D2: Mitty tops Palma to win crown

Senior Felix Chang saved his best for last Friday night as Mitty captured a CCS-Division II crown with a 5-2 victory over Palma at Excite Ballpark in San Jose.

Chang had a second-inning home run and added two more hits, including a triple, while scoring two runs as the Monarchs, who finished seventh in the WCAL and came into the CCS tournament in the throes of a slump where they'd lost seven of their last eight games, captured their second sectional championship in the last three years.

Mitty put it all together over the last week by winning three games against the No. 4, No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the bracket by a combined score of 30-4. Of course, a 21-0 victory over top-seeded Carmel in the semifinals did most of the damage for the fifth-seeded Monarchs.

Still, Brian Yocke's team was one that – even in its losses – was always grinding. It claimed come-from-behind victories over St. Ignatius Prep and Valley Christian, which will play for the CCS-Division I crown on Saturday night against Soquel.

In its out-of-league games this year, the Monarchs were an impressive 14-1.

On Friday, Gabe Lopez pitched six solid innings, allowing just two runs while striking out three. After Nico Mata suffered some control issues in the seventh, Andre Lopez-Monsivais came on to get the final outs to save the victory and the championship.

Austin Mak, who had four hits in the victory over Carmel on Tuesday, had two more singles on Friday.

The Monarchs will advance to the NorCal playoffs. They'll learn their seed and first-round opponent on Sunday.

W: G. Lopez | L: Gonzales | S: A.Lopez | 3 hits- Chang (M). 2 hits- Mak (M), Gonzales (P), Nunes (P). HR- Chang (M). 3B- Chang (M). 2B- Gonzales (P), Nunes (P).