DANVILLE — After 10 dramatic innings on Friday without either side scoring, Granada and De La Salle wanted to keep playing. But with darkness fast approaching at Monte Vista High School, the umpires said no.
The North Coast Section Division I baseball final will continue on Saturday, moving to Granada because there wasn’t staffing available to prepare the field at Monte Vista.
As the top seed, Granada was given the option by the NCS to host the conclusion of what will no doubt be remembered as a classic game.
The Livermore school accepted.
De La Salle is trying to extend its postseason winning streak to 34 games and capture its seventh consecutive NCS Division I title.
Granada, which has lost just once this spring in 29 games, is aiming for its first section championship.
With records, accolades and history on the line, the game has lived up to all the hype.
“I have a hard time putting words together on how to describe this game,” Granada coach Corrigan Willis said. “There was just a lot of solid pitching. There were a lot of big moments. A lot of big-difference plays were made, and that’s where we’re at now. We’re going into the 11th inning tomorrow.”
De La Salle’s RJ Meyn pitched eight hitless innings, striking out six. Granada ace Jake Sekany was on the mound for nine innings, allowing just two hits and also striking out six.
The East Bay powerhouses, who typically are explosive offensively, were limited to a combined five hits.
Both teams had their fair share of chances to put runs on the board, but elite defense and superb pitching prevented either from taking a lead.
In the fourth inning, Granada had runners on first and third with one out. But Meyn got out of the jam by retiring the next two batters.
In the sixth, De La Salle had two on and two outs with power-hitter Alec Blair at the plate. Sekany pitched a breaking ball low in the zone and Blair hit a pop-up to second base, which ultimately ended the Spartans’ half of the inning.
After Meyn retired three straight batters in the bottom of the seventh, the game went to extra innings, where more drama ensued.
With one out in the ninth, the Matadors loaded the bases. The Spartans moved up their infielders in hopes of turning the double play.
Granada’s Peyton Richards hit a bouncer to second baseman Hank Tripaldi, who threw the ball to shortstop Tyler Spangler for the force out at second. Spangler then threw out Richards in a bang-bang play to first baseman Sean Stafford to keep the score tied.
When asked if he thought Richards was safe, Willis smiled and nodded before saying, “Yes.”
De La Salle coach David Jeans said, “I didn’t really see it, but I asked and the umpires said it was close. Stafford does a great job at first. He’s a senior. I’ve seen worse calls, let’s put it that way.”
When neither side scored in the 10th inning, NCS officials met with the umpires and administrators from both schools to discuss whether the game should continue.
Although both teams wanted to keep playing, the section decided that it wouldn’t be fair if one side hit while it was getting dark and the other hit under brighter conditions Saturday afternoon — assuming a full inning couldn’t be completed before the scheduled 8:19 p.m. sunset in Danville.
The section preferred to continue with a clean inning, not in the middle of one.
Both coaches said they will prepare their teams as if another seven innings will be played, but recognized that circ*mstances are unusual.
Granada is 9-1 this season at home, including a victory over De La Salle in March.
“I really believe in our home-field advantage,” said Granada second baseman A.J. Martinez.
Jeans said he isn’t too concerned about where the game will be played, though he noted some differences between Monte Vista’s field and Granada’s.
“Obviously with the wind and the thick grass, this field plays more defensively,” Jeans said. “Granada’s park is a little more offensive. They’re going to be home and be comfortable. But when you’re playing for all the marbles, who cares where you’re playing.”
The NCS sold more than 1,000 tickets for Friday’s game.
The section won’t charge for admission on Saturday, commissioner Pat Cruickshank told the Bay Area News Group late Friday night.
