. 2 hits- Korba (WG), Kaminski (WG), Moran (WG). 3 RBI- Moran (WG). 3B- Mudgett (WG).

Los Altos 4, Sequoia 3

The Eagles scored two runs in the fifth inning to rally from a 3-2 deficit and end the Ravens' season.

Sly Cash went five innings, striking out eight to earn the victory for Los Altos (20-8).

Morgan Winfield threw 105 pitches for Sequoia, scattering eight hits and four runs. He struck out five.

Sequoia got RBI hits from Garrett Johnson and senior Drew Ostrander, who wrapped up a solid final year of high school by hitting over .400.

Gavin Moore had a home run for Los Altos.

W: Cash. L: Winfield. S: MacQuiddy. 2 hits- MacQuiddy (LA). 2 RBI- Moore (LA). HR- Moore (LA). 2B- Winfield (S), MacQuiddy (LA).

DIVISION V

Piedmont 5, Terra Nova 3, 9 innings

Piedmont Hills scored three runs in the top of the ninth to grab control of a Division V marathon.

The Tigers (18-7-1) missed out on a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the eighth when they loaded the bases on a double by Joey Donati and walks to Brody Finale and JT Snead with none out.

However, three straight strikeouts sent them into the ninth inning.

Sophomore Jesse Martinez pitched his best game of the season. He threw 109 pitches in a career-high eight innings. He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out nine.

W: Torres. L: Ornelas. 3 hits- Tran (PH). 2 hits- Linane (PH). 2 RBI- Ornelas (TN), Gilbert (PH). 3B- Tran (PH). 2B- Gomez (PH), Linane (PH), Pasker (PH), Donoti (TN).

Menlo School 4, Soledad 3, 9 innings

The Knights, the top-seeded team in Division V, needed extra innings to finally dispatch of visiting Soledad.

Fletcher Cahill's walk-off single in the bottom of the nine scored KC Chavinson with the winning run.

Chavinson led off the inning with a single. He was bunted to second by Zach Roeder, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Cahill's base hit.

Jack Freehill, Chuck Wynn, Cahill and Liam Widner had two hits each for the Knights (19-8).

Reid Plamondon came out of the bullpen in relief of Jackson Flanagan in the furth inning. He allowed just three hits over 5 1/3 innings and struck out eight to pick up the victory.

W: Plamondon. L: Sanchez. 2 hits- Freehill (MS), Wynn (MS), Widner (MS), Cahill (MS), Oraso (S), Sanchez (S). 2B- Wynn.