SAN JOSE — Soquel High senior left-hander Jake Escalante uncharacteristically unleashed three straight balls to Valley Christian’s Nathan Miller, the leadoff hitter in the second inning, and summoned Knights head coach T.J. Moran to the mound.
After a short conversation, Escalante threw the ball twice to third baseman Anthony Skinner. With the ball back in his glove, Escalante slammed it to the ground and made an early exit with left arm pain, yelling an expletive when he reached the dugout.
Gone was the Knights’ staff ace, a Cal State Fullerton commit and MLB Draft prospect, and leadoff hitter. For how long? Likely the remainder of the playoffs, and likely much longer.
Soquel High pitcher Jake Escalante pitches against Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Miller moved to second base on Alex Moutzouridis’ sacrifice bunt and scored on Nathan Choi’s bloop single to right field and that’s all the offense the No. 2 seed Warriors needed in their 6-0 win over the No. 5 Knights in Central Coast Section Division I championship at Excite Ballpark on Saturday evening.
“They outplayed us,” Moran said. “I told the kids, ‘They got the hits when they needed to and we didn’t.’ Injury aside, that wasn’t really did it in for us. They just outplayed us. It is what it is; they’re a good team. We’re in the final of Division I and you’re not going to play a not good team. They did a good job.”
Both teams advance to the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs, which begin Tuesday at 4 p.m. Soquel was placed in D-I with the No. 6 seed. It opens at No. 3 Elk Grove (27-6). (No. 4 Valley Christian and No. 8 Saint Francis of Mountain View were also placed in D-I. … No. 8 Santa Cruz (18-11), the CCS D-IV champ, opens at No. 1 Roseville (27-4) in D-III.)
The Knights (23-5 overall), who have a staff ERA of 2.02 through 28 games, will likely be without Escalante. He told Moran he had elbow pain when he threw and felt it down his forearm.
Soquel High outfielder Trey Sousa makes contact on a Valley Christian pitch in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Soquel High pitcher Luke Shoemaker pitches against Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Soquel High shortstop Hudson Summerrill singles against Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Soquel High catcher Cash Moran is emotional after the Knights’ loss to Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Soquel High assistant coach Greg Koenig comforts pitcher Jake Escalante, who exited the Knights’ loss to Valley Christian early with an injury in the Central Coast Section Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Soquel High shortstop Hudson Summerrill slides safely into second base in the sixth inning against Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Soquel High pitcher Jake Escalante pitches against Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Soquel High shortstop Hudson Summerrill runs to first base after putting the ball in play against Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Soquel High pitcher Dylan Hull pitches against Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
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Soquel High outfielder Trey Sousa makes contact on a Valley Christian pitch in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Several hundred Santa Cruz County baseball fans showed up at the Single-A San Jose Giants’ stadium to support Soquel. They Knights were attempting to win their first section title since 1995 after shutting out a pair of West Catholic Athletic League opponents in the first two rounds.
Soquel High outfielder Trey Sousa makes contact on a Valley Christian pitch in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
“That was great, the stands were full, way more people than their side, I’d say,” said the Knights’ Connor Corlett, a senior first baseman and pitcher who is committed to Whitman College.
The Knights blanked Saint Ignatius 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
Valley Christian was intent on not letting Soquel complete the WCAL trifecta.
“It was still an awesome run and we still have more baseball to play, obviously,” Knights outfielder Sam Whelan said. “In my mind, it’s still a very awesome experience. Looking back at this, we got to play in this great stadium, we got to knock off the number one team in the section. It’s still a really cool story. I’m not going to look back at it and be sad. It’s still awesome. It’s still really, really cool.”
Winning pitcher Gabriel Felix, a senior left-hander, worked ahead in the count throughout his five innings of work. He gave up three hits, no walks, and struck out six batters.
“They attacked the zone the whole game,” Corlett said. “Multiple pitches in the zone, it makes it hard to time it up.”
Soquel High shortstop Hudson Summerrill singles against Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Felix was relieved by senior right-hander Alex Kim, who gave one hit and one walk over two scoreless innings. He struck out the final two batters he faced and the Warriors stormed the field and rambunctiously celebrated the program’s 12th section title with a massive dogpile.
Warriors coach John Diatte said his team overcame multiple hurdles, including dealing with early season health issues and multiple family member deaths, which made the outcome extra special.
“It was a lot for high school kids, and they kept grinding,” he said. “They kept playing. It’s a testament to them. They love each other, they care about each other. And our thing all year long, from the beginning, was to stay in the moment. … If we can just stay in the moment, we’ve a chance to do something cool. And they did.”
Soquel had six baserunners, two of whom got into scoring position. Corlett hit a two-out single in the second inning and moved to second on Skinner’s single, and Fresno State commit Hudson Summerrill hit a one-out single in the sixth, advanced to second on a throwing error, and moved to third on Brady Downs’ ground out.
UC Santa Barbara commit Luke Shoemaker, a junior, and senior Dylan Hull — who combined efforts to upset the No. 1 Saint Francis Lancers 1-0 in the semifinals — took the mound on three days rest. Shoemaker was tagged for two runs in the third inning and three in the fourth.
“It took us those three innings to settle down and swallow the pill,” said Moran, of Escalante’s exit.
Warriors junior third baseman Colton Hadfield, a UCLA commit, walked and scored on Christian Nevarez’s two-out RBI double in the third. Nevarez scored on Miller’s single.
In the fourth, Choi singled and scored, and Hadfield smacked a two-run double to the right-center gap to drive in Jack Graham and Aiden Lepisi.
Soquel High catcher Cash Moran is emotional after the Knights’ loss to Valley Christian in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose on Saturday. (Sarah Smith – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Hull replaced Shoemaker with two outs and two runners on base in the fifth and recorded the first of his two strikeouts to escape the jam. He retired all four batters he faced in order.
The Warriors enjoyed their post-game celebration and the Knights stood on the third-base line and watched it all as they waited to shake hands. Some did their best to fight their emotions.
“I told the guys, ‘You’re coming in second place in second place in a tournament of 50 teams,’ ” Moran said. “That’s pretty commendable. Obviously, we wanted to win, but they just outplayed us. It’s part of the game. Stuff happens in life and injuries are part of sport, and we just gotta move on.
“But the feelings are real. I told the kids to feel all the feelings, learn from them, understand that that’s life. You’re gonna have some bad things happen and it’s important to feel them and move through them.”
THE SCORE
Valley Christian 6, Soquel 0
Up next: NorCal Regional quarterfinals, No. 6 Soquel at No. 3 Elk Grove
When: Tuesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Elk Grove High