St. Francis High senior infielder Noel Aquino hit a game-changing home run that helped lift the Sharks baseball team past Watsonville High on Monday.
Aquino’s three-run blast in the bottom of the fourth inning was the difference in a 5-4 win against the Wildcatz in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division play.
Miles Guardino, a senior, batted 1-for-2 with a walk and one run scored for the Sharks, and fellow teammate Dez Litel batted 2-for-3.
JR Ibarra, Joel Mendoza and Micah Cervantez each scored one run for St. Francis, which improved to 5-1 in league play.
Edgar Ramirez batted 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for the Wildcatz, who dropped to 5-4 in the PCAL Mission standings.
Richie Ortiz batted 2-for-3 with a triple for Watsonville, and Miguel Lopez had a base hit and an RBI.
Rudy Valdez was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Zander Miller Brown had a base hit and an RBI for the Wildcatz (10-5, 5-4), who have a rematch against the Sharks (10-1, 5-1) at Watsonville High on Wednesday at 4pm.
Monte Vista Christian 12, Soquel 10: The Mustangs racked up 11 hits and snatched the lead late in the game for a non-league win over Soquel High on April 1.
Mark Spohn, Tate Shaw and Luis Quintero each recorded multiple hits for MVC.
Junior pitcher Dylan Hawkins was credited with the win for the Mustangs (8-5-1, 3-3), and Chris Becerra threw one inning in relief and earned the save.
Softball
Notre Dame (Salinas) 9, Watsonville 0: The Wildcatz drop to 0-3 in PCAL Gabilan Division play after a crushing loss to the Spirits on Tuesday afternoon.
Notre Dame senior pitcher Samantha Rocha gave up four hits and recorded five strikeouts in the shutout win for the Spirits, who remains undefeated at 3-0 in league play.
Watsonville (8-5, 0-3) will play at Gilroy (9-5, 2-1) on Thursday at 4:30pm.
Alvarez 9, St. Francis 2: Mariah Montalvo hit a home run for the Sharks in their loss to the Eagles in PCAL Mission Division play Tuesday afternoon.
Alicia Mendez got a base hit that drove in Aaliysah Gomez, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead going to the second inning.
But the Eagles scored three runs in third and fifth innings en route to a win.
St. Francis (8-2, 2-2) will play at Carmel (2-9, 1-2) on Wednesday at 4:30pm.
Alisal 9, MVC 7: Jazalyn Piña had a three-run home run for the Mustangs in their loss to the Trojans in PCAL Cypress Division play Tuesday afternoon.
Amaya Chong-Vargas had a solo home run and Abby Rader had two RBIs for MVC (3-12, 0-5), which plays at Pacific Grove on Monday at 4:30pm.
Girls lacrosse
MVC 18, Santa Catalina 12: The Mustangs extended their winning-streak to four with a win against the Cougars in PCAL Gabilan Division play.
Arianna Covarrubias finished with 10 draw controls and five goals for MVC, and fellow teammate Kailyn Kaiser had four goals.
Kyra Driscoll and Courtney Miller each had three goals, Kylie Brunelli added two scores and Tori Ferrante had one goal for the Mustangs.
Miller led all scorers with five goals for MVC in its win against York School on March 31.
Brunelli, Kaiser, Ferrante and Rebekah Bursese each added two goals apiece for the Mustangs (8-2, 2-1), who host Stevenson School on Monday at 5:30pm.
Boys track and field
Stanford Invitational: St. Francis High senior Julian Vargas re-set the school record in the 3,200-meter at the Stanford Invitational on April 1.
He placed third in 9 minutes, 15.5 seconds, breaking his previous mark of 9:23:38 at last month’s Dublin Distance Classic.
Vargas’ record-setting time was good enough to earn a berth into the prestigious 54th Annual Arcadia Invitational set for Friday in Arcadia.
St. Francis coach Ramona Young said that Vargas is currently ranked as the No. 1 runner in the 3,200 in the Pacific Coast Athletic League and No. 6 in the Central Coast Section.
Girls track and field
Stanford Invitational: Mitty High freshman Evie Marheineke, a Santa Cruz resident, placed sixth in the 3,200 in a personal-best 10:54.62 at the Stanford Invitational on April 1.
Marheineke’s finish was the fastest time this season in the West Catholic Athletic League.
She also placed 14th in 5:03.88 in the 1,600 for the second best time in the WCAL behind Ella Borsheim (4:54.58) of Bellarmine College Prep.
Boys Volleyball
Watsonville 3, Soledad 1: The Wildcatz defeated the Aztecs in four sets (25-15, 27-25, 26-28, 25-14) in PCAL Mission Division play Tuesday.
With the win, Watsonville improves to 3-0 in league play. They will host Seaside High (5-5, 2-0) on Thursday at 6:30pm.
Pajaro Valley Little League
Major Division
Nationals 12, Rockies 7: Tyler Brooks had a home run and a pair of base hits with four runs scored for the Nationals in their win over the Rockies on April 2.
Jared Verdia had a double for the Nationals, who remain undefeated at 6-0 this season.
Joziah Abrego had a triple for the Rockies (1-5).
Giants 26, Athletics 16: Angelo Urabe-Chavez had a pair of doubles and a base hit with three runs scored for the Giants in their win over the Athletics on April 2.
J.C. Magana had three base hits and three RBIs for the Giants (3-2), and fellow teammates Layla Romero scored four runs, Bryce Ruiz added two RBIs and Mauricio Estrada finished with a pair of base hits.
Deegan Cawaling finished with a pair of base hits and scored three runs for the Giants, and Damien Mendoza had two base hits and two RBIs and David Vera had two base hits with three runs scored.
Anthony Fernandez scored three runs for the Athletics (0-6), and fellow teammates Israel Hernandez had a double with three runs scored and Justin Curiel scored three runs.
Jakari Freeman had a pair of base hits and two RBIs, Sebastian Padilla had a double and three RBIs and Matthew Huizar had a triple and three RBIs for the Athletics.
Twins 14, Athletics 4: Shane McCoy nearly completed the cycle for the Twins in their win over the Athletics on April 1.
McCoy had a single, double and home run with four RBIs and three runs scored.
Espen Davis finished with two RBIs and Benjamin Rose had a pair of base hits for the Twins, which improved to 5-1 this season.
Aaliyah Arellano finished with a pair of RBIs for the Athletics.
Giants 16, Rockies 6: Bryce Ruiz finished with a triple and three RBIs for the Giants in their win over the Rockies on March 30.
Angelo Urabe-Chavez had a triple and Roman Magana finished with a pair of base hits and three runs scored for the Giants. Fellow teammates Nico Walter had a double and Mauricio Estrada also had a double with two RBIs.
Chris Sigala and Isaiah Lopez each had two base hits for the Rockies, and fellow teammate Eduardo Castaneda had a double.
Nationals 5, Twins 0: Tyler Brooks recorded 12 strikeouts on the mound for the Nationals in a win against the Twins on March 28.
Brooks gave up two hits and one walk in six innings
Kenny Allen had a pair of base hits and Brooks finished with a double for
for the Nationals, who handed the Twins their first loss of the season.
J.J. Martinez finished with a pair of base hits for the Twins.
Minor League
Reds 13, Mariners 5: Max Gallegos and Miya Doubledee each scored three runs for the Reds in their win against the Mariners (2-3) on April 2.
Dante Ponce and Jordan Ortega each had a double for the Reds (2-4).
Braves 10, Dodgers 8: Mel Martinez had a double and two RBIs for the Braves (4-2) in their win over the Dodgers on April 2.
Bennett LaGrange had a double for the Dodgers (1-4).
Red Sox 12, Dodgers 3: Brady Duque had a double and three runs scored for the Red Sox in their win against the Dodgers on March 31.
Ben Smiley had a triple for the Red Sox, who remain undefeated with a 5-0 overall record this season.
Alex Navarro had a base hit and one run scored for the Dodgers, and fellow teammates Raylan Moules and Efrain Chavez each had a base hit and an RBI.
Red Sox 12, Mariners 2: Samuel Mitchell scored three runs for the Red Sox in their win over the Mariners on March 28.
Ben Smiley had a triple and two RBIs for the Red Sox, and fellow teammate Ryan Gong had two RBIs.
James Palmer had a base hit and one run scored for the Mariners. Fellow teammates Robin Casella-Kummerer had a base hit and one run scored, and Harvard Wiesehan had a base hit and an RBI.
Braves 8, Reds 0: Matthew Thornbrough had a double for the Braves in their win over the Reds on March 28. Jordan Ortega had a base hit for the Reds (1-4).
