Saint Francis edges Clovis West in 10 for 2015 Boras Classic North championship

Prior to the start of the Boras Baseball Classic – Northern California Tournament, Saint Francis (Mountain View) was one of three teams vying for first place in the West Catholic Athletic League. When the tournament finally ended after a 10-inning marathon Thursday night at Mcauliffe Field in Elk Grove, the Lancers were making their stake as the best team in Northern California.

Saint Francis scored a run in the top of the 10th inning to defeat Clovis West (Fresno) in the championship game. Andrew Martinez began the two-out rally by drawing a walk. He went to second base on a wild pitch and then scored on a Branden Engel single to right field for the 1-0 win.

The win boosted the Lancers' record to 10-3. Saint Francis reached the tournament championship game last year, but lost. The Lancers defeated Clovis West in last year's semifinal.

The Boras Baseball Classic – Northern California Tournament is an unofficial state tournament, as it pits the winner of a 16-team Northern California tournament against the winner of a Southern California 16-team tournament. The 32 total teams represent some of the top programs in the state and the two tournament winners will play at Cal State Fullerton on May 2. The Southern California tournament gets underway at JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano) and Mater Dei (Santa Ana) next week.

Saint Francis earned its spot into the title game by defeating defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 champion Davis 5-0 in the first round and then topped Liberty (Bakersfield) 11-2 in the second round. The Lancers defeated WCAL rival Serra (San Mateo) 5-4 in the semifinals to set up a matchup with Clovis West.

The 10-inning affair was the second-straight extra-inning game for Clovis West. The Golden Eagles advanced to the championship round by beating last year's Boras Baseball Classic champion Elk Grove 2-1 in 13 innings in the semifinals. Clovis West opened the tournament with a 5-4 win over Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) and then topped Stockdale (Bakersfield) 1-0 in the second round.

The two teams put plenty of balls in play during the 10-inning contest, as the four pitchers in the game, two for each team, combined for just nine strikeouts. The teams combined for nine hits with Saint Francis getting five.

Jacob Walker pitched the final four innings for Saint Francis to get the win. He allowed one hit with one strikeout in four scoreless innings. Andrew Carter started the game and went six innings, giving up three hits and striking out three.

Eric Whitfield and Blake Diggle each had a double for the best hits of the game. No player had more than one hit.

Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose) and Archbishop Mitty (San Jose), the two teams Saint Francis is tied with atop the WCAL standings at 4-1, both won their final games of the tournament. Bellarmine Prep defeated Liberty (Bakersfield) 13-0 for fifth place while Archbishop Mitty topped Pacific Grove 9-1 for 13th place.

In other games Thursday, Serra (San Mateo) defeated Elk Grove 7-2 for third place, Stockdale (Bakersfield) topped Granite Bay 7-2 for seventh place, Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) knocked off Oak Ridge 7-1 for ninth place, Turlock edged Davis 9-8 for 11th place and Yuba City beat Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 3-2 for 15th place.