SALINAS—St. Francis senior Kai Price put together a stellar performance on the mound Wednesday afternoon as he tossed a no-hitter in just five innings of work.
The left-handed pitcher struck out 10 batters and gave up four walks for the Sharks baseball team in its 12-1 win against North Salinas in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division play.
The lone run came in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly, which was set up after a Vikings’ batter drew a walk and made his way to third base when Price failed to pick him off at first.
“If we don’t try to pick him off I don’t think they score a run,” said St. Francis coach Ken Nakagawa.
Senior infielder/pitcher Noel Aquino batted 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBIs for the Sharks, giving him a team-leading four dingers this season.
“Since we’ve had him, even last year, one the thing about Noel is he just hits the balls really hard,” Nakagawa said. “He’s just a good, strong physical baseball player who right now is hitting the ball really well.”
Freshman utility player Nash Horton hit a smashing double that brought in the go-ahead run for the Sharks in their 5-4 win over Alisal in non-league play Monday.
Nakagawa mentioned that the players were a little shell-shocked with the weather conditions in South Monterey County, especially the strong winds.
“We hit a ball to left field and it ended up in right field because of the wind,” he said.
Sophomore pitcher Trey Silva gave up 11 hits and four runs—three earned—in six and 2/3 innings. He also had two hits, an RBI and two runs scored.
Aquino recorded the save to go along with two hits and an RBI, and Price contributed on offense with two hits and one run scored.
“I think right now the guys are playing pretty well and they had a tough game on Monday down at Alisal,” Nakagawa said. “[We’re] trying to play at our level, not at other people’s level.”
The Sharks (6-1, 3-1) have a rematch with the Vikings at North Salinas High on Thursday at 4pm. St. Francis will host Fremont Christian (6-1) on Saturday at noon.
Aptos 6, Soquel 0: Senior pitcher Owen Dueck recorded a win on the mound for the Mariners in their victory against the Knights in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play Tuesday.
Dueck, who will play at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next year, gave up four hits and no runs, one walk and recorded three strikeouts in four innings of work.
He was also 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, a run scored and an RBI.
The Mariners bounced back after a 2-1 loss to Westmont High on March 12.
Aptos brought in four pitchers that allowed five hits and one walk, and recorded eight strikeouts.
Gabe Gaeckle batted 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Jack Spinelli batted 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI, Sam Chitwood was 2-for-4, and Matt Hood was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Aptos (4-4, 4-0) plays at Scotts Valley on Friday 4:30pm.
Softball
Watsonville 12, Carmel 7: The Wildcatz’s offense exploded for a dozen runs and senior Marissa Martinez was responsible for producing half of them in Wednesday’s non-league win over the Padres.
Martinez batted 3-for-5 with two doubles and six RBIs. She also recorded three strikeouts in the circle, giving up 10 hits and six runs—one earned—in the complete-game victory.
The Wildcatz jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. But they allowed the Padres to score six runs in the bottom half of the opening stanza that put them ahead by one.
Watsonville coach Scott Wilson said he believed it was a combination of things, including first inning jitters and not having played a game since they hosted a tournament March 5.
Wilson said all it took was some adjustments such as Martinez getting into a rhythm and finding her locations.
“Not to take anything away from Carmel, they’re a scrappy little team,” Wilson said. “They executed well in the first inning…they won that first inning and then we ended up winning the rest of the game.”
Senior Yaviana Prado batted 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, and junior Abreanna Alba was perfect at the plate going 5-for-5 and three runs scored.
Senior infielder Rylee Gomez, who is committed to play at St. Mary’s next year, batted 2-for-4 with a walk and scored a pair of runs for the Wildcatz. Haley Koda, a junior, was 3-for-4 with three singles and two RBIs and junior Brooklyn Llamas batted 2-for-3 with two singles, an RBI and a run scored.
Wilson said the batters did a great job of making adjustments against a tough left-handed pitcher that had good rotation on the ball.
“It was good to see the girls make the adjustment and they put some good swings on the ball,” he said. “I just don’t like giving up seven [runs]. From a defensive standpoint we have to get better.”
The Wildcatz (3-1) will host Watsonville Tournament No. 2 starting on Saturday. They will play Alvarez at 9am, followed by a game against Leland at 10:45am.
The 12-team tournament will also feature cross-town rival St. Francis, which is off to a 4-0 start this season.
North Monterey County 8, Alisal 1: Amelia Visesio recorded a complete-game win for the Condors in Tuesday’s non-league victory against the Trojans.
Ariyah Morgan and Brooke Ramirez each had three hits for NMC (8-3). Gaby Holmes, Deja Visesio, Jasmynne Oliva and Johana Alonzo also had multiple hits for the Condors.
Visesio also helped NMC go 3-0 in last weekend’s Monterey Peninsula Invitational, racking up 20 strikeouts and outscoring opponents 28-1 in the one day tournament March 12.
Leslie Ruiz and Holmes each had a home run. Oliva, Alonzo and Deja Visesio all had multiple hits for the Condors, who host St. Francis (4-0) on Friday at 4:30pm.
Boys tennis
At Aptos 7, SLV 0: Aaron Buchanan, Heath Hegna, John McGowan and Jack Eldredge didn’t drop a game in their singles wins against the Cougars in SCCAL play Tuesday.
Sean Spencer and Nick Hambright, Andrew Morrissey and Jack Taylor, and Adam Allen and Jack Hickey won their doubles matches in straight sets.
Aptos (4-1, 3-0) plays at Soquel (3-0) on Thursday at 4pm.
Girls lacrosse
MVC 12, Leland 2: Kailyn Kaiser led all scorers with four goals for the Mustangs in Tuesday’s non-league win against the Chargers.
MVC led 7-1 going into halftime. They finished the game strong by outscoring Leland, 5-1, in the second half.
Courtney Miller and Kylie Brunelli each scored two goals. Brunelli also had a team-high three assists, Kyra Driscoll had two assists and Jana Bacero Duncan finished with 10 saves for the Mustangs (2-1), who play at Pioneer on Thursday at 5:30pm.
Earlier this season, Driscoll set a new school record with eight goals in a single game in a 19-10 win against Live Oak on March 3.
Boys swimming
Palma 60, St. Francis 55: Samuel Galvan and Dylan Remmick nearly got the Sharks past the Chieftains in a close loss in the teams’ PCAL Mission Division meet March 11.
Galvan won the 200-meter individual medley for St. Francis, and Remmick won the 100 backstroke by 1/2 a second.
The Sharks went toe-to-toe with the Chieftains and it came down to the final relay.
St. Francis will host its first home meet of the season against Pacific Grove on Friday at 3:30pm.
Girls swimming
Notre Dame (Salinas) 80, St. Francis 65: Clare Patzoldt was the Sharks’ lone individual event winner in their loss to the Spirits on Friday.
Patzoldt won the 50-meter freestyle race and she anchored the 200 free relay to victory in exciting fashion by winning the race in one second.
Patzoldt was set up to win the race thanks to a strong swimming performance by classmates Jacoba Taylor, Mahlia Jones and Sasha Grassadonia.
St. Francis will host its first home meet of the season against Pacific Grove on Friday at 3:30pm.
College baseball
Cabrillo 6, Mission 4: Brady Chavez had three hits, including a double, two RBIs and a run scored in the Seahawks’ Coast Conference South Division win Tuesday.
Jack Bollengier had three hits, an RBI, and scored two runs for the Seahawks (9-12, 4-0), who pushed their season-best win streak to four games.
Dominic Giuffre had three hits and scored one run, and Javier Felix had one hit and three RBI.
Winning pitcher Ian Koenig (3-3) gave up four hits, one walk and one run over six innings. He struck out seven batters. Chavez went two innings for the save.
Cabrillo plays at Hartnell (2-18, 0-3) on Thursday at 2:30pm.
Reporting Scores
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