CIF NorCal roundup: St. Francis baseball, Liberty, San Leandro softball fall in title games

After making a -mile trip from its Mountain View campus St Francis briskly made itself at home in its CIF NorCal Division II baseball final at top-seeded Yuba City But the Lancers two-run first-inning lead Saturday afternoon was gone in a blink Yuba City answered with two in its half of the inning and then waited until the final frame to break the tie When it did on a bases-loaded one-out single by Max Guth Yuba City captured the championship with a - win For second-seeded St Francis it was its second walk-off defeat in as a multitude of trips to a NorCal final In the first season of the CIF s regional baseball playoffs three years ago St Francis allowed four runs in the bottom of the seventh to lose the Division I title match at De La Salle - This time St Francis was just hoping to force extra innings when the home squad came to bat in the seventh The Lancers got the first out but then Cesar Guizar Wyatt Lane Julian Garcia and Guth hit consecutive singles to end the competition Yuba City finished - St Francis fell to - Landon King got St Francis started in the first inning with a single Jack Leeper was then hit by a pitch and Tanner Wall reached on an error to fill the bases Gino Cappellazzo hit into a fielder s choice to make it - and Henry Dommer followed with a single to stretch the lead to - But Yuba City retired the next two batters and kept St Francis off the scoreboard the rest of the way Softball Division II No Salinas No Liberty The Salinas High softball company celebrates after winning their CIF NorCal Division II championship softball challenge - against Liberty High in Salinas Calif on Saturday June Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Salinas High pitcher Abi Jones celebrates the last out winning their CIF NorCal Division II championship softball event - against Liberty High in Salinas Calif on Saturday June Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Liberty scored runs in two NorCal wins that moved the Lions into the championship encounter The Brentwood school could have used a meager of them Saturday Salinas Abi Jones capped off her high school career in spectacular fashion holding North Coast Section Division I champion Liberty to just one unearned run while striking out as the Cowboys captured their first regional softball title The home unit scored a run in the first and another in the second to take a - lead Liberty - cut the margin in half with a run in the visitor s half of the third but the Cowboys - answered with another run in the bottom half of the frame The lead widened to - when Salinas scored a run in the fifth Taylor Jennings and Kelsie Skaggs accounted for Liberty s hits Skaggs knocked in the Lions only run on a single to right that brought in Kylee McKinney Gigi Rossi led Salinas attack with three hits including a home run and a double and scored twice Demarie Fernandez and Ava Thompson added two hits apiece for the Cowboys who survived an eight-inning nail-biter to beat The King s Academy - in the semifinals on Thursday Liberty reached the final with a - rout of Central Catholic in the first round on Tuesday and a - win over Vanden on Thursday Liberty High's Kaylee Bunch hugs teammate Isabel Mercado after losing their CIF NorCal Division II championship softball encounter - against Salinas High in Salinas Calif on Saturday June Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Salinas High's Abi Jones pitches in the second inning of their CIF NorCal Division II championship softball tournament against Liberty High in Salinas Calif on Saturday June Salinas High went on to win the tournament - Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Division IV No East Nicolaus No San Leandro After rolling past Aptos by eight runs in a semifinal Friday San Leandro had no such dominance in the final at top-seeded East Nicolaus Related Articles Photographer s Notebook The Final Frame North Salinas runner family open to legal action We re in another leg of the race Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week Lelani Laruelle Monta Vista track and field Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week James Stadt Acalanes baseball In first career start Serra closer Nate Hui pitches complete-game shutout as Padres reach NorCal championship The home club scored three in the first inning and that was all Stevie Knight would need to win a regional championship for her side She held the visitors to one hit striking out eight and walking two Knight also had four hits and knocked in a run as East Nicolaus ended the season - San Leandro finished -