Soquel hands King's first loss

SUNNYVALE – Some games you just have to flush. Throw away. Move onto the next one. That was the case with The King's Academy's 10-0 loss to visiting Soquel on Thursday.

King's might have been fighting up a weight class with this one. Soquel was a CCS-Division I qualifier last year and has opened the season with four straight victories, including a season-opening win at No. 3 Saint Francis.

This is a team that could compete for a CCS crown in May and on Thursday, the Knights showed their chops by pounding out 16 hits, playing error-free baseball and getting two-hit pitching from the combination of Dylan Hull and Jake Escalante, who combined to allow just two hits and strike out 13.

As good as Hull was through five innings – he allowed just one hit, while walking a batter and hitting another – Escalante was the story in this one. He pitched two innings and surrendered just a two-out single by Nate Plata, who now has three hits against the hard-throwing lefty who's on his way to Cal-State Fullerton, and struck out five.

Escalante shined ever brighter at the plate by collecting four hits, including a long home run in the fourth inning and a double. He also doubled and drove in two runs.

Hudson Summerhill had four hits, while Hull collected three.

This was the first loss for The King's Academy and the first time they didn't rack up double-digit hits in a game, but the season is young and they'll be back in action on Saturday when Half Moon Bay travels to Sunnyvale.

Wilcox 8, Christopher 3

Preston Jetson had two hits, including a triple, as the Chargers advanced to the fifth-place game of the Hazlett tournament they are hosting at Washington Park in Santa Clara.

Isaiah Mata had two RBI, while Eliah Laureles picked up the victory on the mound.

W: Laureles | L: Griep | 2 hits- Jetson (W), Alagon (C). 2 RBI- Mata (W). 3B- Jetson (W). 2B- Cabildo (W).

Saint Francis 12, Mountain View 0

The Lancers won convincingly against their cross-town rivals by stealing 11 bases and allowing the Spartans just one hit.

Brody Larocque struck out a career-high seven batters in three innings to pick up the victory.

Landon King and Jack Leeper had two hits and three stolen bases each, while Aaron Bonini had two hits, including a double. Cody Butler came off the bench to drive in two runs.

W: Larocque | L: Huang | 2 hits- King (SF), Leeper (SF), Bonini (SF). 2 RBI- Butler (SF), Leeper (SF). 2B- Bonini (SF).

Woodside 2, American 0

Sophomore Colby Fernandez got the Wildcats back in the win column after Tuesday's loss to Sequoia by throwing a complete game to earn the victory.

Fernandez allowed two hits over seven innings and struck out 10.

Jeremiah Arias-Torres accounted for the only runs in the game with a two-run single in the fifth inning. Carter Ball had two hits for Woodside.

W: Fernandez | L: Boo | 2 hits- Ball (W). 2 RBI- Arias-Torres.

Leigh 9, Santa Clara 3

Leigh continued to roll, winning its third straight game in handing the Bruins their third straight loss.

Grady Beaudoin had two hits and drove in three runs for the Longhorns, while Tyler Burriss and Aiden Phillips had two hits each.

W: Hernandez | L: Tesimale | 2 hits- Phillips (L), Burriss (L), Beaudoin (L). 3 RBI- Beaudoin (L). 2 RBI- Yumui (L), Burriss (L). 2B- Chavarria (SC), Phillips (L), Beaudoin (L).

Menlo School 7, Westmont 2

The Knights leaned on their two best seniors to snap a three-game losing streak. Jack Freehill and Chuck Wynn had two hits each, including three doubles between them.

Freehill drove in two runs, while Wynn had two of the doubles.

W: Plamandon | L: Doherty | 2 hits- Freehill (MS), Wynn (MS), Raub (W). 2 RBI- Freehill (MS). 2B- Wynn (MS) 2, Freehill (MS).

Sacred Heart Prep 10, Design Tech 0

Blake Affrunti picked up the pitching decision, and pounded out two hits, including his first home run of the year, and drove in three runs as the Gators made short work of Design Tech.

Sacred Heart Prep also got two hits each from Dylan Betts, Nico Pollioni and Drew Parker. Pollioni and Colin Bein drove in two runs each.

Affunti threw three innings of no-hit baseball and struck out three, in relief of Pollioni, who threw the first two innings.

W: Affrunti | L: Sutton | 2 hits- Betts (SHP), Affrunti (SHP), Pollioni (SHP), Parker (SHP). 3 RBI- Affrunti (SHP). 2 RBI- Beim (SHP), Pollioni (SHP). HR- Affrunti (SHP). 3B- Parker (SHP). 2B- Betts (SHP).

Live Oak 16, Hillsdale 4

The Knights dropped their first game of the season one day after beating Homestead. Freshman Brody Costa picked up the pitching victory and drove in six runs.

Sophomore Lorenzo Castellanos had three hits for the Acorns, while Jack Rice, another sophomore had two hits.

One of Hillsdale's d-few bright spots was Kymani Chmolack, who had two hits.

W: Costa | L: Shaw | 3 hits- Castellanos (LO). 2 hits- Baquiram (LO), Rice (LO), Chamolack (H). 6 RBI- Costa (LO). 2 RBI- Torres (LO), Baquiran (LO), Castellanos (LO). 2B- Costa (LO), Rice (LO).