After winning WACC championships just over a week ago, both Encinal Baseball and Softball advanced in the North Coast Section Championships (NCS) playoffs. Both teams survived the first two rounds and find themselves heading into the Division 3 Semi-Finals. Baseball upset Alhambra 2-1 while Softball pummeled Archie Williams 10-0 on May 17.
#6 Encinal’s (20-7) second-round game versus #3 Alhambra (15-11) was a nail-biter. The teams boasted fierce pitching on both sides: Juniors Anthony Wilson for Encinal and Cameron Millar for Alhambra.
Anthony Wilson pitched all seven innings, only letting one run score and securing five strikeouts in the game. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Wilson fought for the third and final out, battling back from a 3-0 count before securing a swinging strikeout to end the game.
“[The strikeout] felt amazing. Going into the game, we were kind of nervous, but I still felt like we had the game on lock,” said Wilson. “…I felt great, we faced a good team but I came in with confidence and that kept me going.”
Wilson also stole home to secure one of the Jets’ only two runs.
Alhambra’s Cameron Millar had five strikeouts across five innings but let two runs in due to passed balls.
“We’ve been coming into these games looked at as [weak] and not very scary, but we have a really good relationship with each other, and I feel like we really used all our energy in this game. We played as a team and it really put us over the top,” said sophomore Matan Antebi.
#6 Encinal visits #2 San Marin (20-8) on the road in the semi-finals on Tuesday, May 21.
#2 Encinal softball also enters the semifinals of NCS, but in a more domnat fashion, beating #7 Archie Williams (16-8) by mercy rule, 10-0.
“Our defense set the tone in the first inning when Lola [Whalen] caught a line drive in left field and doubled the runner off at first,” said sophomore Cameron Tran. “Our offense then went to work in the bottom of the first with solid hitting to take an early lead.”
Tran pitched all 5 innings, giving up only 3 hits, while striking out 5 batters. This combined with Encinal’s defense led to a solid wall that Archie Williams couldn’t break through.
“As a pitcher, I know my defense always has my back,” said Tran. “I can focus on hitting my spots…and as long as I’m not walking batters it gives the team a chance to win.”
Senior Celeste Hurtubise also had a particularly good game, going 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs. She also had 2 stolen bases over the course of the game.
“I knew early n the count what I was looking for,” said Hurtubise. “But even whe I was down in the count you just have to be smart and make contact wth the ball especially if there are people on base.”
Encinal (22-4) will face off against #3 Cardinal Newman (22-5) in the semi-finals on Wednesday, May 22.
Round 1 of NCS
To start the playoffs, #6 Encinal defeated #11 Archie Williams with an 8-5 win on May 14.
Senior Leo Paredes led Encinal’s offense to a win, going 3-for-3 with two runs. Both Angus Olaes and Anthony Wilson also contrbuted with 2 RBIs each.
Wilson relieved sophomore pitcher Kyle Cooke in the 6th inning, getting out of two bases loaded scenarios to grab the save.
#2 Encinal Softball started the playoffs hungry for a title. The Jets pulled away from #15 Miramonte, grabbing a 14-4 mercy win on May 15. Up only 5-4 after the 3rd, Encinal had a particularly dominant fourth inning, scoring 7 runs.
With the bases full, Sophomore Sherrielyn Ferrer would hit a deep drive into left field to secure a base-clearing triple. Later, she would go on to narrowly steal home base after a passed ball by Abby Warren, Miramonte’s catcher.
“I felt ecstatic,” said Ferrer. “I knew in the moment I couldn’t hesitate no matter what since the ball was so close to the catcher. My instinct just told me to go.”
With such a high seed, the team has a lot of expectations on their shoulders. They didn’t let this pressure get to them however and were able to keep their lead throughout the rest of the game.
“We all discussed to play our own game,” said Ferrer. “[Don’t] get into our heads, don’t do too much, and do what you do.”
