Spencer Rojahn pitched 4 1/3 strong innings in relief, Ethan Stern collected a pair of hits and Palo Alto rallied to beat host Mountain View 5-3 Thursday and sweep the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division championship baseball series.
The Vikings (25-6) will find out their seed on Saturday for the upcoming Central Coast Section tournament, which begins Wednesday.
Rojahn, making just his sixth appearance since joining baseball from basketball, entered the game after the Spartans (19-10) took a 2-1 lead in the third.
After hitting a batter, he proceeded to retire the next 12 batters he faced, though one reached on a dropped third strike.
That gave Palo Alto plenty of time to get things going offensively, though four of its runs were unearned.
The Vikings scored three times in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead. With two outs, Max Jung-Goldberg doubled, Niko Lillos was hit by a pitch and Ethan Stern singled to load the bases.
Following a pitching change, Ben Cleasby’s grounder was mishandled by the shortstop, allowing two runs to score. Stern scored on a wild pitch.
Paly added another run in the top of the seventh, which proved to be important. Jonathan Gottlieb walked and was replaced by pinchrunner Connor Burns. Nathan Willis singled and Nick Melvin came in to run.
Both pinchrunners advanced on a wild pitch and Burns scored on a routine infield grounder.
Rojahn hit the first batter he faced in bottom of the seventh and then allowed two singles to load the bases. A sacrifice fly that traveled to the deepest part of left field plated one run for Mountain View and, one pitch later, the Vikings turned a classic 6-4-3 double play to end the game and grab the playoff crown.
Rojahn (3-0, 2.39) gives the Vikings six pitchers with an ERA of 2.39 or lower and he’s one of five pitchers with at least two victories. The team ERA is 2.15 and starters Ryan Chang and Aron Ecoff are a combined 14-1, with a 1.89 ERA, 85 strikeouts, seven complete games and three shutouts.
Jeremy Akioka (5-2, 2.03), Rojahn, Hyunwoo Roh (1-1, 1.75) and Jake Varner (0-1, 5.40) have been effective as set-up guys and Lillios (2-1, 1.43, 6 saves) gives the Vikings a solid closer.
Combine that with a team batting average of .334 (Lillios at .411 and Stern at .408) and a slugging percentage of .434 and Paly has a chance to play deep into the playoffs.
Menlo 12, Harker 2
Menlo put an exclamation point on the regular season with a 12-2 victory over Harker on Thursday, Senior Day.
Menlo senior ace Griff McGarry returned to the mound after resting an injury and earned the win.
Senior catcher Ben Somorjai delivered a grand slam and has driven in eight runs over his last three games.
Justin Kasser finished with three hits while fellow seniors McGarry, Chandler Wu and Roberto Alarcon each had a double. Another senior Zack Hurwitz, along with Alarcon, had two hits.
San Mateo 4, M-A 1
In a PAL contest, Daniel Heimuli doubled twice, Nick Cronin drove in a run but Menlo-Atherton dropped a 4-1 decision to host San Mateo in a PAL contest Thursday.
The Bears (11-15, 5-6) complete their regular season against visiting Mills on Friday at 4 p.m.
Girls lacrosse
Menlo-Atherton and Menlo School meet once again to determine the West Bay Athletic League playoff winner after each won home semifinal matches Thursday.
The Knights (16-2) won the previous match by a 7-1 margin, a victory that all but settled things during the regular season.
The Bears (15-6), in their first WBAL championship game since 2009, hope to take advantage of their second chance.
Menlo broke a tie midway through the second half to beat Sacred Heart Prep 13-7, while M-A was pretty much in control most of the way in a 13-7 win over visiting Mitty.
The top two seeds meet Saturday at noon at Palo Alto High.
Charlotte Swisher scored five goals and won five draws and Indira Varma added three as Menlo scored seven unanswered goals over the final 16 minutes to pull away from the Gators (7-12), who were led by Cam Gordon’s four goals.
Senior Sophia Donovan posted a goal and recorded an assist as seven different Knights scored a goal. She also controlled four draws.
Freshman Page Wolfenden won four draws and added an assist. SH Prep’s Emma Briger had eight saves.
Mitty surprised Menlo-Atherton, scoring in the first minute of play. It was all Bears afterward as they scored the next four goals and never looked back.
Izzy Regonini scored the equalizer and Emma Easton went on a three-goal scoring spree as M-A held an 8-4 halftime advantage.
Grace Tully led the Bears with five goals and a pair of assists. Easton and Regonini combined for another five and Bea Geaghan-Breiner, Theresa McGannon, and Hannah Shaw each contributed a goal to the team total.
Goalie Samantha Gamez had eights saves and received defensive help from Dorothy Aldridge, Grace Carlson and Kelly Woods, all of whom were involved in forced turnovers and won groundballs.
Boys volleyball
St. Francis reached the CCS Division I semifinals by beating visiting Lynbrook 25-14, 25-21, 25-16 Thursday. The top-seeded Lancers (31-2) meet Homestead (30-5) in Saturday’s semifinal round at 12:30 p.m.
No. 2 seed Monta Vista and No. 3 Bellarmine meet in the other semifinal at 10 a.m., also at St. Francis.
Homestead beat Menlo-Atherton (16-4) 25-20, 25-15, 25-14 to advance.
Alexander Biz and Jerod Nelson each recorded 12 kills for the Lancers and Curtis Reitmeir distributed 28 assists.
The CCS Division II semifinals will also be held at St. Francis on Saturday at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Softball
Kareena Sandhu hit a home run, Gabriella Underwood drove in three runs and host Castilleja beat Notre Dame San Jose 10-1 in a West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division contest Thursday.
Jordan Yau had two hits and drove in a pair of runs for the Gators (6-14, 3-9), who finished the regular season on a good note.
Jolie Kemp allowed a run on two hits, with five strikeouts and one walk.
Elizabeth Peng and Roxana Scott also drove in runs.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
The Paly community is in an awful situation with the recent news about one of our boys who happens to play baseball. The most heartbreaking part will likely end up being the damage done to our daughters!
I have no idea how your family has been impacted by this tragedy but I would like to point out that there are 15 (or so) Paly Baseball players mentioned in the article who could be impacted by your post.
I don’t know the full story (yet) but I am concerned that this boy is still playing sports and attending school. He should be away from Paly and getting help to deal with his issues. I also hope and pray that any victims get the support they need to minimize any damage this boy might have caused.