California: Amador Valley skunks rival for first NCS baseball crown

Osterholt's pitching and Hamm's hitting saves day for the Dons over cross-town Pleasanton rival Foothill.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Kevin Askeland
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Jun 6, 2010, 12:00am
SAN RAMON, California - As far as Amador Valley (Pleasanton) coach Lou Cesario is concerned, the Dons’ season had a Hollywood-style ending.

“You beat your rival in the championship game and you swept them two years in a row,” said Cesario, whose team defeated rival Foothill (Pleasanton) 12-1 in the North Coast Section Division I championship game Saturday at Dougherty Valley High School. “You can’t write a better movie script than that.”

That, and this was Amador Valley's first NCS championship as well.

If the Dons’ (25-3) performance in the final had all of the elements for the big screen, then pitcher Alex Osterholt was the hero. Entering the game in the first inning for starter Michael Mallory with the bases loaded, Osterholt got a strikeout to end the inning and then pitched the final six frames for the victory.

“Our entire bullpen was fresh, but Alex has done this type of thing for us all year,” said Cesario. “Once we walked the bases loaded, it wasn’t a tough call to make the move. He’s got a great curveball and I had total confidence in him.”

Osterholt gave up just one run on four hits with four strikeouts and only one walk.

“I just tried to come in and use my curveball to get strike one,” said Osterholt. “I wanted to keep the ball low and let my defense do the work.”

The Amador Valley offense also gave Osterholt plenty of breathing room with four-run rallies in the second and seventh innings and two-run outbursts in the third and sixth.

The Dons scored all four runs in the second inning on two outs. Aaron Hafford began the rally with a single and Michael Lam followed with a walk. After an RBI single by Brian Hamm, Joey Moroney had an infield single and Foothill intentionally walked Chris Keck to load the bases.

Tommy Pluschkell promptly lashed one up the middle for two runs. The inning ended when Keck was thrown out at home on a double steal attempt.

The Dons made it 6-0 on a Tony Olguin two-run homer to right field. In the sixth, Lam reached on an error, Hamm had a bunt single and Keck doubled to bring both runners home.

The Dons put up four more runs in the final inning on the most exciting play of the game. Following doubles by Devin Finn and Olguin, Brent Barstow singled to drive in a run. Hamm followed with a looping hit to centerfield.

When the Foothill centerfielder tried to make a diving catch, the ball skipped past and went all the way to the wall. Hamm raced around the bases for an inside the park three-run homer.

Hamm finished 3-for-5 with five RBI while Pluschkell was 3-for-4 with two RBI. Olguin finished 2-for-4 with a double and a home run.

The 12-1 score may have come as a bit of a surprise, considering the Dons defeated Foothill in a pair of close games during the season, 5-3 and 6-5. However, Cesario said the score was not unexpected.

“These kids had some great practices this week. They were practicing like it was February,” said Cesario. “We knew we were certainly capable of something like this, so we weren’t surprised.”

Foothill finished the season 20-8. Brandon Viceral had the team’s best hit with a fourth-inning double.

Division II
Campolindo (Moraga, Calif.) banged 13 hits and starting pitcher James Marvel limited Alameda (Alameda, Calif.) to just one hit in lifting the Cougars to a 7-0 win in the North Coast Section Division II championship game Saturday at St. Mary's College.

Marvel struck out eight batters for Campolindo (21-7) and walked just three in shutting out Alameda. He also went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Michael Kathan was also 3-for-4 with an RBI and Austin Rei was 3-for-3 at the plate for Campolindo.

Alameda finished the season 21-9 with the loss.

Division IV
St. Patrick/St. Vincent (Vallejo, Calif.) pitcher Dom Quilici tossed a two-hitter to lift the Bruins to a 1-0 win over St. Mary's (Albany, Calif.) in the North Coast Section Division IV championship game at Albert Field on Saturday.

The Bruins (17-6-1) scored their only run in the first inning when Danny Souza tripled and scored on a balk called against the St. Mary's pitcher. Souza was 2-for-3 in the game to account for two of the Bruins' three hits.

St.Mary's (19-8) received a double from Francisco Torres and a single from Sam Elliott.

Division V
Redwood Christian (San Lorenzo, Calif.) received a no-hitter from A.J. Vanegas to defeat Head-Royce (Oakland, Calif.) 2-0 in the North Coast Section Division V championship game at Fremont Christian High School on Saturday.

Vanegas walked two batters and struck out 10 in picking up the win.

Redwood Christian (22-5) scored their only runs in the fifth inning. Jonathan Posey had an RBI triple for the first run of the game. He scored on James Eandi's basehit.

Head Royce finishes the season 20-5.

Division VI
Ferndale (Ferndale, Calif.)'s Chase Brodt, a 6-foot-5 pitcher, shut out St. Bernard's (Eureka, Calif.) 4-0 to lift the Wildcats to the North Coast Section Division VI championship Saturday in Eureka.

Brodt allowed six hits, struck out six and walked only one in knocking off the Crusaders, who had won the previous three section crowns.

The Wildcats also got a strong defensive and offensive effort from Andy Matyshock, who had two hits and successfully handled seven chances at shortstop.

Ferndale finishes the season 18-3 with all three losses coming to St. Bernard's (17-6).

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